The President of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), Walter Rosenthal, comments as follows on the coalition agreement presented today:
„The German Rectors' Conference welcomes the fact that the coalition agreement presented today emphasises the paramount importance of education, research and innovation for the future of our country. The universities are recognised in all their performance dimensions in teaching, research and transfer and in their European and international activities, and are represented with many forward-looking projects. We naturally assume that the universities and, explicitly, higher education will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and that the numerous cross-cutting tasks, for example in the field of education and digitalisation, can continue to be well coordinated in the Federal Cabinet. Key demands of the HRK have been included in the fast-track initiative for university infrastructures and in the announcement of a 'major amendment' to the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG).
The following aspects should also be emphasised:
• The announcement of the long-term perspective of the dynamised Future Contract for Strengthening Studying and Teaching in Higher Education, which is essential for university teaching and the universities as a whole, provides the necessary security.• With regard to research, the importance of the entire innovation chain from basic and application-orientated research through to transfer is explicitly recognised. The planned bundling of federal research funding measures and the associated reduction in bureaucracy are long overdue. In particular, simplifications in VAT, procurement and data protection law are promising approaches for universities. We welcome the clear commitment to research infrastructures such as the FIS roadmap, NFDI, NHR and research buildings as well as the announcement of a separate law for scientific animal experiments.
• The Excellence Strategy is an important instrument for the funding of top-level research and must be continued. Increasing the DFG overhead allowance to 30% is an important first step in the right direction. The call for an independent research framework programme at EU level is in line with the needs of science.
• The announced strengthening and acceleration of the transfer from research to industry and society is important and will be realised, for example, by supporting all universities in relation to spin-offs. The promotion of continuing education at universities and the bundling of application-related research in the 'Initiative Forschung & Anwendung' (Research & Application Initiative) make efficiency increases appear possible. This requires lean structures and rapid implementation and not necessarily new institutions, as the difficulties in the process of establishing DATI show. The relationship between the DFG and a planned DAFG must be clarified quickly in order to avoid duplicate structures and dysfunctionalities
• An expansion of the tenure-track programme and the extended continuation of the proven programme for female professors are logical, as is the targeted creation of incentives for new university governance models (e.g. a departmental structure).
• We are constructively involved in the amendment of the law regarding fixed-term employment contracts, the recording of working hours and the strengthening of research security in a way that is appropriate for the scientific community
• The special focus on changes in university medicine through top-level funding, the strengthening of clinical research and the continuation of the Network of University Medicine (NUM) with the involvement of all stakeholders is to be welcomed.“
