German-language universities demand better basic funding

Austria, Germany and Switzerland make joint call for improvements in higher education autonomy

The university associations of Germany, Austria and Switzerland have together called on their governments to provide higher education with more, and more stable, financing.

According to a joint statement, such funding security is necessary to guarantee the autonomy and scientific excellence of universities, making it less important for them to seek finances from parties with political or economic interests. Hierarchical organisational structures geared to economic models remain inadequate for science because they are an obstacle to creative research processes, the statement said.