Austria’s applied science universities fear for future

Austria’s universities of applied sciences have expressed concern following science minister Reinhold Mitterlehner's announcement of more funding for traditional universities.

Helmut Holzinger, the head of the FH-Konferenz, a union of applied sciences universities, has said that so-called Fachhochschulen are being left out of funding discussions. “We’re only a note in the margins,” he told Die Presse, an Austrian daily.

These concerns follow a statement by Austria’s science minister Reinhold Mitterlehner, who said this week that funding for education should be upped by €1.6 billion, it was reported in Der Standard. This would make up for inflation, and leave universities with much extra funding to improve teaching quality and pursue excellent science, Mitterlehner said.