The Science Council is an important instrument of cooperative federalism in respect of science promotion in Germany. It comprises scholars and scientists, as well as public figures and representatives of the German government and federal states. One of its tasks is to advise the federal states on issues surrounding higher education and research.

In the fall of 2012, members of the Science Council paid a visit to the University of Bremen to evaluate the university’s progress. Recently the results were made known, and the Rector of the University of Bremen, Prof. Bernd Scholz-Reiter, has issued the following comments:

The recommendations put forward by the Science Council fully endorse the development path pursued by the University of Bremen over the past decades, despite the chronic lack of financing through the Bremen state government. In Germany we have established an enviable reputation as a university strong in research, and in many areas achieved international acclaim. The successes scored in the Excellence Initiative are attributable to the strategy pursued by the University. A long time ago, the University positioned itself in research on the basis of third-party funding acquired in competition and in accordance with most stringent evaluation. The well-above average quota of third-party funding acquired by the University of Bremen underlines the extremely high quality and commitment of its scholars and scientists. Research of such high quality would hardly be possible at our University solely on the basis of federal state funding, which is far below that granted to other universities in Germany. Additional flows of funds for the University’s institutional strategy from the Excellence Initiative will now enable us to support more research in the humanities – which traditionally have fewer possibilities to secure third-party financing – and open up new areas of research.

In contrast to research, it is much more difficult to acquire outside finance to support academic teaching and undergraduate studies. This has to come mainly from the money granted by the federal state of Bremen. This explains the difficulties in the area of academic teaching which the Science Council experts quite rightly point out. The lack of funding makes itself felt above all in the most popular subjects. Frequently, students are faced with a shortage of instructional personnel and there are simply not enough rooms available to accommodate the number of lecture courses – and the condition of the rooms is often deplorable. This can hardly be expected to trigger positive effects on the quality of studies.

Therefore, the recommendations of the Science Council are above all a summons to the policy makers in the State of Bremen: They are called upon to make a significant improvement to the funds they make available and put the University in a position to implement longer-term planning. Young people with a will to study must be offered a corresponding high quality of education. There is no lack of will or commitment on the part of the members of the University of Bremen. What is missing is the money for additional personnel and rooms.
Over the coming weeks we will initiate discussion of the recommendations put forward by the Science Council, and confront the Bremen education authority with the consequences for the University.