Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) will be principal of its civil servants and employer of its employees in the future. KIT will continue to be a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Württemberg, but no state institution. Moreover, KIT shall largely become the owner of its assets. These are the basic elements for the further development of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which were agreed upon by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Today, the State Council of Ministers adopted a corresponding agreement, by which KIT will be granted more scope for acting in its own responsibility. The agreement was signed by the Federal Minis-ter of Education and Research, Professor Annette Schavan, and State Minister of Science, Professor Frankenberg. It is aimed at further harmonizing the partly differing regulations for the university sector and the large-scale research sector of KIT.
“These basic elements serve to implement reform steps envisaged by the KIT Administrative Agreement concluded by the Federal Re-public of Germany and the State of Baden-Württemberg in June 2009. We thank the Federal Republic and the State for this im-portant step towards more autonomy for KIT,” said Professor Horst Hippler, President of KIT. “We gratefully acknowledge the excellent support by the ministries. Growing autonomy of KIT is an incentive and mission. We highly welcome the extension of our scope of action in the future. It will contribute to further enhancing the scientific quality of research, teaching, and innovation,” emphasized KIT President Professor Eberhard Umbach.
According to the basic elements agreed upon, KIT will replace the State and become the principal of its public servants and employer of its employees. In addition, the so far different tariff regulations for the employees on Campus North and Campus South will be harmonized. The respective funds from the state and federal budgets will be allocated or granted to KIT as funds for autonomous use. Furthermore, it is envisaged to give KIT the right to place construction contracts. In an experiment phase of five years’ duration, KIT shall be authorized to place construction contracts on KIT Campus East (Mackensen site) in its own respon-sibility. For this, the State will grant an annual budget for construction projects in the amount of EUR 4 million.
Since the foundation of KIT in October 2009, working groups of the State and the Federal Republic, including KIT, have discussed the further development of KIT. The basic elements still remain to be implemented partly on the federal level and partly on the state level.
Details of the “Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Baden-Württemberg on the Basic Elements for the Further Development of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology” can be found on the website of the Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts: www.mwk.baden-wuerttemberg.de/forschung/kit
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of research, teaching, and innovation.