Today, January 09, 2015, the University Funding Agreement “Perspective 2020” was signed. It governs funding of the universities for the years until 2020.
The President of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Professor Holger Hanselka, comments: “Today’s signing of the University Funding Agreement is a strong signal for research and education in Baden-Württemberg. The specified increase in basic funding by an average of at least three percent per year is urgently required for maintaining the universities’ and, hence, the KIT’s strategic capacities to act after the stagnancy resulting from the last two solidarity pacts.” According to Hanselka, strong research and education institutions are of decisive importance to securing the innovative power of our state. In Hanselka’s opinion, the agreement also shows that “all our efforts for preparing the negotiations relating to the Solidarity Agreement III for an adequate funding of universities as systems driving the economy of the state have been worthwhile.”
“For the KIT, this means that the increase in the basic budget through funds for the energy costs among others will hopefully reduce the drastic cuts of the university budget in the past years to a tolerable level,” Hanselka says. “With KIT’s share in the funds provided for construction work, we can now start urgent construction activities relating to e.g. fire protection.” The KIT President welcomes the planned integration of program-related funds into the basic budget. “We are also glad about the promise of the state government to completely and dynamically compensate the abolished tuition fees for the duration of the pact.“
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.