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Herd Instinct, Competition and Forgotten Talents

The opportunities and risks of economised research. Comment by Helmut Schwarz

“We Need a Welcoming Culture”

Academia as the melting pot of the 21st century: who has the best ideas is only revealed by international comparison. Comment by Enno Aufderheide, secretary general of the Humboldt Foundation.

The Value and Values of Academia

When I was in the People’s Republic of China for talks this spring, one of the people I spoke to in Beijing jokingly told me, “Now Germany knows all about plagiarism, too.”

Grand Edifice, Weak Foundations

A year after reunification, in 1991, I travelled to Dresden on behalf of my newspaper to report on the first post-unification Congress of German Psychologists. It was held at the Technische Universität, in a run-down institute building.

In Praise of Internationality – a Paradox

The esteem in which we hold internationality results in a paradox. On the one hand, a researcher’s origins are considered irrelevant when it comes to research. On the other hand, there is thought to be a correlation between the international composition of a research institute and its quality.

Equal Opportunities: We Need Sanctions That Bite
Lola runs. And a lot of other women are running with her, overtaking the men on the educational path, climbing the academic career ladder. 56 percent of university graduates in Germany are female, and 41 percent of doctorates are awarded to women. But there it stops: only about 22 percent of those qualified to become professors – “Habilitierte” – are women; only 15 percent of professors and just 7 percent of rectors. Things are progressing: these figures have been improving over the last few years. But at the rate we are going at the moment, it will take until 2070 before any kind of parity is achieved. Can we afford to wait.

Obama’s Research Policy Offers New Chances for Germany
The Obama administration’s policy and budgetary initiatives are exciting news for researchers in America.

Even in Times of Change, the Foundation is Remaining True to Itself
When the Humboldt Foundation first announced the award winners of the multi-million Alexander von Humboldt Professorship a few weeks ago, the press and the German research scene were all abuzz. A lot of people made very positive noises, but there were those who expressed their concern: Is the Humboldt Foundation, whose hallmark is academic exchange, turning into a recruitment agency for Germany as a research location?

German Universities Need a New Personnel Strategy
“The average gives the world its durability. The unusual its value,” Oscar Wilde said. On this view, the durability of German universities is guaranteed. Because there is certainly enough of the average. But you can do something about mediocrity – by adopting an intelligent and competitive personnel strategy, for example.

A View from Within: Great Research, Not So Great Teaching
In its recommendations on the state of humanities in Germany, the German Science Council has pinpointed strengths and weaknesses and has come forward with ideas for improvement.

The Meaning of Life: h
There is a new dominant stag in the territory of the research indices. In future, everything that can be said about the academic performance of a researcher is to be captured in a single coefficient.
From Historian to Culture Manager
Hungarian universities are swapping over to Bachelor courses, a change of system with unclear implications for the quality of teaching and research.

Save German Studies
As an academic subject German culture and literature is threatening to become an exotic, albeit threatened species. How can this trend be stopped?
What Researchers Really Want
Bureaucratic reform notions and modelling on the wrong examples are jeopardising European universities. A plea for some reflection upon classic strengths and more faith in the up-and-coming generation of academics.