Berlin's economy sounds the alarm: cuts endanger universities as a location!
Berlin is discussing cuts to universities: Business warns of long-term damage to the educational location and the promotion of innovation.

Berlin's economy sounds the alarm: cuts endanger universities as a location!
On Monday, the Committee for Science and Research in the Berlin House of Representatives will discuss savings targets for universities. The Berlin economy expresses concerns in this context and appeals to the Senate and Parliament to design the volume of savings and the time frame in such a way that the universities are not damaged in the long term. The importance of universities for recruiting young talent, technology transfer and further training cannot be overestimated.
In addition, universities make a decisive contribution to overcoming social challenges. Topics such as digitalization, demography and decarbonization require a strong academic foundation. Loud uvb-online.de The required savings volume could endanger Berlin as a university location and deprive the basis for future structural discussions.
Importance of university financing
University financing in Germany has a significant influence on the quality and accessibility of teaching and research. This financing comes primarily from state funds and is supplemented by third-party funds and other income. A balanced interaction of basic state funding and competition-based third-party funding is crucial for the development of an efficient and international university system. An example of this is the Free University of Berlin, which has an annual budget of more than 700 million euros, including third-party funding.
The largest part of the universities' budget is tied up in the long term, particularly regarding employment contracts, rents, operating costs and ongoing research projects. A short-term cut of 37 million euros would therefore be an enormous challenge for universities and could be compared to removing the wings of an aircraft during operation, as in fu-berlin.de is described.
Impact on Berlin as a science location
Stefan Moschko, President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Business Association, emphasizes the need for planning security for universities. In this context, Sebastian Stietzel, President of the IHK Berlin, warns of the negative effects that short-term savings targets could have on the competitiveness of Berlin as a science location. The problem is clear: Without sufficient financial resources, the quality of university teaching cannot be guaranteed in the long term, which would have negative consequences for both students and society as a whole.
If you have any questions, please contact the Berlin-Brandenburg business associations on 030-31005-114 and the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce on 030-31510-356.