Higher Education Pact, Initiative for Excellence, Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation

Federal Government and the federal states have approved around 18 billion euros of funding for universities and research institutions up to 2019. As a result, the measures that are already running – Higher Education Pact, Initiative for Excellence, and Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation – have seen their budgets grow.

This includes the creation of an additional 275,000 study places. The Initiative for Excellence to Promote Science and Research at German universities has also been provided with a secure outlook. The non-university research institutions will now receive the necessary freedoms to enable them to continue their dynamic development. "By adopting this package of Higher Education Pact, Initiative for Excellence, and Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation, we are decisively strengthening the international competitiveness of German science and research," emphasised Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan.

The three major initiatives have already triggered a new spirit in Germany's universities and research institutions, and the first successes can already be seen. For example, some 4,200 staff have been recruited so far as a result of the Initiative for Excellence. Almost a quarter of these scientists came from abroad. The development also opens up real prospects for young researchers. The number of doctoral students has grown by around 10% per year under the Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation. Minister Schavan also pointed out that this package is the greatest investment in research, science, innovation and education ever to have been made in Germany. 

More information: www.bmbf.de