HRK President Walter Rosenthal welcomes the clarity of the Federal Constitutional Court’s recent decision on the German Federal Training Assistance Act (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz; BAföG). In response to a question on the compatibility of the amount of the 2014 and 2015 BAföG basic assistance with the German Basic Constitutional Law, the ruling dealt fundamentally with the entitlement to state benefits intended to enable university entrants without financial resources to study.

The President of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), Prof Dr Walter Rosenthal, has criticised the Russian Ministry of Justice’s decision to classify the German Association for East European Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde; DGO) – an interdisciplinary academic society – as “extremist”. He noted that this marks a new low point in already severely restricted Russian-German academic relations, because every DGO member travelling to Russia is now potentially threatened with arbitrary criminalisation and prosecution. In addition, any exchange, even private, between DGO members and Russian academics could jeopardise their safety.

Statement by HRK President Walter Rosenthal on the attack by masked anti-Israel activists on employees in the Präsidium Building of Freie Universität Berlin: “Several university employees were injured this afternoon during the violent storming and temporary occupation of the Präsidium Building of Freie Universität Berlin. I condemn this outrageous incident in the strongest possible terms. The bodily injuries and the significant vandalism must be punished under criminal law. Such actions represent a brutal attack on academic freedom – fortunately, this was not successful. I assure the affected employees and the President of Freie Universität Berlin, Günter Ziegler, of my full solidarity. I wish the injured a speedy recovery.“

The Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism, Dr Felix Klein, and HRK President Walter Rosenthal have jointly invited the university officers against Antisemitism to a first networking meeting. Following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the German universities that are members of the HRK were very clear in their condemnation of the atrocities committed by this terrorist organisation and in their support for Israeli science. In the course of the subsequent Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, however, there were also anti-Israeli and clearly antisemitic incidents at several universities.

Strategies and ways to shape the further internationalisation of German universities in a changing world in a legally secure and sustainable manner were the focus of the virtual HRK ADVANCE autumn conference "Governance & Processes of Internationalisation at Universities: Sustainable strategies – diverse impulses". Active multilingualism, cross-border mobility, including that of teaching staff, joint virtual teaching formats, a more active orientation of appointment processes towards international career paths and more forward-looking risk management for institutional cooperation in degree programmes or doctorates each have the potential to significantly advance international university cooperation in the coming years.

Joint declaration by the Executive Board of the Saxony State Rectors' Conference, the Thuringia State Rectors' Conference and the German Rectors' Conference: The federal states of Thuringia and Saxony have elected new parliaments. In the coming weeks, the elected members of parliament will come to an agreement on the formation of a government. It is important for science and universities that university autonomy and academic freedom are preserved. Only in this way, science can realise its full potential for the economy and society.