Press Release 014/2016

KIT President on the Report of the Imboden Commission

Holger Hanselka: Recommendations for University Differentiation and Strengthening Governance and Autonomy Are a Positive Signal for the Universities’ Capability of Taking Strategic Actions

In Berlin today, the International Panel of Experts for the Evaluation of the Excellence Initiative (IEKE) presented its report and recommendations for a future funding program. For continuation of the Excellence Initiative, the IEKE proposes two funding lines: Excellence clusters and an excellence premium. The President of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Professor Holger Hanselka, says:

 

“The Imboden Commission confirmed that the Excellence Initiative has made the German university system more dynamic. We highly welcome IEKE’s unanimous opinion that the successor program should focus even more on strengthening world-class research and improving the international competitiveness of German universities. The recommendations to enhance university differentiation and strengthen university governance and autonomy are a clear positive signal for our universities’ viability and capability of taking strategic actions. The proposed longer duration of the initiative of seven to eight years creates space for sustainable strategic acting.”

 

Apart from excellence clusters, the Imboden Commission has proposed a second funding line, an excellence premium for universities. KIT President Hanselka comments: “This is a target-oriented and transparent approach to implementing long-term strategies and to preventing universities from having to constantly “re-invent” themselves. It will now be a challenge to find reliable and transparent criteria in cooperation with the universities.”

 

The report of the Imboden Commission can be downloaded on the website of the GWK (Joint Science Conference) at:

http://www.gwk-bonn.de/fileadmin/Papers/Imboden-Bericht-2016.pdf  (in German only)

 

The press release of the Baden-Württemberg State Rectors Conference (LRK) can be found at:

http://www.lrk-bw.de/index.php/pressemitteilungen (in German only)

 

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 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 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.

lg, 29.01.2016
Contact:


Monika Landgraf
Chief Communication Officer
Head of Corporate Communications
Chief Press Officer
Phone: +49 721 608-41150
Fax: +49 721 608-43658
presse does-not-exist.kit edu

Contact for this press release:

Monika Landgraf
Press Officer
Phone: +49 721 608-21150
Fax: +49 721 608-41150
monika landgraf does-not-exist.kit edu


The press release is available as a PDF file.