Bavaria’s Science Minister Markus Blume and the heads of the 33 Bavarian state universities, universities of applied sciences and technical universities as well as art colleges signed the individual higher education agreements for the period until the end of 2027 in Munich on Thursday afternoon. Following the entry into force of the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act, the stabilization of the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria and the signing of the Framework Agreement on Higher Education 2023 to 2027, this is a further step towards the future-proof further development of the Bavarian higher education landscape.
Minister of Science and the Arts Markus Blume:
Final point of the largest university offensive of all times: Our universities set themselves ambitious goals with the greatest possible planning security – thus the entire diversity and excellence of the Bavarian science landscape unfolds in the 33 individual university contracts! As the Free State, we are accompanying and supporting the universities in particular with the continuation of our 5.5 billion euro strong high-tech agenda and a further increase in the strategy funds.”
Bavaria’s Minister of Arts and Science Markus Blume
Individual concretization of the framework agreement
In the agreements between the Free State of Bavaria and its universities, the individual institutions set many innovative accents on mega-topics such as digitization and sustainability, in addition to clear priorities of their own in the core areas of study and teaching, research and transfer. In this way, they are giving concrete form to the specifications of the Framework Agreement on Higher Education 2023 to 2027 – Agility, Excellence and Innovation for Bavaria’s Higher Education Landscapewhich heralded a new era of strategic university management in June.
Hof’s university president commented as follows:
“With the additional funds from the higher education contract, Hof University can further expand its innovative teaching and set new impulses in research, so that via transfer the region also benefits.”
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann
As an instrument of higher education management, the higher education agreements replace the target agreements introduced in 2006 – an important step in the implementation of the new Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG). In this context, the principle of modern outcome-oriented management anchored in the framework agreement is continued in the university contracts in individual, binding and profile-forming objectives.
Exceptional financial position strengthens universities’ innovative power
The Free State is supporting the achievement of these ambitious goals with substantial financial contributions: The strategy fund resources have been increased by 10 million euros to almost 55 million euros per year. This means that a total of around 275 million euros in strategy funds will be available for profile-building measures at universities until the end of 2027, subject to the respective resolutions of the budget legislature.
