Demand for FH Doctorates: University Conference Criticizes

Apparently, the situation of public budgets has not yet been understood everywhere, said uniko President Brigitte Hütter in a statement. On one hand, large groups of the population are being asked to make salary sacrifices, while on the other hand, there is a desire to establish dual doctoral structures.

Currently, the right to award doctorates is a unique feature of universities. However, they offer joint doctoral programs with the FH. Recently, states (which often sponsor universities of applied sciences) and FH have increasingly advocated for an independent right to award doctorates.

University Criticism of Demand for FH Doctorates

This, in turn, bothers the universities. After all, the development of a higher education strategy was agreed upon to clarify this issue. There hasn't even been an initial event for this yet. "Obviously, some actors are concerned that after thorough analysis and cost-benefit calculation, it will turn out that their particular wishes do not align with the overall interest," said Hütter. That would at least be an explanation for the "misplaced campaign."

"I gather from the media that state debts are exploding," Hütter continued. "But the demands of some state politicians still sound like in the times when 'Whatever it takes' was the political guideline." The uniko expects Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner (SPÖ) to refrain from making any significant decisions before the completion of the higher education strategy process, as agreed.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.