Lower Saxony's Science Minister Thomas Oppermann is once again aiming for new horizons. After his vehement campaign for the introduction of tuition fees, which he has not yet been able to push through but which will certainly be on the agenda again soon, he now wants to give universities greater autonomy. According to his draft for the fundamental revision of the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act (NHG), the universities are to become foundations in the foreseeable future. The minister hopes that such a structure will make them more creative and flexible in order to assert themselves in the increasingly fierce competition between universities. In other words, they should behave "in line with the market" and raise more funds for their own existence, which the state is obviously no longer willing to guarantee on its own.

The word "market-driven" is a term that has not yet been used in Germany in the field of education and science. Oppermann and Prime Minister Gabriel were shown what it means during their summer trip to the USA. The large elite universities there are organised as foundations and have funds that we cannot even dream of here in Germany. The top university at Havard, for example, now has an endowment capital of 18 billion dollars - grown in a 200-year-old system in which private and state universities are in fierce competition with each other and are managed like companies - namely in line with the market.

One particularly important aspect of this is the close proximity of American universities to industry. Over many years, this has led to the development of a very finely spun system of value creation, in which not only large companies are involved, but also small and medium-sized businesses and many wealthy private individuals - often as "alumni".

Contract research, sponsoring, fundraising, foundations, scholarships, etc. also exist in Germany, of course. However, this culture is at a level that does not stand comparison with the USA and it will be many years before universities in Germany succeed in tapping into the "business" market and making it clear that knowledge production is where the real added value of the future lies. To do this, they need marketing concepts that open the eyes and ears of the business community and tax legislation that creates greater incentives. Oppermann's foundation plans are probably more of a second step before the first.

Yours

Gerhard Harms