“The aim is for FAU to become a University of Excellence”
Discussion panel on the future of the University with Markus Blume and Joachim Herrmann
Where is FAU heading in the coming years? Not one, but two Bavarian ministers – science minister Markus Blume, and Minister of the Interior Joachim Hermann – answered questions posed by science and education journalist Jan-Martin Wiarda as well as students and staff in a discussion panel with FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger.
“Over recent years, FAU has been extremely successful from an academic and scientific point of view, and it goes without saying that the building situation now has to catch up. Construction in the university context is an ongoing task, especially with a university like FAU that is experiencing such growth,” explained Markus Blume at the beginning of the discussion, adding “my aim is for FAU to become a University of Excellence. It would have deserved to become one long ago based on its fundamental characteristics. Collaboration and interdisciplinary working are absolutely essential factors for success.”
The Bavarian state government has invested considerable amounts in Bavaria and in FAU as a location for cutting-edge research, in a bid to encourage science and research in Bavaria even further. “The development of FAU is an issue that is very close to my heart. It is important for our city, for our region, for society as a whole for this university to continue to develop and become even stronger than it already is,” emphasized Joachim Herrmann. At the current time, he stated, the development of the infrastructure is less of a financial issue and more of a planning challenge, in particular as regards additional human resources in the state construction offices.
FAU has received approximately 60 new professorships from the High-Tech Agenda Bavaria. More than 1.5 billion euros has been promised for construction and renovation projects. Some are already well underway, others are just starting, and others are still in the pipeline or waiting for approval. “Excellent infrastructure is a prerequisite if we want to attract the best minds to FAU. FAU already delivers top performance, and in various areas we are the leaders at a national and at an international level,” says Joachim Hornegger. “We will ensure that the money from the German federal government and the Free State of Bavaria is well invested with us.”
And where do the two ministers think FAU will be in 20 years? “I see a strong Faculty of Engineering and strong Humanities, and I would think to myself how much I would have enjoyed being a student again here,” says Markus Blume. His fellow minister Joachim Hermann continued to list and praise all the projects that would be completed by then, from the Schloss to the Himbeerpalast and the facilities at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, as well as all the other plans that FAU is sure to have by then.
Further information
Communications and Press
Phone: +49 9131 85 70229
presse@fau.de