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🇦🇹 Austria /Culture & Society

Medical University Rector Warns Government of a “Strategic Retreat”

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Medical University of Vienna Rector Markus Müller warned that the government’s current 2028-2030 budget plans would amount to a “strategic retreat.”
  • Universities must finalize their three-year funding agreements by the end of October, while the science ministry faces 190 million euros in savings for 2028.
  • Medical universities also face about 100 million euros a year in doctors’ salaries previously covered largely by the federal government, with about 90% of the Vienna medical university’s budget going to personnel.

Markus Müller, rector of the Medical University of Vienna, says Austria risks undoing years of progress in university funding if the government maintains its current plans for 2028 to 2030.

Strategic retreat

— Markus MüllerThe rector’s description of the potential effect of the government’s planned university budget.

Müller warned that the plans would return universities to conditions similar to those of the mid-2000s. He said the university could begin considering “serious efficiency measures” early next year if the situation does not change.

Universities receive most of their funding through three-year performance agreements. The amount for 2028 to 2030 must be settled by the end of October. A decision was delayed after protests over a Science Ministry draft that included nominal cuts. The government initially responded by carrying forward the existing budget, but the ministry must save 190 million euros in its own area for 2028. Universities must also absorb around 100 million euros annually in doctors’ salaries that the federal government had previously paid for the most part.

If it stays this way, we will have to think about, let us put it this way, serious efficiency measures at the beginning of next year.

— Markus MüllerHe warned that the university could need to respond quickly to budget constraints.

Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner offered a “moderate” increase in late June, but Müller said there had been no further information. He said successive governments had pursued a strategy since around 2010 to bring Austria’s university funding to an internationally acceptable level. Austria had not been competitive 20 years ago, he said, but had become so only recently.

We were not competitive 20 years ago; we have only recently become so.

— Markus MüllerMüller described Austria’s progress in university funding and competitiveness.

The Medical University of Vienna faces a particular pressure because it operates university clinics in addition to teaching and research. About 90% of its budget goes to personnel, including 1,700 doctors working at Vienna General Hospital. Müller said the university may need to act as early as 2027 if cuts are imposed, comparing the institution to a large tanker whose direction cannot be changed quickly.

You have to imagine a university as a large tanker: if you switch off the engine, it keeps moving for a while. The reverse is also true: braking takes quite a long time.

— Markus MüllerHe used the comparison to explain why budget decisions would affect the university with a delay.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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