With determination, self-confidence, a touch of humor and warm applause for the newly appointed professors to the University of Bremen and Jacobs University, the “unifreunde” friends of the University celebrated their traditional New Year's reception with guests from the realms of science, politics and business. The event took place on the evening of January 22, 2018 in the upper rooms of City Hall. New to the program was a surprise guest: Computer science Professor Rolf Drechsler gave some highly entertaining insights into his research.
“More money for the University”
One of the evening’s topics: How is the University of Bremen to proceed in the Excellence Strategy going forward? The top research done by the University and its partners show how well the State of Bremen is scientifically positioned, said the chairman of the “unifreunde”, Professor Bengt Beutler. “If the University of Bremen is to keep up in the context of nationwide competition in the Excellence Strategy, it must have more money.” Bremen must therefore not take their own budget as a benchmark, but compare it with other federal states and examine what they would have done for their science clusters, he said critically.
“Bremen must be a magnet for young talent”
Mayor Carsten Sieling promised the University of Bremen financial support in the coming years. The significance of Bremen as a location for science is clearly underscored by the fact that this year the Hanseatic City will be hosting the world's most important space congress for the second time since 2004. Sieling also called on the University to create more student places in order to make Bremen even more attractive to young talent. In particular, the range of master's programs should be increased. The federal state currently offers 114 bachelor's and 84 master's degree programs, accommodating a total of 26,400 students. “Bremen must be a magnet for talent,” he said – a place where young people feel good and want to settle down.
“…joint effort on the part of everyone”
“We will not be discouraged and continue along our path with determination and self-confidence”, emphasized Rector Professor Bernd Scholz-Reiter. There are currently seven Collaborative Research Centers running in parallel at the University. “This has never happened before in the history of the University.” These centers conduct top level research and their academics are highly motivated. Numerous awards and grants from the European Research Council substantiate this. But to fully exploit the potential of the University of Bremen in national and international top-level research calls for a joint effort on the part of everyone: civil society, politics and business.
