Germany as a location for science: The Academic Freedom Act sends a positive signal of change

---

The new legislation grants research institutions more flexibility when allocating their funds, which will lead to greater effectiveness, efficiency, and increased target orientation. Since innovative research seldom adheres to a strict routine, its success hinges on unhindered scope for action. The institutions will therefore dispose of a lump sum budget with which to finance the costs of staffing, physical resources and investment expenditure. The Academic Freedom Act also makes provisions for more autonomy in staffing decisions. Institutions will be allowed to make greater use of third-party private funds in order to attract or keep highly qualified researchers. As concerns the acquisition of shares in companies, the law provides that research institutions will benefit from a simplified authorization procedure which is accelerated by clearly defined deadlines. The process for approving the construction of research buildings will also be accelerated in future. In this context, the research institutions have been granted more autonomy and individual responsibility in so far as they dispose of the necessary expertise for the building project and exercise adequate controlling powers.

The Academic Freedom Act is founded on the positive experience gained in the pilot phase of the Academic Freedom Initiative. The greater scope for action in non-university research will go hand in hand with the institutions' assumption of increased individual responsibility. The law stipulates that the institutions' business management system must continue to be transparent and complemented by adequate auditing procedures. The Act applies to non-university science and research institutions that are publicly funded. These include the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz centres, the Leibniz institutions and the German Research Association (DFG). In addition to the Academic Freedom Act, the Federal Government has undertaken measures to create more flexibility for other federal institutions involved in research work, starting with the 2013 budget.