The State of Berlin has slashed Freie Universität Berlin’s funding for 2025 by approx. 8% – this corresponds to approx. 37 million euros. Not only is this an enormous sum of money, these cuts also raise other serious problems. It will be more or less impossible for Freie Universität to bridge this financial gap in the short term. This is because:

• Most of the money has already been earmarked for specific purposes (contracts, infrastructure, construction projects).
• You often have to spend money to save money. If, for example, you would like to reduce administrative costs, you need to invest in digitization to improve efficiency – an approach that requires a big initial investment in order to save money further down the line.
• The university has a responsibility to carefully consider all of its options. Taking a frivolous approach could be disastrous and mean fewer study places, the termination of important research projects, and untenable workloads for employees.