Sabine Seidler, President of the University Conference (uniko), described the financing of the start-up phase of the TU Linz as “scandalous and inappropriate”.
According to the draft law for the TU Linz that was introduced last week, this should come from the “emergency pot” for special financing needs of the universities – the so-called “ministerial reserve”. That was “an affront to all public universities,” criticized Seidler. Because politicians have always emphasized that the TU Linz is not financed from the existing pot for Austria’s universities.
“While we don’t know how we’re going to pay for our electricity costs in view of rising inflation, a university that I still don’t understand makes sense is being financed with the nest egg that we urgently need, at least as part of the compensation for the rapidly increasing costs in order to to maintain our operations,” says Seidler.
Ministry counters
The Ministry of Science cannot understand the uniko President’s criticism. The funds went to the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz, because it is said that the costs for the preparatory phase would also be incurred there. According to the draft law, the necessary organizational work will be carried out by the JKU during the founding phase of the TU Linz. From 2024 there will be a separate budget for the TU Linz.
Source: Nachrichten
