Germany's federal cabinet has approved research minister Edelgard Bulmahn's controversial plan to create "junior professorships" and pay professors based on merit rather than seniority. But more than 3700 professors are fighting the reform plan, which also faces opposition in the German parliament.
The 30 May cabinet approval paves the way for likely approval by Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, this fall. But opponents in the Bundesrat, the upper house composed of the governors of Germany's 16 states, say the plan could impose hefty costs on the states, which bear primary responsibility for universities. Although Bulmahn's plan would provide $170 million between 2002 and 2005 to subsidize new "junior professor" slots, critics contend that it will force cash-strapped states to reduce student enrollments to free up funds for salaries.
Bulmahn isn't backing down. She says the reforms--which also would phase out the nation's archaic Habilitation post-Ph.D. requirement for professorships--are an important step toward "significantly modernizing the higher education landscape."
