More growth means more application-orientated teaching and research and consequently more excellently trained graduates.

The universities of applied sciences (FH) and universities of applied sciences (HAW) welcome the 800 additional study places financed by the federal government announced today by HBM Martin Polaschek together with FHK President Ulrike Prommer. This time, the expansion also affects highly sought-after degree programmes in the field of social work as well as the new field of sign language interpreting. Due to the growing social challenges, there will be an urgent need in the coming years for academics who have been trained in a scientifically sound and practical manner.

"We are facing many social challenges in Austria. Application-orientated teaching and research at UASs plays a key role here, as our graduates are urgently needed in society with their practical university degree, be it in business, industry, healthcare or the social sector. There is a pronounced need for skilled labour here. In order to be able to train more people at the highest academic level in the future, we need not only more university places but also an ongoing value adjustment in the funding of these places, funding for research and development and accredited doctoral programmes. We should follow the example of Bavaria, which is already implementing these measures in order to retain the best-trained academic specialists in the country and to encourage the immigration of these specialists," emphasises FHK President Ulrike Prommer.

The current position paper of the FHK, which underpins these demands, can be found here.