At the Research Forum of Universities of Applied Sciences (FFH) at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt today, Thursday, the doctorate was at the centre of the discussion. The general tenor was that these study programmes should also be promoted at Austrian universities of applied sciences, where around 430 doctoral students are currently being trained. In his speech at the FFH today, Federal Minister Heinz Faßmann announced that the "Cooperative Doctorate Programmes" funding line agreed in the FH development and financing plan, which universities of applied sciences will be able to take advantage of together with universities in future, is to be implemented as soon as possible. The BMBWF has initially earmarked EUR 5 million for this purpose. The Science Minister also emphasised the planned expansion of 330 study places per year until 2023.

The keynote speech by Pedro Dominguinhos, President of the Coordinating Council, an association of universities of applied sciences in Portugal, met with great interest among the researchers at the FFH. He reported on a change in the law in his country that came into force in 2018. This amendment gave Portuguese universities of applied sciences the original right to offer doctoral programmes even without a university cooperation partner. According to Dominguinhos, the old legal situation was unsatisfactory, as the university cooperation partners often had no active role in working on the research questions and in many cases the research work was carried out exclusively at the universities of applied sciences, while the universities only awarded the doctorates. The dependence on the willingness of universities to co-operate was unsatisfactory for both sides. The new legal situation makes the universities of applied sciences more flexible and enables them to expand their own application-oriented research profile and develop research careers based on this.

FHK President Raimund Ribitsch commented: "It is no secret that the universities of applied sciences in Austria have also wanted independent, externally quality-assured doctoral programmes - similar to the model in Portugal - for many years. We welcome Federal Minister Faßmann's new "Cooperative Doctorate" funding programme. It helps to build up and expand further resources in the training of doctoral students and thus our researchers. This strengthens the application-oriented research that is practised at universities of applied sciences. It remains to be seen whether the path of cooperation will work for both sides or whether we will ultimately have to return to our original demand."

Ribitsch also refers to the 330 new first-year university places in STEM subjects announced by Faßmann at the FFH: "This expansion is a first important signal for the economy and we recognise the minister's commitment in this matter," Ribitsch concludes.