Greens call for expansion of the right to award doctorates

The Greens in the Saxon state parliament are calling for an independent right to award doctorates for universities of applied sciences. Without such a possibility, the Free State threatens to fall behind in the nationwide competition for research, innovation and skilled workers, the state parliamentary group justified its request. A motion in parliament calls on the government to examine specific models.

Greens: Saxony is increasingly becoming a laggard

"Saxony is increasingly becoming a laggard in science. While all other federal states have now given their universities of applied sciences the right to award doctorates or are in the process of introducing them, the Ministry of Science is sticking to solutions from the past," criticized education expert Claudia Maicher.

Graduates from any type of higher education institution can do a doctorate in Saxony

In Saxony's higher education landscape, there are universities, universities of applied sciences (HAW), art colleges and dual universities. Each of these types of higher education institution has a special profile. Saxony has only granted the universities their own right to award doctorates. In principle, however, a graduate of any type of higher education institution can do a doctorate. Specifically, there is the possibility of so-called co-optation - the temporary acceptance of HAW professors for doctoral procedures. The doctoral procedure is therefore always carried out at university level, argues the ministry.

Greens see co-optation model as a restriction

In the opinion of the Greens, by restricting itself to the co-optation model, Saxony is missing out on the opportunity to make full use of the research achievements of HAWs for Saxony as a research and business location. Maicher called on Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow (CDU) to recognize the changed competitive conditions nationwide and to strategically position Saxony well for the future. "Other countries are leading the way. Various models show how the different task profiles of Saxony's universities can be taken into account."

"With the independent right to award doctorates for particularly research-intensive areas of the UAS, we Greens want to increase their attractiveness for young academics and attract more highly qualified specialists to Saxony," said Maicher. This step would enable more regional companies to collaborate on research and development, for example, and create better conditions for technology transfer, spin-offs and the establishment of companies.