Linz university says budget will force job cuts

Johannes Kepler University Linz expects job cuts after the government presented a university budget that falls short of institutions’ needs, Rector Stefan Koch told ORF Upper Austria on Sunday. He said course offerings and study programmes could also be affected.

The government has allocated nearly 16 billion euros to universities over the next three years. The Austrian Universities Conference (uniko) says that is about 2 billion euros below what universities need. Koch described the result as a “poor outcome” and said the budget was far from compensating for inflation.

It is also unclear which additional costs universities will have to cover from that funding. Koch cited support for the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research (FWF), the International Technology University (IT:U) and the continued expansion of JKU’s medical faculty.

JKU is preparing further savings measures, although it has no specific figures yet. Negotiations on its performance agreement are not due until next year. The university has been taking a more cautious approach to spending for months, Koch said.

Because staff costs make up the largest part of a university’s spending, job cuts cannot be avoided, Koch said. Fewer staff could mean some courses are no longer offered. The university is also considering changes to its study programmes and whether it can continue to offer the same number of places.

JKU had already put a planned quantum sciences degree on hold. Koch said it was not yet clear whether the project could go ahead later. He also called for clarity on which costs must be covered from university budgets, particularly for the expansion of IT:U. At its founding, he said, assurances were given that its funding would not come at the expense of other universities.

The Austrian Universities Conference is set to discuss what to do next.