In the coming year, the university will be 30 years old, not old, one would think. At 30, we may have already had our first experiences and bruises in our private or professional lives, we may well already remember good old times, but we would do one thing above all: namely, look into the future and see where the journey is to go, who we want to be and who we will become. And that's exactly what the university will do. But what kind of university are we? And where do we want to go? We want to get closer to these answers in today's podcast and ask someone who should know, the rector of Magdeburg University, Prof. Jens Strackeljan.

*the audio file is only available in German

The Podcast to Read

Intro voice: Listening in to the university. The podcast about the working world at OVGU.

Katharina Vorwerk: Welcome to a new podcast episode "Listening in on the University." My name is Katharina Vorwerk, I'm the university's press officer, and in this edition I'd like to talk about a special birthday. Because next year, the university will turn 30 - not an age for us humans. At 30, we may have already had our first experiences and blows in our private or professional lives, and we may well already remember good old times, but we would do one thing above all: namely, look to the future and plan. And that's exactly what the university will certainly do. But what kind of university are we? And above all, who do we want to be? That's the question I'm asking today of someone who needs to know, and I welcome my special studio guest, the rector of the University of Magdeburg. Good afternoon, Professor Strackeljan.

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: Good day, Ms. Vorwerk.

Katharina Vorwerk: I hope you are sitting comfortably, enjoying the coffee and a short break between the many appointments today, and we will start right away. Whether it's a tool company or a university, anniversaries are often an occasion to reflexively design logos, organize celebrations and retrospectives; in short, to pat each other on the back and congratulate each other. Will we do the same next year?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: In your opening presentation, you put the 30 years and the person in perspective. In private, of course, it's a different story. We are sitting here in November, the weather is quite nice, but we are planning something for the coming year. As an institution, you need that - privately, sure, there are big birthdays, you need to have a little bit of lead time there, or a wedding anniversary. But on the whole, you go about it differently. So I would like to know. Of course, you try to think a bit ahead for the facility, because it's supposed to be an anniversary year for all of us. And it still needs an organizational framework. And that's true, it often starts with the usual processes. That's what we did for the 20th anniversary.

Then there was the accompanying 20 next to the new logo of the Otto von Guericke University. We are relatively late. Many, many institutions were founded between 1990 and '93 - which was relatively late - and I have attended many such events in recent months. Whether the universities, the non-university research institutions, associations; and then you get a bit of a picture and know "to do it again in this format, that probably won't be the right thing". And ultimately, we are not a small company. They do the big barn party with customers and the staff and then that's also great. For us, it has to be a little different. So we have a different claim, we had time to think about it. A few things are there now, too, so maybe we can talk about them.

Even now, of course, the wish is quite clear: This is not a decision that somehow comes from the rectorate, how exactly this will happen. We should enjoy this year together and we must also think about it together.

Katharina Vorwerk: The basic idea - if I have understood correctly - is that we want to use the coming year to come to an agreement about where we are, who we are, where we want to go as a university, in accordance with our motto "Rethinking the world together".

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: The tradition of this Otto von Guericke University naturally goes well beyond 30 years. So if you want to find out for yourself, to what extent are we still active in the areas that played a role in the founding of the various predecessor institutions? Then it's also good to take a look back. In principle, there's nothing wrong with that. In any case - whether we go back 70 years or we look back 30 years - it's a young university in all the institutions that came to be founded back then. And therefore, because of the dynamics that we have seen, and I believe that three or four years ago, we would have thought differently about a 30-year anniversary than we do today, because that is what we have now learned in the past three years: There are hardly any really very clear certainties that you can draw from tradition to say, "This is also very likely to shape a future that is satisfactory for all of us."

So much is being put to the test at the moment, and it's actually quite good to say: Okay, reflect a bit, but also perhaps say what we haven't done quite so well in the past in order to be fit for the future. We now have the opportunity to do that, and that's actually how we wanted to do it.

And we now have our motto "Rethinking the world together," which fits ideally because the world needs to be rethought to some extent. And we want to take that up in various formats. And then, above all, it also has a high degree of participation, so it really is looking ahead.

Katharina Vorwerk: You have just spoken or mentioned the term, participation and said yesterday at the reception for our new professors in the Mark Fortress that we need to find new formats in order to engage in a more intensive dialogue and exchange within the university. Why is a broad discussion about our future necessary at all? Isn't it enough if the university management simply decides where to go?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: In formal terms, there is already an assignment of roles that the Higher Education Act gives to the university management and also to the committees, of course. And that's not such a bad thing to look into first. Sometimes there are conflicts, and then they are resolved. So there's nothing at all to be said against that. So we have a governance that leaves us a great deal of freedom, and I don't think it would do us any good to just keep pointing out, "Look, that was still within the scope of your decision-making possibilities right now, and this wasn't." Because even those who are elected, whether in the university management or in the faculty councils or in other commissions or who have other offices, such as in the area of equal opportunities, they do it for the entire university and generally not for their own ego, or because they have nothing else to do anyway. And that's why it's a question that's asked again and again, actually every day: How do we actually manage to fulfill this mandate, which doesn't somehow come about every four years through an election - after all, we don't run an election campaign and we don't have any programs, so that we can say that you can now expect that from me? Fortunately, this university is not quite as politically aligned as some, I don't mean party-politically, but from certain directions. That's also quite good. So how do we get the takeaways? And yes, I already presented that yesterday in the little presentation on the second slide; exactly our motto. And we can only do that if we ask ourselves every day: Is this the right way to go? And not somehow sticking our heads in the sand and saying, "Well, there are now somehow lines here at the department level or in the rectorate, they're already doing it somehow, but they're also not doing it as necessarily as I imagine. But they're also pretty unreachable." Maybe once in a while you're lucky enough to meet the university administration or the rector in the courtyard. Then you can always talk to us, but otherwise it runs parallel. That shouldn't be the case. And therefore the question: What are suitable formats? Yes, podcasts are also an attempt to get something across. You don't get into a dialog, but you might hear things and say, "What is he saying? I'd like to know that now." But I think we have many more possibilities in the digital realm.

Katharina Vorwerk: Now, finding consensus and bringing everyone along with you at a committee university like ours is day-to-day business, and you are certainly very well trained and experienced in organizing constantly changing majorities. But are there also moments when these coordination processes are exhausting for you, when you have to convince everyone and communicate three times? To put it mildly.

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: A great deal has changed in the governance of German universities in recent years. Something also had to change, because at the end of the day we have a contract with the state and thus, at the core, with society. There are certain targets that are set for us, and we also commit ourselves to fulfilling certain things and at least plan to do so. On the other hand, there is stability in the budget, which is not such a bad thing in times like we are currently experiencing. That there is at least always this commitment over periods of four years; we are glad that we have that. And that's why you also have to campaign for certain majorities and sometimes define things for which you need confirmation afterwards that you've acted in the right direction. So I don't find it annoying, it's in line with the governance that a university has. But I think we are very dialog-oriented about the central questions of the budget via the committees, including Mr. Weiß and Mr. Wadzack. But I always come from the conversation with the chancellor that the next budget preparation will be a challenge and we are at the point that we now really want to talk to the deans. Where are the priorities? Because there cannot always be about the budget of the faculties. And that is then also upstream to a certain extent, in a small closed meeting, perhaps, to clarify where the pain thresholds are, where the university is prepared to go along with things? That is also a democratic process. So we don't do a lot of backroom politics here at the university.

Katharina Vorwerk: Let's talk about specific figures and plans. We're at a good 13,000 students right now. I think about 13,100, something like that. The proportion in the profiling engineering courses is falling, which is a nationwide trend. The number of international students is increasing and is currently, I think, around 30%. Where are we headed in terms of students?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: Yes, it should grow again. We had a good 14,000, which is just a key figure for us, because these are people. There are 14,000 people who work on the campus, who spend time there, who bring it to life. Whether they are active in continuing education programs, whether they are enrolled doctoral students, that doesn't really matter. And there is another key figure that is very important for us in terms of the budget. These are the 8,000 students in the standard period of study agreed with the state. The idea behind this is that every student is accounted for once in the lecture, in the seminar, and if an exam doesn't go well, it is repeated. That is priced in. But that's more or less the currency. And then there are staff-related study places. So we have study places and then you can calculate the number of staff behind them using the teaching commitments. And that's what the money is for, so research doesn't play a big role at first. And if we fall below this limit, and we are already slightly below these 8,000 students, then there is at least the possibility that someone in the state will ask: "Shouldn't the budget be adjusted now?" But we can't stand that at all, we are already struggling. I don't think that will happen either. But it could possibly happen that someone says, "Gee, if you're not already maintaining the figures... But at the same time, you have justified demands in the area of energy..." Digitization is nowhere near where it needs to be, and we're not in a position to cover it out of our basic budget. That's where additive funds are needed. "Yes, then just use what you should get less of, but don't demand more funds from the state parliament now." So that's kind of a concern that should be on all of our minds. The pressure in the post-Corona budgets is growing, interest rates are rising, the state also has increasing pension burdens and so on, so there will be clear pressure in the budgets of the next few years after all.

Katharina Vorwerk: Now we already have almost 30% international students. Is that enough or should we increase it? Because I think it would be a very smart idea in terms of compensation.

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: We have also done this very intensively in recent years. In the rectorate, we have determined that we can increase the 30% - or shortly that will be about 4,000, now just under 4,000 - if we actually do more and not just any integration, but also take the step of actually providing care - inclusion in the sense that they are then actually taken along on campus and that is more time-consuming. Many of them don't speak German, so we have to do a lot more in the area of language services. We want them to be able to participate in cultural and social life here on campus and in the city. We have to do something about that, and in the end, of course, we also have to make jobs in the region a real option. And that means, if you exclude Intel and these companies, that German language skills are important. So we have to do more, then the 4,000 are not somehow a sound barrier that you can not break through, because then it bangs, then it just does not bang, but it goes quite reasonable together. We want to change the diversity in the countries of origin, and above all - this is a very, very ambitious goal - we would like to reach 15%, i.e., in the 30% international share, 15% should be from Europe or the EU. That is already a challenge. It won't happen by itself.

Katharina Vorwerk: Is the value of teaching at a university already where it should be?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: Teaching has become more transparent in Corona times, because either in online formats or in hybrid formats, you could peek into the lecture halls, otherwise, they were mostly closed. And, if someone came in who didn't belong to the group, they weren't let in. That has changed, and things have become comparable. I can think about whether the formats are suitable. For someone who comes in with a bachelor's degree, this is now a very decisive factor, they don't immediately have the desire "I can do a doctorate there," but it must be a study program in which value is placed on teaching, that the support is also suitable, that you are noticed and taken seriously, that the canned material isn't pulled out 25 times, but "Take a look at this, I promised you a very nice lecture once," that's no longer enough. Especially in the face of increasingly fierce competition, especially in the STEM fields in a large field of competitors. If you now go from west to east and start via Hannover or from Hannover via Braunschweig, many have won in eastern Lower Saxony. The people of Braunschweig say it's not quite that simple anymore. So an insert in the Braunschweiger Newspaper on the weekend on four pages - we have had all that, and the people of Braunschweig have also tolerated that. That's not a problem at all around Gifhorn and Helmstedt there are enough. "We're actually tight," those days are over. And it goes to the east, then on with universities that advertise in the same way, with innovative ideas in teaching. So teaching needs a high status there, so to speak, even higher. And above all, it needs a change. And that is the international process.

We are here to participate, in networks - EU Green, for example. Mobility windows are needed. So, the student from Parma won't say: "I'll learn German for half a year or one year and then I'll go to Magdeburg." Within the framework of this network is, after all, just the idea of a joint university, in order to do such things much faster there. "I'll just study in Magdeburg for the next two months, get it recognized and possibly finish this course again in Parma," that's the idea behind it.

Katharina Vorwerk: To the EU Green we would elsewhere....

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: Then the language simply becomes a bit of a driver in the teaching formats. So we simply need more English courses, practically over the majority of semesters. But language also represents the opening, if the student knows, "I'll be coming to Magdeburg in a month and already have the opportunity to participate in such a hybrid event," then we should definitely open that up. So from there, too, the pressure to design teaching differently.

Katharina Vorwerk: Let's move on from teaching to research. I would venture to say that we are one of the universities with the most third-party funding. (laughs) So now we want to set out with determination and courage on the path to becoming a university of excellence. Two research projects are in the running. Could you briefly describe them and say what you think the chances are?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: There are now two initiatives that are also being funded by the state. We are very grateful for that. And - as the Minister recently pointed out - they will not only last until spring '23, i.e. until we submit our sketches. This is a process in which the outline is submitted first, and then in a year's time - i.e. by spring '24 - we receive a message as to whether we are allowed to submit a full application or whether it was not enough. The goal would be to get at least one of our ideas to the full proposal stage, because one of the initiatives comes from our neuroscience focus, the CBBS. You need a really structured program. They have an exciting idea of how they want to address cognitive vitality more comprehensively than just through imaging - in other words, they want to look at the whole body. So from that point of view, it's exciting. Bringing a bit of workshop character into it, which is a bit reminiscent of the Bauhaus. That's a nice story that you can tell along the way. But of course you need a really good research question, which is there in the basis and which will now be sharpened in the next few weeks.

And the second is from dynamic systems and the projects there at the CDS and the Max Planck Institute in the area of chemical processes, more in the direction of a circular economy, using less energy for certain tasks, making do with different and fewer materials. I recently heard at a lecture - so a smartphone, a modern one, consists of 70 elements of the periodic table. That's an insane amount. When we wanted a bit more functionality, we never considered whether we were using resources that were perhaps poorly distributed in this world. We know one thing for sure: In Germany, almost none of it is available. There are these dependencies that we are now criticizing and saying: This has to change. That's where they came from. That's the direction we're going in. Maintaining functionality. It shouldn't be less, we don't want to catapult ourselves back into the Stone Age, but we want to achieve similar things, maybe even more, but with other resources, more sparingly and move forward. This will be taken up by Smart Process, i.e. smarter handling of processes in the chemical industry.

Katharina Vorwerk: So the motto in terms of research at the OVGU is now: All guns on the town hall? So does participation in the Excellence Initiative mean that other research projects may have fewer resources at their disposal?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: I can understand that. To answer your question, there has to be more going on than just standing on the sidelines and rooting for them and for the university leadership to do a little bit more than just making sure that the state provides the funding. That can be financial support. Sometimes those are structural issues that are coming now. For example, we've made a commitment that the qualifying positions that are being created now will then also perhaps be at least completed after the state funding expires or decreases.

All of us are then a bit of a guarantor. These are things that can be done now. So yes, there is a certain focus. But we had always said that those who come up with good ideas, but where the leap towards excellence, because you then need 25 outstanding scientists who are smaller, but still do really good things, that they also have a chance in the area of professional expansion. And at the moment, we are really trying to set up projects from the structural funds so that they also get a visible signal for themselves: Yes, we are not left alone here. Of course, now, the two initiatives are the two beacons. However, there are also a few stones that can be used to build on a good foundation elsewhere.

Katharina Vorwerk: Now we have briefly looked at research and teaching. Now the third pillar, the third major pillar of the university, is also the so-called third mission. The university organizes transfer fairs, science nights, and tirelessly networks with partners from science, business, politics and society. Are we already where we want or need to be in terms of the third mission?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: There, too, the boundary conditions change. Some points that you just mentioned, I would not necessarily pull alone into the third mission - is often called so. That is, if we open our doors, then that has the aspect that we say, of course, what collectors, taxpayers, you finance that and that also has a value. There has to be that communication as well. But of course it's also partly about simply opening the doors to arouse curiosity so that students will come to us in the future. In other words, in the direction of career orientation, study orientation. Doing something about this is also an important point. I believe that in an aging society, which is fortunately for the most part getting fit older, we are not making full use of our competencies. At the age of 60, I'm already at the point where I'm thinking that in five or six years I'll be at an age where I could retire. And then there are honorary offices left. I can't imagine that at the moment. But how do you incorporate that into a certain system, where it's not just consumption in a study program called Studying at 50? We are even ten years below that. Instead, we should actually use the resources, the tremendous competencies that have been built up in professional life and that can also give us a great deal of expertise. Citizens who do science, who can be involved. We work an incredible amount with our smartphones, with devices where you can also do things quickly, where I think of post and long covid alone, for example, that is a huge topic where the data is not really there.

By the way, at "Covital" we also want to actively use this. The workshop means that I have listened to myself and know certain things, and that I can compare data on a larger scale. AI thrives on the fact that we compile large amounts of data, but not always only in organized studies, that I have 20 test subjects here, but that many participate. Third Mission can be significantly expanded in these areas. And that's where we should continue on our way.

I think we're already well positioned here in the city. I'm really happy that we've been awarded the contract, now as part of this T-space tender, that this science port is now being focused on, apart from the things that are happening technically there, and that we can really see: Can we do a partial development of a quarter from a really good scientific core, where start-ups settle. And, I experienced something like it many years ago in Aachen and we are now at the point where we can try it very specifically for a small part. And, that's part of Third Mission for me.

Katharina Vorwerk: A central project - which you mentioned briefly earlier - for the coming years is EU Green together with, I believe currently with nine other universities and colleges, we want to create a European campus, a European university. Conversely, this means that the structures and processes of the individual institutions will have to be synchronized to a certain extent. What does that mean in concrete terms for university staff here at OVGU? Will we all be facing changes, will it be unsettled in a positive sense, of course?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: In a positive sense, yes! First of all, it will certainly be one thing: We remain agile, and we have to, which also picks up on what we had earlier. We are not finding answers for EU Green - and this interaction at all levels up to the administration - in our actions of the last 30 years. This is another point to say that we simply have to look ahead. These European university alliances are scalable and the big ones, the first applications, of course, were made. That was the TU in Berlin, Heidelberg, etc., and if you look at them in their alliances, they wouldn't dream of saying, "We're going to merge into a European university and then Heidelberg University will no longer exist."

But there are also smaller ones that have justified fears for the future and say: "Where is our role supposed to be? We are far too small to actually be even a part of Europe's answer to significantly stronger competition in the research sector worldwide." They have more ideas about how they want to be involved, and they can also imagine that they will be absorbed into a European university and that they will have to go through what that means in terms of legal issues. That is incredibly a lot - would then still have to be clarified.

I also believe that the Otto von Guericke University can first take up a position, an active position, in which it observes this. And that is also what we have planned for EU Green. A kick-off is to take place in Spain at the end of January and then we will see whether we have the governance structure in place. This has now been created a bit at the green table. Is it actually sufficient and are the forces within the university sufficient? We are also getting accompanying funding from the DAAD - so there are now two positions that will be created. Are they effective enough to bring about this change within the university, to create unrest? In any case, I can tell you that I support this to the maximum and that we are perhaps also considering at this point whether we should not rather focus a bit more on this part of the international - perhaps also with diversity in this context - in the section of the prorectorates. It is a cross-sectional task in teaching, research, infrastructure and planning. It affects all of us! It's definitely on our minds. I'm actually thinking very European and about our partners around the world. And that's why it's a shame when certain ideas take too long to come to fruition. And this internationalization process is simply gaining momentum again with EU Green.

Katharina Vorwerk: The success of such projects, as we have just discussed with EU Green, is based at our university - again as a committee university or as a university institution - in a special way on the joint commitment of many minds. How do you assess our corporate culture, in quotation marks, or corporate identity? Are there any ingrained habits or processes or inertia in our dealings with each other that really annoy you, or rather that you would like to change?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: If I were to say that they exist and annoy me, then people would probably say, "Well, maybe you're also a bit of a pain in the neck" - and I don't want to brush that off. This year, we have had a few events where we really felt the spirit, where we had a good exchange. That is too little! We also talked earlier about the formats: How can we institutionalize this? That's not easy. Do we have to do more? Of course, the past two and a half years have not been easy. If you assume that there was a trend anyway, that this spirit is not necessarily being expanded, and that it is perhaps not that easy. Then the past years have revealed a lot - not just in terms of Otto von Guericke University, as an employer or as an institution, as an organism that stands out from other, many other companies. The term "great resignation" is also used to describe a higher fluctuation. People who say: "Man, now I've been held up to the mirror and something has to change, it's not at all clear what it is. But now that I'm working 8 to 9 hours somehow, maybe with driving even longer because of the job, it could be this one." That has led to a change in employment. Some I think even not always consciously knowing where. We do notice it, because in many places we actually lack the personnel, and it would be naïve to think that that wouldn't be there for one or the other within the university as well - that is, the certainty of "Here you have a secure job. And, just because we are a public employer, it doesn't mean it will stay that way. That's all we have to offer. And then the rest will take care of itself." That doesn't work anymore. There is, of course, this critical level in between, where you are actually in the process, but perhaps don't yet have an alternative and then rather say, "Well, that's enough for university now" - and that's just not enough in these times! Not even in what we actually want to plan, namely how do we want to develop further? I think we need to awaken some more potential here.

Katharina Vorwerk: But in principle, I take it from your words that a university that is still set up in the Humboldtian sense - such as ours in these times of great social transformation, which is not passing us by either, it is quite clear - that it is not on trial. Or to put it another way: Our structures and processes are still quite efficient and suitable for tackling the challenges we face in some way. So we don't need a new university for the next 30 years.

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: No, and that is also the result of the past 30 years and the successes that have been achieved. So these things can't be implemented by defining a new development plan. Then you have to think about it: What is realistic for us? By that, I don't mean submitting an application in terms of assets. But since these applications are interdisciplinary, to what extent do we actually have the ability to do something across faculty boundaries if we don't want to change the structure of the faculties? Does that work in collaboration? Where might there be obstacles? With the resource model, we have now mapped a lot of performance criteria that influence the budget of a faculty. Sometimes we get the argument that a new study program, which should perhaps be designed across faculties, doesn't really make sense because the other faculty would benefit from it. Actually, these are debates that we shouldn't be having at all. And these are things where we can possibly learn from the past to say that we simply need some other mechanisms. I think we have the levers, we have the ideas. We just have to say that this is the task of development planning, the plan includes a definition: Where will we be in three years and five years? And if we constantly make mistakes because we overestimate the possibilities we have to work together or because we underestimate them, then such planning cannot succeed. And I think this university has internalized that relatively well, and we also know that in the committees and that also shapes the senate meeting. We already have a pretty good feeling about where we can make progress. There is a great understanding among each other and that is a good basis.

Katharina Vorwerk: Is the good basis also suitable for us to talk about the challenges or to tackle together the challenges that may come our way - should the plan come to fruition - with the settlement of Intel? So far we are talking about: There is a new master's degree program. The clean room is being brought back up from its basic operation. Micro technologists trained back on campus. You've heard the question quite a bit in the last few months, but I still want to ask you again at this point. (laughs) Will we then become Intel Uni in the 30th year of our existence?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan:No, I have also always expressed that we and that is not the rector's view at all, that we definitely do not want that. But we can make good use of the impulses that result from it. After all, we're just a university, that's why we joined. We have a strong regional base and do a lot more in the area of research, and EU Green is also an example of how we can get involved in networks at the European level. And all of this is working. But there is an expectation of what comes out of our research and transfer activities, also for the region. And we share this with others who are also in this network. For example, there is Saarbrücken, Paderborn, Bielefeld, Potsdam and many others. And that's why you can't ignore a game changer like Intel here for the location, and that has an impact on the study programs, because Intel has, well, about 3,000 employees at the start, and 25% of them are academically trained. You can put that into perspective with the numbers of our graduates. We have to make a contribution here. I would also find it inappropriate now after the location decision - and Otto von Guericke University and the higher education landscape in Saxony-Anhalt has made a small contribution, especially the many international ones. That is a very decisive point. Now, we cannot escape this responsibility, this task.

Katharina Vorwerk: When you can't do any more, exactly. Speaking of complaining: Are there any particular expectations or demands, especially of the state's politicians, for the coming year - which will certainly still be relatively difficult or will not be easy? Expectations rather than demands.

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: In recent years, we have had two major financing components in basic funding, in addition to third party funding. That was the basic funding from the state, which is about 100 million for us. And, of course, in recent years we have had an extra 10 percent, 8 to 10 percent, through the Higher Education Pact. That was great, and it's now coming to an end.

And the successor contract, the future contract for study and teaching, is slowly creeping in, but is linked to other parameters and the time is now coming when, after Corona, we also don't know exactly where the high school graduates have gone. The number of students is no longer growing as expected, and at the same time there is a trend against subjects such as mechanical and electrical engineering. There are now also studies that show this quite clearly. This is not specific to Magdeburg, but also affects larger locations. So the increase won't come quite as quickly, so we won't be able to get these 8 to 10 million euros in the same form from the Future Contract. We have expanded the study programs to some extent, teaching staff has been paid and that now needs a bit of internal rebuilding or connecting to the numbers that we had.

That's why this Intel effect is so important, because of course other universities with our profile are faced with the same question, and they don't have this impulse for themselves and are thinking about how they can actually shape it. From that point of view, Intel is also quite an opportunity for us.

At the federal level, there is now the concession or the real promise that the dynamisation is in there. The promised amounts will grow, because many of these euros will go to personnel costs and we will certainly see wage increases in the next few years, so the sum that was agreed five years ago will be worth significantly less in five or ten years. This has now been achieved. That was the federal view with view of the country, the desire that the rising energy costs - and they will permanently, even if in some kind of normalization at another level occurs, they will be permanently well above what we have seen until 2021/22 - whose part of it is taken over. And otherwise, it's the case that the state is sticking to the agreement, not touching the target agreements. There are states where that is the case. And I'm really glad that we don't have a fixed agreement, like in some federal states, where pay increases and inflation-related increases are anchored in a fixed value. And then, you have 2 or 3 percent. It's also already come from the Minister of Finance, who has offered me that and says, "That would be great." That can work out well. And there can be times like the one we are in at the moment. But of course, we could never have imagined five or six years ago that we would be talking about inflation in the high single digits. Now we have the situation. But at least with 1% inflation compensation, we have a small component there as well, and I'm pretty sure that we can talk to the state about adjusting that as well. That is what we would like to ask of the country. So really give us the agreed guarantees, stand by them. And apart from that, we don't have to fool ourselves, the budgets here in Saxony-Anhalt - but that also applies to other states, I have a bit of an insight into Thuringen. This state has debts. The debts will have to be renegotiated again and again, when the contracts expire, on different terms. The days of low interest rates are over. That means the country will have to come up with quite different sums for interest payments. Yes, and let's not kid ourselves, we're talking about an increase very quickly that corresponds to the budget of Martin Luther University and Otto von Guericke University in total.

Katharina Vorwerk: But let's get back to the expectations of state politics. After all, it's also our birthday. And for a birthday, you could at least wish for one thing or another. With a view to the birthday celebration, I would summarize: We want to look ahead together in the coming year, inspire and motivate each other for the future. That sounds like a good plan at first, but it also sounds like a lot of work. What gives you the certainty that we can do this together as a university?

Prof. Jens Strackeljan:Because we are many and good. And then it's more a question of distribution. It can't be the idea that one person sits down and now says: So, and we or I are now writing an internationalization strategy, we have learned a bit. Yes, my first months and years in office, after the 2012/13 Science Council report - we achieved quite a bit in working groups. I also know where the limits are, and at that time it was also a point... that was also an incredible defensive battle that had to be waged: the entire Faculty of Humanities was somehow on the brink, at least that was the recommendation. We didn't do that. First of all, we had to make people want to participate. And not just with the threat: If you don't do it now, the faculty will topple. That's the most inappropriate way of exerting pressure to somehow get things done. We don't have that at all. We have discussed many things that represent very positive development opportunities. It doesn't work by itself! Otherwise, we could say: "I don't need to do anything, it will work out somehow. No, it won't work out, that's for sure. If we don't take care of it, the boundary conditions change from the outside at a speed that you can't just let it run. We still have the possibility - that's how I see it in any case, that we independently design certain things. The budget pressure is there, yes, and we probably have to raise our profile again in one place or another.

We have very expensive infrastructure that is just being created - the cyclotron is one example, the connectome will come. If we want to be at the forefront of imaging worldwide with these devices, then we can't whine at the end that we also have to provide resources for it, in energy and in personnel to operate it. On the other hand, we then have the opportunity to invite the world to conduct research with these devices as well. It's much better to think about how to organize this and where to allocate the budget than not to have this equipment at all. And no one would want to look in our shop window.

Katharina Vorwerk: I also don't think you'll be embarrassed any time soon of not knowing how to get through the week when Monday rolls around. I don't think there's any danger of that at all. As we come to the end of our conversation, I'd like to get to the "long story short" section. So I'll start sentences that I'd like you to finish on the fly. Sentence one: I always see difficulties in everyday life as challenges rather than problems, because...

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: ...because they show up anyway. And if you actually want to get a little bit of something out of the facility every day, then there's no other way. Then it's just actually a chance for you to be creative with it, you can't do otherwise.

Katharina Vorwerk: I get a little impatient in the workday when....

Prof. Jens Strackeljan:: ...simply things that we've already tried three or four times and we knew it couldn't work that way if they actually came up again. Or simply the comment: "We've always done it that way." I don't hear that quite as often, but it's an effect that can make me impatient. On the other hand, the positive thing about getting older is, of course, that you can sort things out and you know that things can sometimes take a little longer. So the degree of impatience is already decreasing.

Katharina Vorwerk: I am looking forward to the university anniversary and the intensive exchange with everyone because...

Prof. Jens Strackeljan: ...once we actually want to tackle the things we have just discussed and of course it should still be an anniversary year. Not just work, but we have a few ideas for nice events. We also want to invite a few people to join us again, in the form of lectures and other formats. And we will also celebrate a bit.

Katharina Vorwerk: That's a good closing sentence, isn't it? And that brings us to the end of the interview with our rector. Professor Strackeljan, thank you very much for taking the time. Of course, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all good luck with all your plans for the coming year. The next podcast will appear at the beginning of January and which will be about robots and the question of whether and when they will conquer the world. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions for topics that we should discuss here? Then just write to us at: Until then! Thank you for listening and take care.

Intro voice: Listening in on the university. The podcast about the working world at OVGU.