Statement on the policy of cuts at the university

9 July 2025

The policy of cutbacks does not stop at the university – save the professorship for international relations!

On Tuesday, July 8, political science students were called to an emergency meeting. The reason: the professorship for international relations is not to be refilled, but completely eliminated—even though it is currently vacant.

This is already the second professorship in eight years in the political science department to be eliminated without replacement. And this is happening at a time when international cooperation is more important than ever – in view of global tensions and wars, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine or the wars in the Middle East, such as the genocide of the Palestinian people, and the global climate crisis, which can only be overcome by working together. Instead of providing enough money for professorships and thus good teaching that addresses the pressing issues of our time, external forces are being brought in to drive down wages.

As the rising number of students in political science proves, young people are looking for answers and are interested in getting to the bottom of problems from an academic perspective. The university presidency adorns itself with the feathers of a university of excellence, but we students don't notice any of this. This case shows once again that we are the ones who suffer from austerity policies

These policies will also affect us more, because across the board, there are to be cuts of approximately 5 percent. This affects both the courses offered and the student assistants and research assistants, who are already overworked and underpaid, the teaching staff, the opening hours of the libraries, and the seminar and lecture rooms, which cannot be renovated.

We, as the AStA, stand with the students and against this flood of cuts.

We demand full funding for our university. We will not let this happen to us, but instead support protests by faculty and students against these cutbacks.

We demand fully funded teaching and good education for all! Education is a fundamental right and non-negotiable!

On Monday, students and faculty will meet at 11:15 a.m. at the Pferdestall (Allen-Platz-1) and deliver a letter to the University of Hamburg's executive committee—join us!

You can find the open letter here: http://www.uhh-ib-erhalten.de