Universities are at a turning point: bureaucracy, inertia and ideological debates are paralyzing them. Juri Rappsilber, speaker of UniSysCat, argues that now is the time for reinvention. At most German universities, institutional inefficiency is felt at all levels - from central administration to faculties, staff, researchers, and students.
We should be asking: What role does a university play in society? And what role should it play? The standard formula of “research and teaching” falls short as a guiding principle because it overlooks the deeper purpose - learning and empowerment. Teaching should not just transmit knowledge, but actively enable individuals to realise their potential and contribute to shaping society. To achieve this, we need a “learning administration” – one that fosters ideas instead of stifling them.
Real change depends on the initiative of pioneers. Examples like Clusters of Excellence, experimental teaching approaches, or low-threshold participation formats are promising. They show that innovation can thrive even in large organizations. But for these examples to become the rule rather than the exception, a change in mindset is needed.
As a Cluster of Excellence, UniSysCat can take on a pioneering role. It offers a space to develop and test innovative approaches to teaching and training students and doctoral researchers. These experiences can feed back into the broader university system. The size and success of a cluster like UniSysCat can serve as a lever to influence the very institutions that host it: Innovations within the cluster can set the wider universities structures in motion.
It is therefore fitting that the UniSysCat speaker has taken the public stage to call for change. Revolutionary, future-oriented research, as is practised in excellence clusters, requires equally innovative structures. It demands flexibility, modernity and an open mindset. Above all, it needs courageous and creative thinkers - and a stagnant university will not produce them. If we want to sustain cutting-edge research in Germany , change is not optional – it is essential.
Juri Rappsilber‘s guest article by was published on March 19 on the blog „jmwiarda“: https://www.jmwiarda.de/https-www.jmwiarda.de-2025-03-19-uni-heisst-gestalten/