**Rising Risks to Academic Liberty: An Urgent Appeal from Germany’s Premier Research Funding Entity**
Germany’s foremost research funding entity, the German Research Foundation (DFG), has sounded the alarm regarding escalating risks to academic liberty. In an extensive report, the DFG delineates mounting threats to independent research from political meddling and promotes initiatives to strengthen the research community against such dangers.
Last year, the DFG established a working group comprising members of its senate, engaging experts from academia, industry, and business to pinpoint vulnerabilities within the international research ecosystem. The report underscores threats in Germany and beyond. It highlights suggestions from the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to withdraw state funding from a climate research facility and eliminate specific fields of study in favor of instituting ‘politically guided’ positions.
Moreover, the DFG indicates that media assaults on researchers’ reputations foster a chilling atmosphere that discourages public participation. One referenced case involves a German publication attributing responsibility for Covid-19 lockdowns to three researchers.
On a global scale, the DFG mentions reductions in research funding during Donald Trump’s second term in the U.S., particularly aimed at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), undermining publicly financed independent research while bolstering corporate undertakings. The report also brings attention to over 1400 research facilities damaged in Ukraine amidst its ongoing conflict with Russia, raising concerns about potential targeted assaults on Ukrainian research.
Political scientist Angelo Panaro from Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen–Nuremberg commends the report for its differentiation between academic liberty and freedom of expression, positioning resilience as the ability to withstand interference while remaining receptive to academic discourse and public involvement.
**Cultivating Resilience within the Research Community**
To bolster resilience against assaults, the DFG advocates for stronger connections among researchers, industry, policymakers, and society, enhancing the public communication of research, and rendering researchers’ career trajectories more stable. Furthermore, with academic liberty enshrined in Germany’s constitution, empowering researchers with legal acumen to address assaults could prove crucial.
Panaro emphasizes that translating these suggestions into concrete actions is essential, proposing practical directives for institutions and mechanisms for monitoring progress.
Matthias Stein, a computational chemist at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, highlights the critical nature of academic liberty, stressing the necessity for scientists to consistently reaffirm its importance and convey its relevance to policymakers and the general public.