Higher Education and Scientific Research in Germany. Reconstructing the Nexus of Research and Teaching

The foundational principle of the modern research university is the nexus of research and teaching. First established in Germany and spreading globally since, this idea and the resulting organizational form led to Germany’s past eminence in modern science. Although this university type continues to dominate German higher education, despite establishment of dozens of universities of applied sciences, massive tertiary educational expansion paired with the rise of extra-university research institutes has challenged its foundational principle. As other countries continue to emulate the „German model,“ we chart institutional change on multiple levels, showing how the relationship between research and teaching within universities and systems of higher education and science has developed in its birth country. The dual structuring of universities and specialized extra-university research institutes affects research capacity and defies the foundational principle and the relatively equal status of Germany’s research universities, which struggle to maintain the unity of research and teaching under conditions of austerity.