Germany’s top research organisations are preparing for the possibility of Alternative for Germany (AfD) taking power in a German state for the first time, drawing up plans that include relocating scientists facing political pressure and strengthening legal protections for researchers, as the far-right party pushes proposals to abolish entire fields of study.
The AfD is leading in opinion polls in the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ahead of state elections in September. Its manifesto argues that German science is in “deep crisis”, pledges to abolish gender and postcolonial studies, establish a professorship in population science and claims research that challenges prevailing views on climate change, migration and Covid-19 is being unfairly excluded from public funding.
The proposals have fuelled concerns across German academia, with research leaders warning that a change in government could, over time, harm Germany’s reputation as a destination for international researchers.
Among the institutions singled out in the AfD’s manifesto is the German Research Foundation (DFG), which it accuses of imposing “political requirements on every project grant”.
“[The AfD’s] claim is misleading and unfounded. The claim confuses standards of scientific quality and integrity and responsible public funding with political loyalty tests,” Katja Becker, the president of the DFG, told Times Higher Education, pointing to the organisation’s independent peer-review process for deciding funding awards.
