Germany is one of the few countries in Europe where student numbers are still expected to rise substantially in the next five to ten years. In order to cope with the onslaught, German Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan and her counterparts from the country’s 16 states have agreed on a “Higher Education Pact 2020”. The Federal Government and the Länder will jointly provide an additional 565 euro annually until 2010. Chancellor Angelika Merkel will officially announce the “pact” on 13 December, when she will also outline Germany’s priorities for the country’s Council Presidency in the first half of 2007.

The Federal Government will also provide an additional financial contribution to university research, by topping up the funding available for each project financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) by 20 percent. In the four years until 2010, this contribution is to amount to about 700 euro. Higher Education Pact