Fundamental Academic Values Award 2024

As the Science Year 2024 is coming to an end, the winners of the Fundamental Academic Values Award were honoured in Berlin on 10 December.
The award ceremony took place as part of the closing event of the BMBF Science Year 2024 on the topic of freedom in Berlin. The prize is awarded by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to young academics who have made an outstanding contribution to the preservation and promotion of fundamental academic values in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
The winners were Prof. Dr Daniela Craciun from from Romania, based at the University of Twente in the Netherlands (1st place, 7,000 euros), Dr Lars Lott from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2nd place, 6,000 euros) and Fernando Romani Sales from the University of São Paulo (3rd place, 5,000 euros). In his laudatory speech, the Deputy Secretary General of the DAAD, Dr Michael Harms, emphasised the enormous importance of fundamental academic values not only for science, but also for the future viability of entire societies: "Freedom to study and research is not only the foundation of academic work, but also a guiding principle that allows us to explore new ideas, challenge established norms, and drive forward innovation."
What are academic core values in detail? In his introductory remarks, Stephan Ertner, State Secretary at the BMBF, referred to a total of six aspects on which all 47 members of the EHEA have agreed: Freedom of research and teaching, integrity of science, autonomy of universities, participation of teachers and students in the management of higher education institutions, responsibility of universities towards society, and responsibility of society towards universities. In the final communiqué of the European Summit 2024 in Tirana, the ministers reaffirmed the importance of these shared fundamental values as an essential prerequisite for the development of research and teaching.
Unfortunately, basic academic values can no longer be taken for granted. "Challenges such as authoritarian efforts to control academic discourse, the increasing commercialisation of research and education and societal tendencies to question scientific truths have multiplied. The digital age makes the situation even more complex and raises ethical questions about disinformation, data protection and the responsibility of scientists in a rapidly evolving world," says Michael Harms.
A commitment to academic values is fundamental to the work of the DAAD. The successful internationalisation of higher education in Germany can only be sustained on the basis of fundamental academic values. "Only then can we continue to offer a stable, transparent and supportive environment - and remain an attractive and safe place for students and researchers from all over the world," emphasised Harms. With more than 75,000 foreign researchers at universities and public research institutions, Germany is currently the most important European destination for international researchers.
Dr Daniela Craciun's work has created an important basis for monitoring compliance with fundamental academic values in the European Higher Education Area in a better way and according to comparable standards. Dr Lars Lott's research looks at the development of academic freedom in a historical comparison and reveals a recurring, wave-like pattern that also shows parallels with the general state of democracy. Fernando Romani Sales, on the other hand, analyses endangered democracies in his research and shows in a cross-national comparison what effects strategies of democratic erosion can develop in the education sector.