Universities - Rauch relinquishes speaker position early
The President of the Technical University, Geraldine Rauch, has prematurely handed over her role as spokesperson of the Berlin University Alliance to the President of the Free University, Günter M. Ziegler. A press spokesperson of the alliance explained this step as being so that the strategy development and application procedure for further funding of the alliance in one hand. The regular transfer of spokeship was supposed to take place in November.
The spokeship changes every two years. Ziegler was the first spokesperson of the Excellence Cluster since its founding in 2018. The Berlin University Alliance – a consortium of Free University Berlin, Humboldt-University Berlin, Technical University Berlin and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin – positions Berlin, according to its own statements, among the "leading knowledge and innovation spaces in the world, where work is integrated across disciplines and social sectors".
The alliance hopes for further financial funding from 2027. In order to achieve this, applications must be written. Currently, the alliance is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the State of Berlin within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the Federation and the States.
The President of the TU is under criticism because she marked at least one antisemitic post on the platform X in the context of the Gaza War with "liked it". The 41-year-old had apologized and spoken of "deep remorse".
Geraldine Rauch previously served as the spokesperson for the Berlin University Alliance, which includes Humboldt University, before handing over the role to Geraldine Rauch from the Free University. The Berlin University Alliance is one of the leading knowledge and innovation spaces in the world, with Universities like Humboldt University contributing to this distinction.
