Budget Shortfalls

Fears of a Shutdown Are Spreading at Linz Medical University

Group photo with a lady: JKU Senate Chair Andreas Gruber, KUK Managing Director Meinhard Lukas, Medical University Vice Rector Elgin Drda, JKU Rector Stefan Koch, Medical University Dean Bernd Lamprecht, and Dean of Research Wolfram Hötzenecker(Bild: JKU Linz)

They ordered too much, and now the money’s running out—a situation familiar to many Austrians from online shopping is now also affecting the two new universities in Linz—the Medical University and the I:TU. On Tuesday, six leading figures joined forces to oppose Vienna’s cost-cutting plans and push for a 50-million “bonus.”

A stylish setting, but a sobering message: five distinguished gentlemen—three of them in white lab coats—and one lady addressed the press on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the JKU medLoft on the ninth floor of the ADM building on Linz’s KUK campus. Here’s what it’s all about: During the upcoming performance agreement period for universities (2028–2030), the 15a agreement on the financing and development of the Medical Faculty in Linz will expire at the end of 2028. At the same time, the second development phase will begin. This phase was already negotiated with the Ministry of Science last year. However, a binding funding commitment for the years 2029 through 2030—including the necessary additional funds—has yet to be secured. The amount in question is an additional 50 million euros.

The six-member “Panic Orchestra,” consisting of the leaders of JKU and Med-Uni, warned in unison: Securing this follow-on funding is of crucial importance for sustainably ensuring the planned further development of research and teaching, as well as the continued expansion of university medicine at the Kepler University Hospital. Without sufficient financial backing for the Medical Faculty, both the development of medical education—with 330 student spots annually—and the long-term provision of high-quality, cutting-edge medical care by the Kepler University Hospital would be at risk.

The Medical Faculty is currently in the midst of its development. Only secure funding will make it possible to continue this development as planned.

Stefan Koch, Rektor der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz

To date, the Medical University—unlike the medical universities in Vienna, Innsbruck, and Graz—has been funded on the basis of its own 15a agreement and thus independently of the global budget for public universities. 

16 chairs have already been filled
The clinical division of the Medical Faculty is supported by the university hospitals of the Kepler University Hospital and is directly linked to cutting-edge medical care in Upper Austria. JKU and KUK have established 16 clinical chairs to date. By 2039, a total of 35 departments at the Kepler University Hospital are to be staffed by university faculty.

Only long-term, secure funding can create the conditions necessary to guarantee the 330 undergraduate spots and thus ensure the development of the next generation of medical professionals.

. Meinhard Lukas, Geschäftsführer Kepler Universitätsklinikum

Over the course of twelve years, 330 undergraduate spots were created annually in Linz. “Through an enormous effort, we have succeeded in increasing the number of student spots from 60 to 330 in a short period of time. We owe the high and frequently award-winning quality of our teaching in particular to the great dedication of our physicians, more than 70 percent of whom work at the Kepler University Hospital. Currently, around 200 students graduate with a medical degree in Linz each year. About 75 percent of them begin their medical residency in Upper Austria, thereby making a significant contribution to ensuring regional healthcare,” said Bernd Lamprecht, Dean of Academic Affairs at the JKU School of Medicine.

Behind Closed Doors
The medical community is said to be backing Upper Austrians’ demands for sufficient funding for “their” medical university. Behind closed doors, however, there is also speculation as to whether a “deal” with the federal government is in the works: less “cash” for the unpopular Digital University I:TU in exchange for adequate funding for the medical university.