Overview
- The Landtag approved the reform on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, with SPD and CDU votes, making the new rules the operative framework for Brandenburg universities.
- The law gives universities a permanent right to appoint and name professors and allows exceptional hires without a public job advertisement for especially outstanding candidates.
- Brandenburg's science ministry says typical appointment procedures that took one to two years will be shortened to six to 12 months and that study places will be allocated more on applicant suitability.
- The change is linked to plans by Hasso Plattner to expand the Hasso Plattner Institute and build a new campus in Potsdam, and an AfD proposal to require Landtag approval for externally funded faculties failed.
- Unions, student bodies and opposition MPs warned the law could strengthen private donors' influence, risk stronger executive powers for deans, and alter long-standing German norms for transparent, competitive academic hiring.