Auf welchen Beinen stehen die Fachhochschulen in der Zukunft? – Mit Fokus auf die Rolle der Forschung

The university of applied sciences model was established in Austria shortly before the country joined the EU and has since made a significant contribution to broadening the range of tertiary education programmes from both a content-related and regional perspective. Universities of applied sciences have cultivated low-threshold access to industry and users, which combines knowledge transfer via heads and smaller R&D projects. Over the past three decades, the framework conditions, service portfolios and requirements for universities of applied sciences have changed. The signs indicate that universities of applied sciences will have to be organised differently in the foreseeable future and that the integration of the higher education sector will also increase as a result. Due to demographic change, universities of applied sciences, like the entire national and international higher education sector, are facing the challenge of a continuous decline in the "classic" student potential (students between the ages of 18 and 29). Generations X and Y (born between 1970 and 2000), who have contributed to the development and growth of the university of applied sciences sector as students since the introduction of universities of applied sciences in Austria in the 1990s, are now being replaced by younger cohorts. This will lead to a decline in potential students over the next few years before the number of 1829-year-olds stabilises again. With greater flexibility through modularisation and the increased use of innovative forms of teaching (hybrid/blended, asynchronous learning) in their study and further education programmes, universities of applied sciences are not only increasingly responding to the changing needs of the younger generation, but are also addressing new target groups, including late-decision students, second-chance students and international students. Maintaining the attractiveness of the successful UAS model therefore requires adjustments beyond teaching in the area of R&D and as a service provider in supporting regional and sectoral transformation. To this end, universities of applied sciences must develop new collaborations and business models outside of teaching in the field of research and with a view to socially relevant innovations and position themselves accordingly. In recent years, universities of applied sciences in Austria have intensified their R&D activities. R&D activities are primarily financed by national or European public funding. In order to cover their own funding requirements, R&D activities are therefore inevitably cross-financed via the basic funding for teaching. The currently unsatisfactory and unclear anchoring of R&D in the area of universities of applied sciences is also shown by the example of other European countries. Only in a few European countries have universities of applied sciences made the leap to regional universities. The discussed challenges and expectations for the future lead to the conclusion that R&D at universities of applied sciences in Austria should not only continue to be run as a sporadic side show to teaching, but also as an equally and transparently managed performance and funding area that receives appropriate strategic and political attention.