Newsroom

At the Falling Walls Science Summit 2025, leading representatives of the scientific community discussed threats to academic freedom – and how research institutions can strengthen their resilience.

On 10 September 2025, experts gathered at Herrenhausen Palace to take part in a symposium on the topic of why authoritarian regimes routinely attack educational institutions, what this says about the value of these institutions to open societies, and how universities can return to their core mission.

The European idea is noticeably crumbling. Researchers funded by the Volkswagen Foundation met at the status symposium 'Challenges and potentials for Europe' to exchange views on the results of their research on the topic.  One conclusion: fortunately, joint European research on Europe is not crumbling!