Rethinking university structures

The University of Bern is pursuing its Strategy 2030 and adapting its structure accordingly. This allows it to focus on its core tasks in teaching and research and to use its resources more efficiently so that they go as far as possible. Since the University of Bern was founded in 1834, its structures have not changed fundamentally, while society, research, and teaching have continued to evolve. To ensure that the University of Bern remains attractive as a center for teaching and research and as an employer in the future, the university’s structures are being adapted to current societal developments and the university’s operating environment. This is the stated goal of the “Fit for Future” program, under which, in the summer of 2022, around 40 university representatives defined the action area “Rethinking University Structures.”

Development process of the project

The process of revising the university’s structures sought to incorporate as many perspectives and requirements as possible. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current situation, the project team led by Administrative Director Markus Brönnimann conducted interviews with representatives from the faculties, centers, departments, and the central administration. In addition, the project team visited other universities across Europe to examine their structures and learn from their experiences.

Based on the insights gained from these interviews and visits, the expert committee—composed of representatives from the faculties, academic staff, and centers—assessed the current situation and derived four work packages: “Efficient Administrative Organization,” “Optimal Faculty Structures,” “Excellent Central Research Units,” and “Organization for Attractive Teaching.”

For each of these four work packages, working groups were established with selected participants from the relevant areas. Care was taken to ensure that representatives from the faculties, the centers, the mid-level faculty, the students, and the central administration were included. In 2023, the working groups addressed the current state of affairs step by step in three rounds of workshops, leading up to possible structural adjustments. They developed goals and recommendations for optimized structural solutions as well as various alternative approaches.

Based on input from the expert committee, the recommendations for the university administration were finalized along with a general roadmap for implementation. The optimizations are designed to always leave room for ongoing development, as changes occur continuously.

At the request of the deans, a consultation phase was conducted in the faculties and the central administration from January to May 2024. The final discussion between the university administration and the deans took place on June 6, 2024. Following further discussion during the 5th iteration in August 2024, the University Executive Board decided to pursue the following five recommendations as projects:

  • Departementsbildung (Lead Fakultäten)
  • Professuren Planung neu (Lead Verwaltungsdirektion und Stab UL)
  • Schnittstellenprojekt (Lead Verwaltungsdirektion)
  • Partner Modell (Lead Verwaltungsdirektion)
  • Vertrag Zentren (Lead Vizerektorat Forschung und Innovation)

Other topics where a need for action has emerged were transferred to the other action areas of “Fit for Future” or handed over to the relevant departments for processing, ensuring that none of the ideas or concerns are lost.

Townhall-Meeting "Rethinking University Structures"

The video town hall meeting “Rethinking University Structures” in German was recorded in October 2023 and reflects the status of the initiative at that time. The initiative has evolved since then, which is why some of the content is no longer entirely up to date.