Back
Topics

Academic freedom

Academic freedom is the lifeblood of meaningful scientific endeavour and a precondition for universities to assume their considerable responsibilities toward society.

Worryingly, academic freedom – and its close relative, institutional autonomy – find themselves increasingly at risk in Europe and across the globe. For the European University Association, it is essential to support universities as central actors in the protection and promotion of academic freedom.

This is why EUA has developed a set of key principles highlighting why academic freedom is so important for universities and wider society, as well as guidelines on how we can all contribute to making academic freedom a daily, lived reality on campus.

How universities can protect and promote academic freedom

Academic freedom encompasses the freedom to learn and teach and the freedom to conduct and valorise research, as well as the freedom to communicate the results of scientific work within and outside of the university community.

Four blue icons symbolizing academic freedom: 1) A stack of books for the freedom to learn and teach, 2) A microscope representing the freedom to conduct research and valorise results, 3) An artistic palette for the freedom to engage in artistic and cultural activity in the context of academic scholarship, 4) A speech bubble with a document, depicting the freedom to communicate the results of scientific and artistic work within and beyond the university.

Crucially, academic freedom applies to all academic communities and their members engaged in research, innovation, learning and teaching or other activities undertaken in the context of academic scholarship. It also applies to students when they are specifically engaged in teaching or research activities.

Nonetheless, academic freedom is both a right and a responsibility, rather than a professional privilege. This is why it must be framed by rigorous scientific, professional, ethical and quality standards.

Recognising this also opens up challenges, particularly, though not exclusively, for university leadership. EUA therefore strongly encourages its members to foster and engage in continuous reflection and open dialogue on some of the potential conflicts between ensuring academic freedom and making strategic institutional decisions. For example:

  • What is the role of public and private funders and their level of influence over the content and conduct of university research and teaching?
  • What is the right balance between the prioritisation and incentivisation of research (on large-scale societal goals) and the freedom of researchers to decide on their own field of study?
  • How do academic freedom considerations impact decisions regarding universities’ international partnerships?
  • What is the right balance between openness of science and concerns over knowledge security and foreign interference?

Academic freedom has always been subject to explicit and implicit pressures. In recent years, however, these have been mounting in a societal and political context characterised by extreme polarisation and challenges to democratic systems.

In a joint statement in 2019, EUA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) and Science Europe called on governments and public authorities to:

  • set and guarantee legal, regulatory and financial frameworks that safeguard and strengthen academic freedom and institutional autonomy;
  • refrain from undue interference in the internal affairs of universities;
  • engage in a continuous trust-based dialogue with the sector; and
  • protect the autonomy of funding decisions by research councils and funding bodies and the diversity of research funded.

Download the joint statement

Since then, legislative and regulatory initiatives in support of academic freedom have proliferated. From the university sector’s perspective, the rise in political attention, observed in particular at the European level, is significant and very welcome.

Well-reflected and sound legal and regulatory frameworks play a key role in shielding academic freedom. Yet while they play an important role, legal and regulatory frameworks are not always sufficient. This is another key reason why university communities must themselves take action.

For its part, EUA consistently contributes to expert and policy discussions on academic freedom, be it in the context of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and Bologna Process, or in dialogue with the European Parliament, the European Commission and other partners. EUA also works together with its members and a variety of organisations, including Scholars at Risk and the Magna Charta, in ensuring that academic freedom is both safeguarded and guides universities’ activities.

Academic freedom is closely linked to the autonomy of academic institutions. Only in an autonomous and secure environment can students, teachers and researchers carry out their academic work free from undue external influence or restriction.

While the topics of institutional autonomy and academic freedom are often discussed together and are indeed related, the relationship between the two concepts is complex. Nonetheless, institutional autonomy supports universities in shielding academic freedom from undue state interference.

For example, the 2020 Rome Communiqué, agreed by the ministers of countries party to the Bologna Process, states that ‘institutional autonomy is constitutive for academic freedom’, further defining the latter as a fundamental democratic right as well as ‘a universal value rooted in the pursuit of knowledge and truth’.

The latest edition of EUA’s Autonomy Scorecard includes an analysis of academic freedom provisions in national legislation, finding that the place of academic freedom in national legal frameworks is quite diverse across Europe.

Revisit the 2023 Autonomy Scorecard

Useful links

TAGS

More related content