The events always take place on Wednesdays from 6 to 7.30 pm in lecture hall 28 (building I, level 13, room 71) on the Grifflenberg campus, Gaußstraße 20. Admission is free, registration is not required.

Academic freedom is undisputedly a valuable constitutional right and essential for the functioning of science. However, for some years now, increasing concerns have been expressed that academic freedom is in danger in Germany and internationally.

The lecture series explores these concerns in five lectures that address the following questions: What actually is academic freedom, as distinct from freedom of expression, for example? Why is it so important? Does it have limits, and if so, where should these limits lie? What empirical evidence is there that it is actually under threat?

The following aspects will be examined in more detail on the five dates:

07.05.2025: Prof. Dr Richard Traunmüller (University of Mannheim) - What is the state of academic freedom in Germany?

14.05.2025: Prof. Dr Anna Leuschner (University of Wuppertal) - Hostility towards science and its consequences: the problem of epistemic intimidation

21.05.2025: Prof. Dr Maximilian Heimstädt (Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg) - Large publishers as tipping figures of academic freedom

28.05.2025: Prof. Dr Torsten Wilholt (Leibniz University Hannover) - Arguments in favour of freedom of research

04.06.2025: Dr Lars Lott (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) - Freedom in science. Empty promise or reality?

The lecture series is organised by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies (IZWT) at the University of Wuppertal.