New data from Germany’s federal statistics office indicate that the number of professors at German universities declined sharply from 1995 to 2000. The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers analyzed the government figures and found that 663 faculty openings in the fields of linguistics and cultural studies had been left vacant during the 10-year period, representing a decline in the number of professors in those fields of 11.6 percent. Moreover, 1,451 faculty posts had been eliminated outright.

Bernhard Kempen, president of the faculty association, called for the government to reinstate the positions that had been cut, saying in a written statement that the current ratio of 60 students to each professor hindered the international competitiveness of German universities. —Aisha Labi