Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner (SPÖ) informed the university rectors “confidentially” on Monday that they would be making major savings – a billion euros were later publicly reported. A few hours later, the news was everywhere, from newspapers to radio journals to the ZIB2-Studio. The minister’s evasive, meaningless answers made it clear that she must have actually stated literally that “research and science are not the focus of this government”. Although the talks are still ongoing, this statement weighs too heavily.
