Drittmittelforschung an Hochschulen – Recht oder verpflichtende Dienstaufgabe?

The university professors independently perform the tasks incumbent upon their university in science and art, research, teaching and further education in their subjects according to the more detailed formulation of their employment relationship. This is stated in Section 43 of the Framework Act for Higher Education and, with minor variations, in the higher education acts of the 16 federal states. Research is therefore a service task. Another question is whether this official duty also includes the obligation to raise thirdparty funds. This is not uniformly regulated in the federal states. This article provides an overview of the various legal regulations and then examines the extent to which the acquisition of third-party funding as an obligatory official task is compatible with the freedom of research guaranteed in Article 5 (3) of the Basic Law and in the constitutions of the Länder.