2010/07/20

Visiting Lübeck after eight years

After the workshop held in Bad Bevensen, I went to Lübeck, a city where I stayed as a visiting researcher in 2002-2003. Almost eight years have passed since I came back to Japan. And this is the first time to visit Lübeck since then. This is a view from the top of a church called Petrikirche.

Nothing seems to have changed. But, actually, a plan to terminate medical education in Lübeck was going to be carried out. It is based on the idea that, from the financial reason, medical education should only be made in a single University in a single state. The University of Kiel, an old university, is already there in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. For this reason, the government considers that the medical education in the University of Lübeck is not necessary. It is not an understandable decision considering that the medical faculty of the University of Lübeck has been ranked number one for its teaching excellence in Germany three years in succession and is also ranked second in Germany and sixth in Europe for its achievements in medical technology (link). Many people in this city are protesting against this disastrous plan.

 I saw numerous posters hung out in many places in the city. It tells "Lübeck fights for his own university". I hope the government to change the plan and keep the university as it is.
For more information, visit http://www.luebeck-kaempft.de/.

Photo by StudentedPack
A related article was published in Nature.