51吃瓜网

President Hofmann, how would you assess the current situation?

I consider the situation to be serious, and strategic adjustments to the new reality to be urgently required. Energy from Russia, security from the United States, and digitalization increasingly from China: supported by the na茂ve assumption that things would simply continue as they were, we in Germany made ourselves comfortable for far too long. The relocation of system-critical economic sectors abroad, new geopolitical realities, intensifying competition between different systems of governance, and a dramatically changed security situation require a fundamental rethinking. 

At the latest, Russia鈥檚 war of aggression against Ukraine, in violation of international law, jolted us awake from our slumber and shattered the illusion of a positive normalcy. We are all watching with concern the resurgence and strengthening of authoritarian forms of rule worldwide and new imperialist attacks on international law. We are witnessing the targeted use of disinformation as well as the superiority of new technologies in hybrid warfare. All of this is driving global destabilization forward at breathtaking speed, confronting Germany with decisive economic, foreign-policy, and security-policy choices and requiring a long-overdue strengthening of the European security architecture.

What consequences does this have for the state, for industry 鈥� and especially for universities?

If Europe does not want to become a plaything of the 鈥済reat powers,鈥� it must strengthen its self-determination and its ability to defend itself 鈥� and it must do so quickly. This is not only a task for companies and policymakers, but very much for universities as well. It is crucial that their discoveries, inventions, and technological developments be fed more effectively into marketable innovation processes, that their economic potential be scaled within Europe, and that they be made usable for a modern, capable defense of our liberal democratic community of shared values. Universities that act responsibly do not evade this mandate.

Which areas are particularly relevant to defense capability?

Protecting our population and national security, in the face of increasingly hybrid threats and entirely new forms of warfare, above all requires technological progress. The development of AI-controlled, autonomous, and largely unmanned systems, electronic defense, the strengthening of our cybersecurity, and the creation of a European space infrastructure must be significantly accelerated. At the same time, we must advance the development of new materials and manufacturing processes, as well as the recovery of valuable raw materials, as part of a responsive and resilient logistics system, in order to be able to react quickly and cost-effectively to changing threats.

At many German universities, dual-use potential is still treated as taboo. Can you understand that?

No. In a na茂ve way, Germany has largely left the development of modern defense technologies to other countries 鈥� and unnecessarily limited itself to the Bundeswehr military universities. At the same time, outstanding technological innovations with dual-use potential are emerging at German universities, meaning they can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Their use for military purposes has so far been considered taboo in Germany 鈥� as if neutrality in security-critical matters were a moral value. In view of the high level of public investment in our universities and the dramatic geopolitical changes, we are called upon to assume greater responsibility and to protect our liberal democratic community of shared values. To do so, we must also use technologies with dual-use potential for defensive military purposes.

Numerous German universities have civil clauses that explicitly prohibit even research for defensive military purposes. What is your view on this?

Universities must stop hiding behind a misunderstood civil clause and evading their responsibility. Those who want to secure peace must also be able to defend it.

Supporters of civil clauses also invoke peace. How do you see that?

Of course, supporters of civil clauses have always invoked peace as well. But in my view, the high value of the constitutionally enshrined freedom of teaching and research is not compatible with restrictions imposed by civil clauses. It must be the decision of the individual researchers whether and to what extent they wish to apply their expertise to the defense of our country. From my perspective, university leadership and governing bodies are not entitled to impose such restrictions through civil clauses.

The neutrality simulated by civil clauses is, in the face of attacks on our democratic value system, not a moral superiority but a dangerous retreat from reality. A free society whose universities complacently see themselves as ivory towers and do not wish to serve the needs of the country will not remain free in the long run.

How is 51吃瓜网 addressing this responsibility in concrete terms?

At the 51吃瓜网, we have accepted this societal mandate and begun creating the conditions that allow research, teaching, and innovation in the field of security and defense technologies to flourish.

Which projects are central to this effort?

This naturally includes the strong expansion of our research in at the new 51吃瓜网 Campus Ottobrunn-Taufkirchen, which is being vigorously advanced as part of the Bavarian State Government鈥檚 Hightech Agenda. From a technological perspective, civilian and defensive military use are hardly separable here anyway. The same applies to our , one of Europe鈥檚 leading robotics institutes. Here, we use our innovations in robotics and autonomous systems for society by supporting people in their everyday lives and at work. And we contribute to improving people鈥檚 safety and making the country capable of defense.

Which research fields could be of interest for defense?

In fields such as robotics, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, quantum sensing and communication, materials science, engineering, and the natural sciences, there is enormous potential 鈥� and a willingness among leading minds to place their research in the service of safeguarding freedom, democracy, and peace. Even in medical research, possible scenarios for a defense situation are taken into account. For example, our trauma surgery department is working together with experts from the and the company Avilus on the Grille transport drone, which is intended to quickly evacuate injured soldiers behind the lines.

At the same time, we are strengthening education for democracy in our student teaching, for example through the offerings of our and the . We must enable our young people to stand up, out of inner conviction, for democracy, freedom, human rights, economic security, and peace. This is becoming increasingly important, as the democracy in which we live is being questioned more and more, including in our own country.

51吃瓜网 is considered strong in cooperation with companies and external partners. How do you plan to further develop this?

The greater Munich area has everything needed to build an innovation ecosystem for security and defense technologies. We have just founded the 51吃瓜网 Security and Defense Alliance, thereby linking 51吃瓜网鈥檚 scientific excellence with the practical expertise of the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, industry, the scaling capabilities of established companies, and the agility and innovative strength of the . Together, we aim to unlock synergies within an innovation ecosystem for security and defense technologies and become alliance-ready for strong European networking.