FAQ on the Collaboration Platform of Berlin University Alliance
The Collaboration Platform (Kooperationsplattform) serves as the administrative service provider for the implementation of a portion of the joint alliance projects. It will support the four partner institutions of the Berlin University Alliance in achieving these alliance goals, thus taking on a purely service-oriented function. The Collaboration Platform is established as a public-law corporation (Körperschaft öffentlichen Rechts, KöR), making it an independently operational entity for the administrative tasks it is tasked with fulfilling.
Members of the Collaboration Platform as a public-law corporation (Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts, KöR) are solely the partner institutions themselves, which are legal entities of public law, and not their respective individual members. To avoid any difficulties in distinguishing them from the members of the partner institutions, the term "partners" is used in the KöR law instead of "members" to refer to the partner institutions. The legal form of KöR was chosen for the Collaboration Platform to provide it with a transparent and enduring structure, facilitating collaborations among the partner institutions while maintaining equidistance from them.
As a public-law corporation, which can only be established by law (in this case, by the state of Berlin), the Collaboration Platform provides an efficient, stable, and legally secure framework for the implementation of projects within the Berlin University Alliance. Through this, the state of Berlin offers researchers and administrations of the individual partner institutions new opportunities for the administrative and technical management of projects.
The Collaboration Platform assists the partner institutions and their researchers in implementing joint alliance projects and supports scientific collaborations between the partner institutions and other stakeholders.
Through the Collaboration Platform, funding decisions of the Berlin University Alliance are implemented and administratively supported in collaboration with the partner institutions; the research itself takes place exclusively at the partner institutions.
No, the chosen legal framework ensures that the Collaboration Platform does not limit the institutional sovereignty of the individual partner institutions. Research projects are exclusively conducted within the facilities of the partner institutions. The Collaboration Platform does not undertake tasks that were previously within the sole responsibility of a partner institution. Instead, it focuses on additional tasks arising from the cross-institutional nature of the alliance's goals and projects.
Yes, employment relationships established decentralized at the partner institutions prior to the establishment of the public-law corporation (KöR) are intended to be transferred to the Collaboration Platform. Upon the establishment of the KöR, employment relationships will be directly established with the Collaboration Platform.
The organs of the Collaboration Platform include the Executive Board, composed of the presidents and the chairman of the boards of the partner institutions, as well as the Advisory Board, representing the status groups of the partner institutions along with joint representatives of the women's representatives, representatives for disabled employees, and employee representatives.
The Collaboration Platform can exclusively request, accept, and utilize funds from third parties to fulfill its own (administrative) tasks, for example, sponsorship funds for a joint event. External funding for research projects cannot be solicited, as the Collaboration Platform is not an institution engaged in research activities.