Young professors in Germany should be paid a salary matching that given to civil servants of similar rank and responsibility in other sectors, a court has ruled. The Karls-ruhe federal constitutional court made the announcement after it ruled in favour of a University of Marburg chemistry professor who complained that his basic salary was inadequate – public employers are required by law to provide adequate salaries. Judges said that his pay, which was less than that of secondary school teachers of a similar age, was “evidently insufficient”, Nature reported. Nationwide regulations introduced in 2005 allowed federal states to pay newly hired professors 25 per cent less than serving colleagues. The Hesse state government has a year to adjust the salaries of professors hired since 2005. The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) welcomed the decision. “This court ruling confirms our view that the [2005] salary regulations are in large parts unconstitutional,” Bernhard Kempen, the DHV president, said.
Source: Times Higher Education http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=419061&c=1