Magna Charta Universitatum 2020 Declaration on the fundamental principles of universities worldwide

The Magna Charta Universitatum (MCU) brings together universal values and principles that connect universities across epochs and countries. The document was first drawn up in 1988, when the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the world, celebrated its 900th anniversary. More than 950 universities on every continent have since joined the MCU. In 2020, the manifesto was renewed to emphasize the responsibility of universities in global change.

With the joint signing, the universities of the Universitätsallianz Ruhr (UA Ruhr) have committed themselves to the values of the MCU. The Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen Professor Barbara Albert, the Rector of Ruhr University Bochum Professor Martin Paul as well as the Rector of TU Dortmund University Professor Manfred Bayer classify their commitment:

“In Germany, we often take for granted the independence and inseparability of fact-based research and teaching, open in dialogue and free from political influence and economic interests. But in other parts of the world, freedom of research and teaching is fiercely contested. With the Magna Charta Universitatum, renewed in 2020, we accept the responsibility to promote university values and to use our research to address global challenges in order to develop solutions to preserve the planet. Health, prosperity, and intellectual enlightenment are fundamental values that universities, with their global knowledge networking, help to realize.“

Universities are living actors in our society, generating and publishing new knowledge with increasing dynamism, at the same time that global trust in science is declining. All the more, Magna Charta Universitatum aims to position universities as the places from which fact-based research, analysis and informed action emanate.