The employees of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) have decided in a free, equal and secret ballot in favor of establishing an Institute Council and its statutes. Around 68 percent of the votes cast were in favor - paving the way for employee participation at the institute. This primary election is the result of a democratic process at HPI. The staff had previously discussed the structure of the committee in detail at several staff meetings and town hall events.

The Institute Council is to have a say in matters such as dismissal, transfers, mobile working, vacation policies and measures to promote mental health. In addition, a transparent salary structure is to be created for all employees, the design of which is also subject to co-determination. In the event of conflict, a strong arbitration process has been established. The statutes of the Institute Council also enables student assistants and scholarship holders to be represented in this body.

The HPI management would like to thank the founding team of the Institute Council, which conducted the negotiations on the statutes in the interests of the entire staff. HPI Managing Director Prof. Tobias Friedrich on the result of the vote: "With this democratic decision, our institute is taking a new path towards more co-determination in the scientific community. Employees from the administration and technology departments, scientific staff, scholarship holders and student assistants will have a say in the future development of our institute. We are delighted that, together with staff representatives, we have now created the institutional basis for this."

In a further democratic step, employees can put themselves forward as candidates for the election to the Institute Council. The vote on the composition of this board at the Hasso Plattner Institute will take place in May.

The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam is Germany's university center of excellence for digital engineering, advancing research and education in IT systems engineering, data engineering, cyber security, entrepreneurship, and digital health. With its bachelor‘s and master’s degree programs, the Faculty of Digital Engineering, established jointly by HPI and the University of Potsdam, offers innovative engineering- and application-oriented study programs. At present, more than 1000 students are enrolled in the program. HPI consistently earns a top-notch place in the CHE University Ranking. The d-school, HPI’s School of Design Thinking, is Europe’s first innovation school for university students. It is based on the Stanford model of the d.school and offers 160 places annually for a supplementary study. At HPI there are currently twenty-two professors and over 40 other lecturers and teaching staff. HPI conducts research noted for its high standard of excellence in its IT topic areas. PhD candidates carry out research at the HPI Research Schools in Potsdam and its branches in Cape Town and Irvine. The focus of HPI’s teaching and research is on the foundations and applications of large, highly complex and networked IT systems. In addition, HPI concentrates on the development and research of user-oriented innovations for all areas of life.