(...) Against the backdrop of advancing demographic change and the associated challenges of labor shortages on the one hand and increasing financial requirements of pension systems on the other, the interdisciplinary conference explored the extent to which voluntary longer work can be a building block in solving these problems. The focus was on the situation at German universities and how this can be improved. This is because there is a high level of willingness among professors to work beyond the normal retirement age. However, the existing legal provisions are only rudimentary, which in practice leads to a patchwork quilt in the German university landscape.

From a legal perspective, the conference analyzed the legal framework under civil service and higher education law, taking into account the prohibition of age discrimination under European law. From an economic point of view, the conference dealt with the economic effects of demographic developments on the one hand and the individual business interests of a university on the other.

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The speakers and participants of the hybrid conference came from all over Germany. Prof. Jeffrey M. Hirsch from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also contributed a comparative law perspective. Insights into the practical processes at the universities were not neglected: On Monday, the Rector of the University of Wuppertal, Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff, gave a lecture. At the end of the conference, the President of the University of Augsburg, Prof. Dr. Doering-Manteuffel, also took part in a panel discussion.

The results of the conference are the "Augsburg-Freiburg Theses on Securing Prosperity through Voluntary Longer Employment", which make constructive suggestions for improving the practice of extending the employment of professors at universities. They are intended to increase legal certainty and acceptance of the decision for all parties involved and thus also legal peace.

The presentations given by the participants at the conference will also be collected and published in a conference volume.