Universities are under reform and the societal role of the institution is a topic of debate. With cutbacks, publicly funded universities are increasingly being subjected to governance based on performance measurements and marketization. The ‘value and relevance’ of specific disciplines and ‘academia’ more broadly raises heated political and public discussions, and digitization and AI transform many disciplines and the labour market for academic candidates etc.

In response to such ‘external factors’, university researchers and managers may object that the university is ruined by neoliberalism; that freedom of research is threatened and that ideally the university should be guarded from (too much) societal and political interference. But the university has always existed as part of society and contributed to society and has been shaped by the specific societal and cultural milieu it is part of. 

The purpose of engaging with the topic of 'The Societal Contract(s) of the University' is to engage researchers from different disciplines in presenting and debating how they, from their local and specific position, see the societal contract of the university today to collaborate on patching together a joint vision.