Martin F. Polaschek (; born 22 November 1965) is an Austrian legal scholar and legal historian who has served as Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research in the

Nehammer government The Nehammer government () was sworn in as the 35th Government of Austria on 6 December 2021. It was headed by Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer. On 5 January 2025, after the end of negotiations with the SPÖ and NEOS, Nehammer res ...

since 6 December 2021. An Independent, he was nominated by the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP). As of 2003, Polaschek was vice-rector of the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

; from October 2019 to December 2021 he served as rector.

Life

After graduating from high school in 1984, Martin Polaschek began studying law at the

, completing his master's degree in 1988. In 1992, he received his doctorate he attended the University of Graz for

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

, in 2000 he did

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

and was an associate professor at the Institute for Austrian Legal History appointed and European Legal Development at the Law Faculty of the University of Graz. In 2003 he became Director of Studies and Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching at the University of Graz. He was a member of the expert group on the future of teacher training and is the spokesman for the Austrian Vice Rectors for Teaching. His academic focus lies in the areas of contemporary legal history as well as

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

and local government research. He has been President of the Post-War Justice Research Center since 2006 and is an expert on

denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

. On 8 February 2019 he was appointed by University Council for rector of the University of Graz selected. He succeeded Christa Neuper in this role on 1 October 2019. As part of the government reshuffle in December 2021, it became known that Martin Polaschek would be the non-party successor to

Heinz Faßmann Heinz Faßmann (born 13 August 1955 in Düsseldorf) is an Austrian politician and professor of human geography and land-use planning at the University of Vienna. He served as the Ministry of Education (Austria), Minister of Education in the Second ...

as Minister of Education and Science in the

. The management of the University of Graz was initially taken over by the previous Vice Rector Peter Riedler.

Awards

*2004 Archduke Johann Research Award of the State of Styria for In the Name of the Republic of Austria! The people's courts in Styria 1945 to 1955.

Publications

*1992: The development of the law in the first republic. Legislation in constitutional and criminal law from 1918 to 1933, dbv-Verlag für die Technische Universität, dissertation 1992, ISBN 978-3-7041-9048-2 *1997: The district representatives in Styria between 1918 and 1938. Democratic self-government or superfluous authority?, Styrian Provincial Archives, *Graz 1997 *1998: In the name of the Republic of Austria! The People's Courts in Styria 1945 to 1955 , Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv, Graz 1998, ISBN 978-3-901938-01-6 *1999: Federalism as a Value? A study on reform possibilities of the Austrian federal state, prepared on behalf of Modell Steiermark , Aktion Vision Modell Steiermark, Graz 1999, ISBN 978-3-9501048-0-6 *2002: The future of the municipalities in the federal state: a survey among Austria's mayors, together with Herbert Schwetz, Leykam, Graz 2002, ISBN 978-3-7011-7456-0

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaschek, Martin 1965 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Graz University of Graz alumni 21st-century Austrian historians Austrian people of Czech descent Rectors of universities in Austria 21st-century Austrian politicians Ministers of education of Austria Austrian legal scholars