The University of Aberdeen is set to launch an early retirement and voluntary redundancy scheme as it looks to cut costs by £10million to "protect the future of our university".
The university court - its highest governing body - has agreed a £10million savings plan to "ensure financial stability, eradicate annual uncertainty, and generate surpluses for investment".
A message sent to staff, signed by Gary McRae, Interim Senior Governor and Professor Peter Edwards, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, stated: "The challenges facing the UK higher education sector are well reported with many Scottish universities in deficit and this is simply not sustainable. We recognise the uncertainty this is causing and will continue to do our utmost to support colleagues through this time."
As part of this, future staffing budgets will be informed by indicative student:staff ratios (SSRs) of 20:1 for STEM disciplines and 25:1 for SHAPE.
The message to staff added: "Regrettably, this will mean we need to reduce our academic staffing numbers. Court and SMT remain committed to doing this by voluntary means as far as possible, and as a first step we are opening an ER/VS scheme within our academic community next week.
"The outcome of this scheme will be considered in the autumn alongside the latest student number position before agreeing any further action. While Court approved that compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out in the future, this remains a last resort."
Current indicative modelling suggests the university's academic workforce could be reduced by up to 111 full-time staff.
The message added: "Importantly, however, the focus of the decision made by Court was to reduce our costs, not to reduce our workforce by a specific number."
University Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Edwards said: “Scottish universities have never been more challenged.
"Decisive action is needed to protect the future of our University and allow us to return to a more stable footing to grow and succeed in a way that meets the needs of the communities we serve.”