03 June 2009, No. 21/2009

Humboldt Foundation guests of Federal President Köhler

More than 600 foreign academics and their families will get together in Berlin on 8 and 9 June for the Humboldt Foundation’s Annual Meeting. On this occasion the Foundation will grant the first ever Humboldt Alumni Award for innovative networking initiatives.

From Egypt to Belarus, from Ancient American Studies to Cytogenetics: the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is welcoming more than 600 scientists and scholars from 70 countries to Berlin. They are involved in research in the most diverse disciplines and are currently staying in Germany as Humboldt Research Fellows or Award Winners.

The Annual Meeting will be opened on Monday, 8 June at 5 pm in the Henry Ford Building of Berlin Free University by the President of the Humboldt Foundation, Helmut Schwarz, and the President of Berlin Free University, Dieter Lenzen. During the evening the first ever Humboldt Alumni Award for innovative networking initiatives will be granted. Each year, the award will recognise proposals submitted by researchers in its worldwide network to extend the academic and cultural bonds between Germany and the award winners’ own countries and contribute to promoting the alumni networks in these countries. The first award winners are the literature scholar, Adjai Paulin Oloukpona-Yinnon from Togo, the ecologist, Bakhtyjar Karimov from Uzbekistan and the horticultural scientist, Odunayo Adebooye from Nigeria. They will each receive approx. 25,000 EUR. Funding for the award is being provided by the German Foreign Office and the Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association).

On Tuesday, 9 June at 10.15 am, the Federal President, Horst Köhler, will hold a reception for the Humboldtians and their families in the gardens of Chateau Bellevue. Prior to the reception the President will bestow the Philipp Franz von Siebold Award, valued at 50,000 EUR, on the Japanese linguistics scholar, Professor Dr. Akio Ogawa, from Kwansei Gakuin University, for his exceptional services to enhancing mutual understanding of culture and society in Germany and Japan

During the entire meeting the researchers will be available for interviews. They will be able to provide information on living and working in Germany and their own countries and on their own individual research projects.

Journalists are welcome to attend all the events. Please note that accreditation is essential in order to attend the Federal President's reception and must be obtained by Friday, 5 June using the answer fax. 

Press contact during the event:
Barbara Wieners-Horst, Tel. +49(0) 0160 – 97230304

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation annually enables more than 1,900 researchers from all over the world to spend time researching in Germany. The Foundation maintains a network of some 23,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in 130 countries worldwide - including 41 Nobel Prize winners.