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The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's research awards are granted in recognition of a researcher’s entire achievements to date. Awards include an invitation allowing award winners to spend a period of up to one year at cooperating on a research project of their own choosing with specialist colleagues in Germany.
In 2009, the Humboldt Foundation’s research award programmes underwent evaluation. The results endorse the concept on which the programmes are currently based but do also allow inferences to be drawn on the potential for further development and optimisation.
The Humboldt Foundation’s research award programmes have developed into a highly valued instrument, respected worldwide, for promoting excellence. As a result of award winners’ research stays at host institutes a wealth of new dynamics is introduced into German science, manifesting itself in the form of sustainable contacts, joint research projects and publications.
Although most award winners have already spent time in Germany in the course of their research activities before being granted an award, their awareness of developments in Germany in their area of research increases during their new research stay. Later, more than one in four award winners take on the role of host for a German Feodor Lynen Research Fellow. For more than half of these German fellows the contact with the award winner has a very positive or even decisive influence on their later careers.
These are just some of the many results of the evaluation which produced recommendations for the continued development and optimisation of the research award programmes. A summary of these results and recommendations is available for download.