Opinion On no account a monoculture In the German science system, opportunities are not fairly distributed. It is time for change. By Jan-Martin Wiarda
Focus Keeping Prospects Alive Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the Philipp Schwartz Initiative
Focus Safe Haven: University When threatened researchers have fled abroad they need support to find their feet at university once again. Many institutions run special programmes in order to...
Focus Satisfied and Healthy: The Major Trends From vertical farming to personalised nutrition and cultured meat.
Focus Germany from the Outside The place, the people and academic life: after their stay, Humboldt Fellows complete an evaluation sheet. Read about the marks they award Germany.
Focus Obesity and Hunger Worldwide Is there a connection between obesity and hunger? There is no clear pattern to the distribution of hunger and obesity across the globe. Some special cases:
Focus Why Are People Here So Peculiar? We’re amazed, amused, confused or dumbfounded. Spending time abroad always puts our normal expectations to the test. What are the mechanisms that control our...
Focus Coming to Change Great flexibility, exemplary freedom of research and, last but not least, a vast amount of money: since 2008, the Humboldt Professorship has been attracting top...
Focus A Model Student With the Odd Blip The international visiting researchers sponsored by the Humboldt Foundation have handed us our report. A comment by Hans-Christian Pape, President of the...
Focus Our Administration Is Not Bloated At All Everyone has cursed them at some stage, though German authorities are better than their reputation according to administrative science specialists Geert...
Focus The Humboldt Code He was an obsessive networker, a daredevil and a marketing genius. The reports on his travels and adventures earned him star status. Today, on the 250th...
Focus For Me, Humboldt Today Means ... Anja Karliczek, Hans Christian Pape, Ranga Yogeshwar, Heiko Maas and Carolina Doran talk about their personal Humboldt.
Focus Everybody’s Star Whether as a discoverer, Romantic, Atlanticist, climate prophet or working class hero: Historian of science, Nicolaas A. Rupke, has investigated how the various...
Focus We Need Fearless Universities A conversation with Enno Aufderheide, Secretary General of the Humboldt Foundation, on recruiting research luminaries and the benefits they bring German...
Focus Humboldt Professor Burkhard Rost Curiosity is what drives him – “and the fascination with all the things we still don’t know about biology”. His goal: a bridge between medicine and biosciences.
Focus Humboldt Professor Elisabeth Décultot If you want to trace the history of knowledge transfer in the aesthetics of the 18th century, you need old books – and they exert a particular fascination on...
Focus Humboldt Professor Sharon Macdonald “Museums are extremely important for our societies because that is where people decide which things will play a role in the future,” says Sharon Macdonald.
Focus Humboldt Professor Karen Radner “I love the feeling of discovering something nobody has ever discovered before,” says Karen Radner, describing what drives her as a researcher.
Focus Humboldt Professor Oliver Brock To build robots that can deal with everyday tasks and situations just as well and as efficiently as people can – that is Oliver Brock’s mission.
Focus On Dangerous Paths They flee from violence and destruction just like other people, but because they are independent thinkers, researchers are often subject to greater threat.
Focus The Future on Our Plates Researchers, food giants and startups – they are all searching for tomorrow’s food.
Brief Enquiries What can stop you, Mr Guck? Recently, it was the 30th anniversary of my accident. I have now been in a wheelchair for almost twice as long as I was able to walk.
Brief Enquiries Mr Mole, how do queer people fare in exile? Even as a child I used to ask myself how people in different societies lived together and why things in other countries were so different from what I was used...
Brief Enquiries Ms Ombaka, what’s it like being a single parent and a researcher? My story begins four years ago. Three things happened in my life all at once: I was offered a new job at my university in Kenya, I was granted a fellowship by...
Brief Enquiries How Are You Taking Green Energy to Uzbekistan, Mr Hojamberdiev? Uzbekistan wants to establish renewable energies. But the country is short on expertise. Materials researcher Mirabbos Hojamberdiev has the knowledge required:...
Brief Enquiries How Do You Make Nano Robots out of DNA and Gold, Ms Liu? A mini robot that is made of the same material as our DNA, that can be controlled by light and that can move within a cell ? This is no longer a future vision.
Brief Enquiries What Does a Cave Bear’s Jawbone Tell Us, Ms Van Heteren? Anneke van Heteren has a penchant for skeletons. She studies bones to investigate the lifestyle of extinct mammals. Cave bears, which lived more than 25,000...
Brief Enquiries Mr Müllensiefen, How Does Music Make Children Smarter? The music psychologist from the University of London is a soughtafter expert when it comes to investigating the impact of music on people.
Brief Enquiries How Can You Sensitise Siri, Ms Gašić? Thanks to modern dialogue systems like Alexa and Siri, computers have become our everyday helpers: on voice command they deliver information, operate stereo...
Brief Enquiries How Does Mathematics Help Fishermen, Mr Fall? Mouhamed Moustapha Fall wants to develop a mathematically precise model based on the data relating to the catch and the fish stocks.
Brief Enquiries What Is the Key to Developing a Malaria Vaccine, Ms Osier? Very early on, the Kenyan Faith Osier dreamt of developing a vaccine to combat malaria. Every year in Africa, more than 400,000 people die of the infectious...
Brief Enquiries Can Aloe Vera Help to Cultivate Bone Cells, Ms Goonoo? Nowsheen Goonoo from Mauritius experiments with substances taken from indigenous plants.
Brief Enquiries Who Tells the Swarm Where To Go, Mr Jolles? Animal swarms have fascinated us for a long time. How do they coordinate their behaviour, who leads, who follows? This is one of Jolle Jolles’ research fields:...
Brief Enquiries Ms Omarini, What Do You Do With Discarded Citrus Fruit? Some people put orange peel in their dishwasher because it saves on rinse aid. Others put lemon peel in their wardrobes to fend off moths. Alejandra Omarini...
Brief Enquiries When Did Consumers Discover Their Power, Mr Trentmann? Ever more people are making conscious purchasing decisions in order to drive changes in society. A new consumer awareness? “Not at all,” says historian Frank...
Brief Enquiries Mr Yetisen, What Do You Read in Our Tears? Many diabetics have to test their blood sugar levels several times a day. Chemical engineer Ali Yetisen demonstrates that contact lenses can act as sensors in...
Brief Enquiries How Can the Impact of ADHD Be Minimised, Ms Roy? Although many children with behavioural disorders grow up to lead a normal life, others never find their place in society. Arunima Roy’s dream is to stop this...
Brief Enquiries How Do You Make Online Maps More Social, Ms Leal-Taixé? In her “Social Maps” project the computer scientist Laura Leal-Taixé wants to integrate social information into digital maps.
Brief Enquiries Is There a Connection Between Prejudice Against Black People and Police Violence, Mr Calanchini? It seems likely that racism could be the reason for police violence but, so far, no-one has published any scientific studies on the issue.
Brief Enquiries Can Literature Connect Worlds, Ms Fathy? Goethe, Schiller, Fontane and then what? The Egyptian Germanist Hebatallah Fathy wants to enrich German teaching in Germany.
Brief Enquiries What Is It About Polygamy, Mr Junker? In his book “Die verborgene Natur der Liebe” (The Hidden Nature of Love), the historian of biology Thomas Junker reveals that we are still creatures of nature.
Brief Enquiries Can Social Media Enhance the Quality of Research, Ms Shema? The information scientist Hadas Shema argues for recognising online commentaries as a component of quality assurance.
Brief Enquiries Mr Jacobsen, How Can Smartphones Influence the Energy Transition Anyone who wants to can take part in Hans-Arno Jacobsen’s research project – all you need is a smartphone.
Brief Enquiries Which Tree Has the Greatest Cooling Effect in Summer, Mr Rahman? When it gets too hot in street canyons in summer, many city dwellers head for the parks. No wonder: it can be up to five degrees cooler there than in the...
Brief Enquiries Mr Adum, How Do You Save Frogs? Gilbert Adum is Ghana’s frogman. As one of the founders and head of the SAVE THE FROGS! Ghana organisation, he passionately campaigns for the survival of the...
Close up on research The hidden costs of violence The Humboldt Professor Anke Hoeffler studies the causes of violence – whether in civil wars or people’s own homes – and what it eventually costs.
Close up on Research Witches, Fashion Fiends and Cabinets of Curiosities Ulinka Rublack’s book about the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who defended his mother in a witchcraft trial, caused a stir. Drawing on old sources, the historian...
Close up on Research The High-Flyer The biologist, Martin Wikelski, studies animal migration – from space. In his project ICARUS, he collects the data from animals fitted with GPS transmitters.
Close up on Research Energised Wilfred Fritz managed to carve his path through racial barriers and became one of the first non-whites to study at the South African Stellenbosch University.
Close up on Research The Fight against Obesity and Diabetes The number of overweight people in the world is increasing rapidly. Matthias Tschöp is searching for a drug to curb our voracious appetite and improve our...
Close up on Research “You Can Open A Shell Company in Five Minutes” Brooke Harrington spoke to people who only seldom give interviews, let alone divulge tax tricks. In order to get to the heart of the matter, the economic...
Close up on Research Spellbound by the Black Hole An international network of radio astronomers managed to take the first picture of a blck hole in space. Leader of the alliance: Humboldt Research Award Winner,...
The Faces of the Foundation Always Good for a Tango Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? Who are the people behind the scenes making sure that everything runs smoothly? This page is devoted to the...
The Faces of the Foundation The Rooftops of Berlin Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? Who are the people behind the scenes making sure that everything runs smoothly? This page is devoted to the...
The Faces of the Foundation Full Thrusters Ahead! Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? Who are the people behind the scenes? This page is devoted to the colleagues at the Humboldt Foundation. Today:...
The Faces of the Foundation The Science Behind It Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? These are the colleagues at the Humboldt Foundation, their lives at work and beyond. Today: Dr Johannes Belz.
The Faces of the Foundation Lots of Little Concerts Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? Who are the people behind the scenes making sure that everything runs smoothly? These are the colleagues at the...
The Faces of the Foundation Mrs @nline Who actually does what at Humboldt headquarters? Who are the people behind the scenes making sure that everything runs smoothly? These are the colleagues at the...
