Dossier Alexander von Humboldt Professorship

With a value of five million euros, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship is the most highly-endowed research award in Germany and draws top international researchers to German universities.

Humboldt Professorship: International researchers at German universities

Angela Schoellig | Robotics and artificial intelligence

How can we push back the limits of machine learning? And what limits do we need to set to robots’ autonomous decision-making?. Angela Schoellig is searching for the answers. more

Henning Walczak | Biochemistry / Immunology

As a Humboldt Professor at the University of Cologne, Henning Walczak pursues the “from bench to bedside” approach to amalgamate pre-clinical and clinical research to a greater extent. more

Andrea Bréard | History of science

Mathematician, science historian, sinologist and philosopher Andrea Bréard investigates the history of mathematics in China. more

Kou Murayama | Psychology

What motivates us? What increases our motivation and what dampens it? Kou Murayama explores these questions with a particular eye to learning processes. more

Joacim Rocklöv | Epidemiology and Public Health

Is there a link between climate change and the spread of disease? Joacim Rocklöv informs this controversial discussion by delivering important data and analyses. more

Coming to Change: About the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
Best Of Award Ceremony Alexander von Humboldt Professorship 2022

About the Humboldt Professorship

How many Humboldt Professorships are being awarded? What is the purpose of the award funds? Can Germans receive the award? Who can nominate candidates? When are decisions made, negotiations conducted and awards granted?

Background

Porträts der vier Alexander von Humboldt-Professor*innen: Karen Radner, Giuseppe Caire, Aimee van Wynsberghe und Jens Meiler
News

A Boost for Germany as a Science Base

More than 100 Humboldt Professors are now working at German universities and research institutions – four of them report on their experiences

Podcast cover: AI and Us - what Artificial Intelligence means for our lives
Podcast

AI and Us – what artificial intelligence means for our lives

In the ten-part podcast “AI and Us”, AI experts talk about their research field and answer the most important questions on artificial intelligence.

Binnenflüchtlingscamp Hasan Sham
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.

Focus

Coming to Change: Humboldt Professors

Great flexibility, exemplary freedom of research and, last but not least, a vast amount of money: since 2008, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship has been attracting top international researchers to Germany.

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 Elisabeth Décultot.

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 universities.

Multimedia report

Humboldt Professor Margaret Crofoot

The behavioural ecologist Margaret Crofoot describes her research methods and talks about her role as a model for women in science.

Brief Enquiries

Humboldt Professor Jochen Guck

The Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light emphasises: "In my experience, academia is the ideal environment for diversity. Research continuously scrutinises established patterns of thought."

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 British ethnologist Sharon Macdonald.