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

Sahika Inal | Bioengineering

Sahika Inal works at the intersection of materials science, biology and electronics. Her aim is to make functional polymer materials even more efficient and combine them with biological systems. More

Christopher Barner-Kowollik | Chemistry

Christopher Barner-Kowollik is a leading researcher in macromolecular photochemistry. Together with his team, he studies how light can be precisely controlled to produce new soft-matter materials such as light-controlled 3D printing. More

Ariel Dora Stern | Health economics

Ariel Dora Stern is one of the few researchers with a global reputation in her interdisciplinary research field at the crossroads of medicine, economics, health policy, statistics and health care management, publishing in scientific journals in all these areas.More

Michael Weber | Economics

The economist Michael Weber is a world-leading authority on household finance and inflation. He investigates how inflation is perceived, the role of expectations and why key economic players often fail to reflect the reality of people’s lives in their communications.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.

Position paper

Recommendations on Artificial Intelligence

Seven recommendations to the Government of Germany were developed during "Future of AI" summit of Alexander von Humboldt Professors in the field of AI (September 2023, Aachen) and were unanimously approved by the professors present.

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.

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

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.