2026 – Freedom is our most precious possession

The New Year has begun just as turbulently as the old one ended. It is not surprising that many of those who comment on the current situation are tempted to quote the Irish poet, W.B. Yeats: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” Yeats’s cultural diagnosis referred to the inter-war years of the last century, but its echo seems to resonate with us today.
I am not going to join in with this swan song. Whilst I am worried about the global situation, I am not pessimistic. Rather, our motto should be: We are processing the end of many familiar certainties and searching for other ways of achieving our goals. 

Science observes, draws conclusions and develops solutions and we are realising that we are currently experiencing an epochal watershed. The number of autocracies is increasing. The survival of the fittest seems to be the order of the day, alliances are crumbling, the rule-based international order seems to be disappearing.  

And science is affected, too. Around the world, researchers in our network are reporting on shifts and losses. Thanks to the work of our Ugandan Humboldt alumna, Sara Namusoga, we know that certain geopolitical actors, especially China, are having a huge influence on media content in African countries. Besides enormous Chinese investment in African infrastructure, this is another example of the shift in the geopolitical balance of power. Freedom seems to be under severe pressure. 

The freedoms enshrined in our constitution – the freedoms of opinion, the press and science – are our most precious possessions. Freedom is the precondition for individual and collective well-being as well as for long-term peace at home and abroad. Protecting and reinforcing freedom is our common European mission.  

2026 is thus the year in which, together with the Federal Foreign Office, we can look back on ten years of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative. What it really means to have your freedom to ask critical questions and pursue your research curtailed – this is something the 600 fellows in the protection programme named after the German physician, Philipp Schwartz, can report on. Hailing from 30 countries, in the last ten years, they have found a safe haven at German institutions. 

Freedom is also an indispensable precondition for a sustainably functioning science system and thus for progress, affluence and improving the quality of life of people all over the world. Admittedly, knowledge targeting technological progress can be produced on a significant scale in authoritarian states, as well. But only completely free, knowledge-driven basic research will continue to facilitate those often coincidental discoveries and understanding for the needs of human beings that have advanced humanity. 

It gives me hope to live in a country that is aware of the significance and role of science and research and that acts accordingly. By introducing the Global Minds Initiative, the Federal Government has quickly and effectively provided additional investment. Together with the Research Minister, Dorothee Bär, we were already able to welcome the first Humboldt Fellows of the Global Minds Initiative to Germany last year. 

Moreover, in the context of the new programme, the Humboldt Foundation has introduced a substantial innovation: the Humboldt Research Professorship. We enable top researchers from abroad to establish their creative research activities at German universities and research institutions without having to relinquish their position abroad. This makes Germany attractive for researchers in fiercely contested research fields. Without programmatic restrictions we thus make a significant contribution to implementing Germany’s Hightech Agenda. Universities can nominate suitable candidates until 15 March. 

Especially in a multipolar world with changing alliances, strong connections and stable networks are indispensable. These do not necessarily have to be the arena of diplomats, as Minister of State, Serap Güler, recently emphasized in words of welcome to representatives of the Humboldt Foundation: “On the contrary, the bridges that scientists have built between each other prove to be more robust.”  

Free and strong science is one of Germany’s greatest strengths. We are looking to the future with confidence because we trust in this strength. In the name of the Humboldt Network and the 300-plus staff at the Humboldt Foundation in Bonn and Berlin, please be assured that we strive every day to strengthen resilient academic relations through collaborations all over the world and to protect the freedom of science.  

In this spirit, I wish us all an optimistic and successful 2026. 

Sincerely, 

Robert Schlögl