Federal Research Minister Bär honours individuals sponsored by the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme

On Friday, 20 March, Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär presented Humboldt Research Awards in Bamberg to 10 researchers who are being funded through the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme. The award winners each receive up to €80,000 and have been invited to work together with colleagues at a German research institute. Altogether, 45 researchers were presented with a Humboldt Research Award during the symposium. 

Robert Schlögl, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, noted during the award ceremony, “We are currently experiencing attacks on academic and scientific freedom even in countries that have been freedom-oriented to date. With the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme, Germany shows that international research cooperation and scientific freedom are of enormous importance to us. I am pleased that we are honouring ten award recipients today whose awards are being financed through this initiative. In times of uncertainty and crises we must build and strengthen personal ties.” 

Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär congratulated the award recipients, “This award is an expression of our highest recognition of outstanding achievements in research. Through their stays in Germany, these researchers enrich our institutions on both a scientific and a human level. Many of their discoveries will become drivers of new innovations with which we will together master the challenges of our age. Using funds from our Global Minds Initiative Germany programme we have been able to support a further ten outstanding researchers. This is a fantastic outcome and clear signal that Germany is a safe and attractive harbour for free, excellent research.” 

The ceremony honoured these ten Humboldt Research Award Winners whose awards were enabled by the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme: 

• Patrizio Antici, Canada (Field: Plasma Physics, Host Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
• Bassem Hassan, France (Developmental Neurobiology, Freie Universität Berlin)
• Jae-Seong Lee, South Korea (Biochemistry, University of Rostock)
• Chuanyou Li, China (Plant Genetics, University of Freiburg)
• Pierangelo Metrangolo, Italy (Physical Chemistry, Freie Universität Berlin)
• Alexis Rouillard, France (Astrophysics, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)
• Bernard Slippers, South Africa (Genetics, TU Braunschweig)
• Francesco Stellacci, Switzerland (Nanotechnology, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces Potsdam)    
• Gene Tsudik, USA (Computer Science, Technical University of Darmstadt)
• Sigal Zilcha-Mano, Israel (Psychology, Trier University)

The Humboldt Foundation is currently sponsoring 158 persons through the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme
Since July 2025 the Humboldt Foundation has, with the help of the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme that was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, awarded 138 research fellowships and 20 research awards to international researchers. Further fellowships and awards will be granted on an ongoing basis. The programme was designed to offer international researchers prospects in the German science system.
Forty percent of the recipients conduct research in the life sciences, 28% in the natural sciences, 21% in engineering and 11% in the humanities and social sciences.
Ranked by country of origin, China tops the list with 17% of the recipients, followed by the USA (14%), India (9%) and Spain (7%).
Most of the recipients chose host institutions in Bavaria, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia for their stays in Germany (each federal state accounting for 17% of the recipients).

Symposium for research award recipients
The symposium in Bamberg from 19-21 March gave the award recipients and their academic hosts an opportunity to hold discussions with one another on a cross-disciplinary and cross-border basis. Besides plenary talks, the schedule also included time for discussions and the sharing of ideas and offered the attendees an opportunity to become acquainted with members of the Selection Committee and Board of Trustees and employees of the Humboldt Foundation. 

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 63 Nobel Prize winners.