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

Once a year, Bamberg becomes a gathering place for leading researchers from throughout the world. This year, 45 researchers will be presented a Humboldt Research Award on 20 March during the symposium being hosted there by the Humboldt Foundation. Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär will be on hand for the event and will present the award certificate to ten researchers who are being sponsored through the Global Minds Initiative Germany programme. Award winners will each receive up to €80,000 and are invited to work together with colleagues at a German research institute.

Journalists are welcome to attend! Photos can be provided following the symposium.

Friday, 20 March 2026

• 8 p.m. Award ceremony
  Welcome: Robert Schlögl, President of the Humboldt Foundation
  Opening speech: Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) 

Venue: Welcome Hotel Residenzschloss Bamberg, Untere Sandstraße 32, 96049 Bamberg
Press contact on location: Kristina Güroff, Tel. 0151-14015796

The Global Minds Initiative Germany

The Global Minds Initiative Germany programme was launched in July 2025 by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). It strives to offer international researchers at various stages of their careers prospects in Germany and, in doing so, strengthen the country’s high tech agenda and raise its profile as an attractive location for conducting research. The Global Minds Initiative Germany draws on offerings from the Humboldt Foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as well as offerings from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for students and doctoral candidates. It enables the Humboldt Foundation to offer additional fellowships and awards and, in the process, bring more outstanding researchers to Germany. 

The symposium

The symposium in Bamberg is designed to give the award winners and their academic hosts an opportunity to hold conversations with one another on a cross-disciplinary and cross-border basis. It also offers them the opportunity to become acquainted with members of the Selection Committee and Board of Trustees and employees of the Humboldt Foundation. In addition to several plenary talks, there will be time for discussions and sharing ideas. 

Programme
Thursday, 19 March 2026 

• 8:30 p.m. Opening of the symposium with Robert Schlögl, President of the Humboldt Foundation, and Markus Zanner, Secretary General of the Humboldt Foundation, with lectures on Alexander von Humboldt and the history of Bamberg

Friday, 20 March 2026 

• Starting 9:30 a.m. Presentations and discussions
• 8:00 p.m. Award ceremony 

Saturday, 21 March 2026 

• Starting 9:30 a.m. Presentations and discussions
• 3 p.m. Tour of Bamberg and the Bamberg cathedral
   

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.