Humboldt Foundation’s Annual Meeting and reception with Federal President Steinmeier

More than 670 international researchers from the Humboldt Network are set to gather in Berlin on 24 and 25 June. The opening of this year’s meeting on 24 June will feature particularly prominent guests: The Humboldtian Benjamin List, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, will hold the keynote address and Robert Schlögl, President of the Humboldt Foundation, will give the opening speech. Early in his career, List received a fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation which he used to conduct research at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, USA, in 1997-98. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2021. Germany’s Federal Minister of Research Dorothee Bär and Minister of State in Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Serap Güler will also address the attendees. The Ambassador of Japan to Germany, Mitsuko Shino, and Serap Güler will take the podium to discuss German-Japanese scientific relations.

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The participants come from all over the world: 636 scientists and scholars from more than 70 countries, who are currently guests at a German university thanks to assistance from the Humboldt Foundation, are expected to attend. Many will be coming with their families. Most of the participants come from China (85), India (80) and the USA (61), but also from Brazil (39), Italy (30) and Nigeria (14), to name a few. They will be joined by members of the Foundation’s network in Germany.
The aim behind the Humboldt Foundation’s Annual Meetings is to provide a setting where Humboldtians can get acquainted and share information and ideas with one another. Standing as examples of Humboldt Fellows, Candace Brakewood from the USA and Eman Elbelasy from Egypt will report on their experiences during their respective research stay in Germany.

Reception to be hosted by Germany’s Federal President in the Humboldt Forum on 25 June
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier traditionally invites the attendees at the Annual Meeting and their families to a reception. This year’s reception will not be held in the park of Schloss Bellevue, the president’s official residence, because the building is being renovated. Instead, the reception will, with a nod to the foundation’s eponym, be held in the Humboldt Forum.
Before this, President Steinmeier will present the 2026 Philipp Franz von Siebold Award to Masashi Urabe, an education researcher at the Faculty of International Studies at Hiroshima City University, Japan, for his outstanding scientific work and his exceptional contributions to fostering exchange between Germany and Japan. 
Lectures and tours of laboratories and the campus of Adlershof Science and Technology Park will be held for attendees in the afternoon.

Individuals sponsored by the Global Minds Initiative will also be on hand in Berlin
Seventy-five individuals being sponsored by the Global Minds Initiative will also be attending the Annual Meeting where they will meet Research Minister Bär for a photo session. Since July 2025 the Humboldt Foundation has, with the help of the Global Minds Initiative that was established by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, awarded 213 research fellowships, 45 research awards and five Humboldt Professorships 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.

Information on attending for media representatives

During the entire Annual Meeting, the researchers will be available for interviews about, for example, living and conducting research in Germany and their country of origin, and about their own research projects.
Journalists are cordially invited to attend on both days. We will be glad to arrange interviews.

Please apply for accreditation by 10 a.m. on Monday, 22 June 2026, at the latest, by sending an E-Mail with the following information:

• Programme activity you would like to attend
• Contact information
• Name of media organisation
• Copy of your press ID

If you are a journalist who is not accredited by Germany’s Federal Press Office, but would like to attend the reception being hosted by the German president for Humboldtians in the Humboldt Forum, please also indicate your date and place of birth. Please additionally bring a valid ID (passport or government-issued identity card) and press card with you to the event. 

Contact on location for the media on 24 und 25 June:
Nina Hafeneger, Tel. +49 160 97287564

Programme

Opening of the Annual Meeting 
Time: Wednesday, 24 June 2026, 6 p.m.
Venue: Max Kade Auditorium, Henry Ford Building at Freie Universität Berlin, Garystr. 35, 14195 Berlin
With speeches by Benjamin List (Humboldtian and Nobel Laureate), Robert Schlögl (President of the Humboldt Foundation), Dorothee Bär (Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space), Serap Güler (Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office), Mitsuko Shino (Japanese Ambassador to Germany), among others.

Reception to be given for Humboldtians by Germany’s federal president 
Time: Thursday, 25 June 2026, 9:45 a.m. (admission from 8:30 am to 09:15 a.m.)
Venue: Humboldt Forum, Schlüterhof, Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin, entrance for accredited journalists: Portal 1 Nikolaiviertel

Humboldt Lunchtime Fair 
Time: Thursday, 25 June 2026, 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Venue: Adlershof Science and Technology Park (WISTA), Rudower Chaussee 17, 12489 Berlin

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.