More than 170 researchers from 40 countries to attend network meeting in Tübingen

One hundred and seventy-three young researchers from 40 countries will gather at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s network meeting being held at the University of Tübingen from 22 to 24 April 2026. The attendees are currently in Germany as researchers sponsored by the Humboldt Foundation and are working with colleagues at research institutes throughout the country. The event has the aim of acquainting the new Humboldtians with one another and with Tübingen, a city that is exemplary of Germany as a location for conducting research. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to talk with Foundation staff members and receive tips regarding living and conducting research in Germany.

Opening ceremony: Wednesday, 22 April 2026, 3 p.m.
Venue: University of Tübingen, Hörsaalzentrum (Lecture Hall Center), Auf der Morgenstelle 16, 72076 Tübingen
Journalists are welcome to attend! We will be glad to arrange interviews.

The network meeting will be opened at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 April, by Karla Pollman, Rector of the University of Tübingen, and Katrin Amian, Deputy Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The neuroscientist Anna Levina (Martius) will then give the keynote lecture "The many clocks of the mind: intrinsic timescales in the brain and AI". Working at the interface between mathematics, physics, and neuroscience, her interests lie in self-organization and optimality in neural networks. Her research focuses in particular on how complex systems – such as the brain – process information. In 2017 Anna Levina (Martius) was chosen by the Humboldt Foundation to receive the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award. She has been a professor of computational neuroscience at the University of Tübingen since 2018.

On Thursday, 23 April, the attending Humboldtians will visit research institutes at the University of Tübingen where researchers will present the work being done by their institutes and brief lectures will be held in specialist groups. The international attendees will also have the opportunity to establish contact with one another and with German colleagues. 
During the poster session that begins at 3 p.m., fellows will present the focus of their research (University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 16, 72076 Tübingen). Parallel to this, the Humboldt Foundation will present itself and its programmes to all interested parties during an informational lecture (University of Tübingen, Hörsaalzentrum, Room N8, Auf der Morgenstelle 16, 72076 Tübingen) from 3 p.m. on.

The line-up for Friday, 24 April, will feature a special programme for Feodor Lynen Research Fellows from Germany: Starting at 9 a.m., alumni will report on their experiences abroad. The discussions will additionally focus on opportunities and strategies for fellows returning to Germany.

The majority of participants at this year’s network meeting come from the natural and life sciences (68%), followed by the humanities and social sciences (20%) and engineering (12%). Most of the guests from abroad come from China (24), India (16), and Italy (13), followed by the USA (9).

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.