Earth system sciences understand the world as a complex system. Phenomena of the Anthropocene, such as climate change, are the result of multiple interactions in this system concept, the interplay of which is researched by Earth system sciences. In order to establish this guiding principle in research and teaching, the Volkswagen Foundation has granted six junior professorships - with funding totalling around 10 million euros.

Is it such a good idea for researchers to collaborate with stakeholders from outside the academic community? A discussion on the risks and opportunities of transdisciplinary research that took place between Berlin-based mobility researcher Sophia Becker and Henrike Hartmann, Deputy Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, moderated by science journalist Christine Prußky.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of latex mattresses end up in the bulky waste in Germany. They are incinerated because there is no recycling process for them. The REFOAM research project aims to change this.

Election victories for authoritarian parties, demonstrations against the right, Fridays for Future and increasing populism: democracies in Europe are coming under pressure. The "ProDem" project has analysed the impact of protest movements on the development of democracy in six European countries.

In 2023, the Volkswagen Foundation approved more than EUR 600 million for scientific projects. Figures, data and facts from our 2023 annual report.

The Volkswagen Foundation's "Distributed Peer Review" experiment is well received by applicants, as a survey by the Research on Research Institute (RoRI) shows.