News Feb. 18, 2021

Freigeist Fellowships: 12.2 million euros for nine exceptional research personalities

Nine early career scientists have been awarded prestigious Freigeist Fellowships for their daring projects. A Freigeist Fellowship offers creative minds maximum freedom and a clear time perspective for their research.

Henrike Hartmann und Georg Schütte
Interview Feb. 16, 2021

"Swimming ahead of the tide"

The Foundation develops a radical new take on the future: and asks its researchers to do the same. A talk on strategy with Georg Schütte and Henrike Hartmann.

Dr. Cora Schaffert-Ziegenbalg und Dr. Selahattin Danisman betreuen die Förderinitiative.
Interview Jan. 12, 2021

Global health in times of high mobility

Green light for 15 projects under the global call for interdisciplinary research on "Mobility – Global Medicine and Health Research". The following interview surrounds first experiences with a funding offer that has unintentionally become topical in the wake of the corona pandemic.

News Dec. 15, 2020

Artificial Intelligence and the Society of the Future: 12 million euros of funding

The Volkswagen Foundation has approved a total of around 12 million euros for eight interdisciplinary and international research networks in the social and the engineering sciences that share an integrative focus on the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and society. The aim of this funding initiative is to strengthen interdisciplinary and trans-national research on socially responsible approaches to the further development of AI systems.

Interview Dec. 07, 2020

When science fails: "You might as well spare yourself the effort!"

Science, too, has its share of failures and mistakes. But nobody likes to talk about it in public. The Journal of Unsolved Questions takes a completely different approach. It publishes zero results.

Grafik von einer Lostrommel.
Story Nov. 23, 2020

8 theses for a lot element in research funding

Quality assurance is and remains absolutely indispensable for science. However, the limitations of peer review are becoming increasingly evident. New approaches are therefore urgently needed – such as the partially randomized selection of projects by lot.