Annually, the Foundation grants over 700 competitive research fellowships and awards, primarily to academics in the natural sciences, mathematics and the humanities.[3] These enable scientists and scholars from around the world to conduct research in Germany, collaborating with a host and partner of their choosing. In addition, the Foundation funds German scholars through the Feodor Lynen Fellowships, allowing them to pursue research projects worldwide with a host and partner who must have previously held an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship.[4] The fellowships and awards include significant prizes, such as the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship and Sofia Kovalevskaya Awards.[5][6] Fellowships and awards from the Foundation are considered among the most prestigious and generous in Germany. Its alumni network, comprising over 26,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries, including 57 Nobel laureates, is the foundation's greatest asset.[7]
History
The Foundation was initially established in Berlin in 1860 to support German scientists conducting research abroad.[8] It was named after the polymath Alexander von Humboldt. In 1923, during the hyperinflation, the Foundation ceased operations due to capital constraints. It was re-established in 1925 with a new goal: to attract talented, pro-German students from other countries to study and research in Germany.[9] Following the fall of Germany in 1945, the Foundation closed for a second time. It was re-established in Bonn-Bad Godesberg on December 10, 1953, under the leadership of physicist Werner Heisenberg, with a new mission: “to grant fellowships to academics of foreign nationality, without regard to gender, race, religion, or ideology, to enable them to continue their academic training by a study-visit to Germany“.[10] In 2016, the Foundation helped establish the German Section of the Scholars at Risk (SAR) network, a group of research institutions, universities, and science organizations committed to supporting at-risk academics and promoting academic freedom.[11]
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