{{Short description|International academic organization}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox organization | name = Alexander von Humboldt Foundation | full_name = | native_name = Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung | native_name_lang = de | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Bonn, Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = <!-- see WP:ALT --> | caption = Building of Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung in Bonn | map = <!-- map image --> | map_size = <!-- defaults to 250px --> | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = <!-- 2nd map image, if required --> | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | nickname = | pronunciation = | pronounce_ref = | pronounce_comment = | named_after = | predecessor = | merged_into = <!-- any other organization(s) which it was merged into --> | successor = | formation = <!-- or |established = --><!-- use {{start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | founder = <!-- or |founders = --> | founding_location = | dissolved = <!-- or |defunct = --><!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | merger = <!-- other organizations (if any) merged with, to constitute the new organization --> | type = <!-- e.g., Nonprofit, NGO, etc. --> | tax_id = <!-- or |vat_id = (for European organizations) --> | registration_id = <!-- for non-profits --> | status = <!-- legal status or description (company, charity, foundation, etc.) --> | purpose = <!-- or |focus = --><!-- humanitarian, activism, peacekeeping, etc. --> | professional_title = <!-- for professional associations --> | headquarters = Bonn, Germany | coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} --> | origins = | region_served = <!-- or |area_served = or |region = --> | products = <!-- or |product = --> | services = | methods = <!-- or |method = --> | fields = <!-- or |field = --> | num_members = <!-- number of members --> | num_members_year = <!-- year to which membership numbers/data apply --> | language = <!-- or |languages = --><!-- any official language or languages used --> | owner = <!-- or |owners = --> | secretary_general = <!-- or |gen_sec for General Secretary --> | leader_title = President | leader_name = Robert Schlögl | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | board_of_directors = | key_people = | main_organ = <!-- or |publication = --><!-- organization's principal body (assembly, committee, board, etc.) or publication --> | parent_organization = <!-- or |parent_organisation = --> | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | ror_id = <!-- unique ID in the Research Organization Registry --> | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = | endowment = | endowment_year = | funding = <!-- source of funding e.g. for "think tanks" --> | num_staff = | num_staff_year = | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = | num_students = | num_students_year = | awards = | website = {{URL|www.humboldt-foundation.de}} | remarks = | former_name = <!-- or |former_name = --> | footnotes = | bodystyle = }} The '''Alexander von Humboldt Foundation''' ({{langx|de|Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung}}) is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other national and international partners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/about-us.html |title=About us |website=humboldt-foundation.de |access-date=19 February 2018 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414043414/http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/about-us.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/partners.html|title=Partners |website=humboldt-foundation.de |access-date=19 February 2018 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416164042/http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/partners.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Description == Annually, the Foundation grants over 700 competitive research fellowships and awards, primarily to academics in the natural sciences, mathematics and the humanities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/statistics.html |title=Statistical Trends |website=humboldt-foundation.de |access-date=19 February 2018 |archive-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416164039/http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/statistics.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship |url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/feodor-lynen-research-fellowship |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref> The fellowships and awards include significant prizes, such as the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship and Sofia Kovalevskaya Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preisverleihung der Alexander von Humboldt-Professuren am 13. Mai in Berlin |url=https://idw-online.de/de/news832748 |date=2024-04-29 |website=Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw-online.de) |language=de |access-date=2024-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sofja Kovalevskaja Awards |url=https://forschung.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/en/sofja-kovalevskaja-awards |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Ruhr-Universität Bochum}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/ |title=Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung - Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung |website=humboldt-foundation.de |access-date=2008-05-19 |archive-date=2020-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201223239/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== History ==
The Foundation was initially established in Berlin in 1860 to support German scientists conducting research abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History|url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/explore/about-the-humboldt-foundation/history|access-date=2022-01-31|website=humboldt-foundation.de|archive-date=2020-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612180558/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klagenfurt |first=Johannes |date=2013 |title=Rezension von: Die Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung und das Ausländerstudium in Deutschland 1925-1945 |url=https://www.sehepunkte.de/2013/10/22144.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |journal=sehepunkte |volume=13 |number=10 |language=de}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |url=https://studycor.com/organizations/funding/alexander-von-humboldt-foundation/ |website=Studycor |access-date=1 September 2018 |archive-date=1 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901145631/https://studycor.com/organizations/funding/alexander-von-humboldt-foundation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/press-release-2016-21.html|title=Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation - 21 - German Universities unite to provide more support for threatened researchers|website=humboldt-foundation.de|access-date=2016-09-23|archive-date=2018-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220151835/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/press-release-2016-21.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Prizes and scholarships== *Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, the most valuable research award in Germany (3.5/5 million Euros) *Humboldt grants for researchers to work in Germany<ref>{{Cite web |title=Humboldt Research Fellowship |url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/humboldt-research-fellowship |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref> *Feodor Lynen grants for researchers from Germany to work abroad *Humboldt Prize (Humboldt Research Award)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Humboldt Research Award |url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/humboldt-research-award |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref> *Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award, awarded jointly with the Max-Planck Society to a researcher from outside Germany<ref>{{Cite web |title=Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award |url=https://www.mpg.de/awards/max-planck-humboldt-research-award |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Max-Planck-Gesellschaft}}</ref> *Sofia Kovalevskaya Award, given from 2002 to 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/explore/newsroom/dossier-sofja-kovalevskaja-award|title=Dossier Sofja Kovalevskaja Award|website=www.humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/embryonic-research/|title=Embryonic research|first=Sidnei Santos de|last=Oliveira}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/sofja-kovalevskaja-award|title=Sofja Kovalevskaja Award|website=www.humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref> *Anneliese Maier research prize for humanities and social sciences from outside Germany * Georg Forster research prize for researchers from developing countries<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forschende aus Schwellen- und Entwicklungsländern ausgezeichnet |url=https://idw-online.de/en/news803941 |date=2022-02-11 |website=Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw-online.de) |language=de |access-date=2024-08-27}}</ref> * Gay-Lussac–Humboldt research prize to French scientists, awarded with the French Ministry for Education<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-17 |title=Appel à candidatures pour le prix scientifique franco-allemand Gay-Lussac Humboldt 2019 |url=https://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/fr/appel-candidatures-pour-le-prix-scientifique-franco-allemand-gay-lussac-humboldt-2019-46116 |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche |language=fr}}</ref> * Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel research prize (since 2001)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award |url=https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/friedrich-wilhelm-bessel-research-award |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=humboldt-foundation.de}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons}} * {{official website|https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/}} * [https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/apply/sponsorship-programmes/sofja-kovalevskaja-award Sofia Kovalevskaya Award]
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Category:Scientific research foundations Category:Scientific societies based in Germany Category:Organisations based in Bonn Category:Alexander von Humboldt Category:Foundations based in Germany Category:Government scholarships