Welcome

How can bu­reau­cra­tic pro­ces­ses be un­ders­tood, cri­ti­cal­ly ex­ami­ned, im­pro­ved, or trans­for­med across dif­fe­rent con­texts? Aca­de­mic en­ga­ge­ment with this topic re­qui­res an in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry ap­proach. The sandpit format pro­vi­des the ideal frame­work for this. The call for pro­po­sals for the new 2026 annual theme is open until the end of March 2026.

Jan Schwab assumed the newly es­tab­lished Pro­fes­sor­ship for Cli­ni­cal and Ex­pe­ri­men­tal Pa­ra­ple­gio­lo­gi­cal Re­se­arch at Charité – Uni­ver­si­täts­me­di­zin Berlin on January 1. The ap­point­ment is made jointly with  Un­fall­kran­ken­haus Berlin (ukb). This ap­point­ment was made pos­si­ble by Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft through its pro­fes­sor­ship program aimed at re­crui­t­ing out­stan­ding sci­en­tists from abroad.

Re­se­arch lights up the dark – in every season. Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft wishes you happy ho­li­days and a great start to 2026, filled with op­ti­mism, drive, and cu­rio­si­ty.

From No­vem­ber 25 to 27 experts from syn­the­tic biology, bio­en­gi­nee­ring, com­pu­ter science, me­di­ci­ne, ethics, and policy gathe­red in In­gel­heim for an in­ten­si­ve Sandpit Work­shop funded by Wübben Stif­tung. The work­shop focused on the safe use of ge­ne­ra­ti­ve AI for bio­lo­gi­cal se­quen­ces.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft is funding two more sandpit work­shops in the natural sci­en­ces and en­gi­nee­ring. A work­shop in In­gel­heim from No­vem­ber 25 to 27 will look at using ge­ne­ra­ti­ve ar­ti­fi­ci­al in­tel­li­gence (AI) in mole­cu­lar design. This will be fol­lo­wed next year by a work­shop in Lübeck on as­sis­ti­ve ro­bo­tics in re­ha­bi­li­ta­ti­on and care. The aim of both work­shops is to in­itia­te new re­se­arch pro­jec­ts, streng­t­hen in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry dia­lo­gue, and si­gn­post re­spon­si­ble ways of hand­ling data and AI.

From October 22 to 24, 2025, fifteen in­ter­na­tio­nal experts met in Vaals on the German Dutch border to discuss how neu­ro­tech­no­lo­gi­cal in­no­va­tions can be used re­spon­si­b­ly in the work­place. 

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft is pro­vi­ding €1.2 million to fund two more in­ter­na­tio­nal ap­point­ments at German uni­ver­si­ties. Com­pu­ter sci­en­tist Pooja Rani is trans­fer­ring from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Zurich to Mann­heim. Be­ha­vio­ral sci­en­tist and tech­no­lo­gy expert David Finken is moving to the School of Ma­nage­ment at the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty of Munich.

When re­se­ar­chers move abroad, their part­ners often leave careers behind. Without the right support, many fa­mi­lies cut their stay short—costing uni­ver­si­ties va­lu­able talent. From tailo­red coa­ching to Europe-wide career net­works, Mark de Vos—one of our experts on in­ter­na­tio­nal mo­bi­li­ty and group leader for in­ter­na­tio­nal mo­bi­li­ty at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Co­pen­ha­gen—ex­plo­res how dual career pro­grams are turning re­lo­ca­ti­on chal­len­ges into success stories.

Star­ting October 1, 2025, 55 stu­dents will begin their final year of study with fi­nan­ci­al support from Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft. They were no­mi­na­ted by re­p­re­sen­ta­ti­ves of the Clus­ters of Ex­cel­lence and de­mons­tra­te a strong in­te­rest in the major re­se­arch ques­ti­ons of their field.

How do you balance world-class in­ter­na­tio­nal re­se­arch with German aca­de­mic bu­reau­cra­cy? Bio­che­mist Thomas Schlicht­här­le, who has worked at re­now­ned in­sti­tu­ti­ons in Boston and Seattle, chose to return to Germany—despite lu­cra­ti­ve al­ter­na­ti­ves in the U.S. In this in­ter­view, he talks about sala­ries beyond the $250,000 mark, un­tap­ped start-up po­ten­ti­al, and his wish for a more dynamic German re­se­arch system.

Five ex­cel­lent re­se­ar­chers have moved from Harvard, Stan­ford, Prince­ton, Queen Mary Uni­ver­si­ty of London, and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Sou­thern Denmark to take up pro­fes­sor­ships at German uni­ver­si­ties with support from Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft. The new ap­poin­tees will rein­force the re­se­arch being done in Germany into sub­jec­ts of im­por­t­an­ce for the future: from quantum com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on and climate policy to mi­gra­ti­on and the en­vi­ron­ment­al­ly fri­end­ly de­gra­da­ti­on of plastics.

Ora Hazak took up the Maria Sibylla Merian Pro­fes­sor­ship at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Münster in January 2025. In this in­ter­view, the plant bio­lo­gist talks about buil­ding sci­en­ti­fic net­works, na­vi­ga­ting pa­per­work, and why she is crea­ting a step-by-step guide to welcome in­ter­na­tio­nal re­se­ar­chers. 

From iden­ti­fy­ing global re­se­arch hubs to tar­ge­ted out­re­ach and struc­tu­red hiring time­li­nes, success lies in proac­tive en­ga­ge­ment, vi­si­bi­li­ty, and strong in­te­gra­ti­on support—for re­se­ar­chers and their fa­mi­lies alike. This article by our expert Ma­de­lei­ne Lüthy tog­e­ther with her col­league Sara van Leeuwen from ETH Zurich ex­plo­res how uni­ver­si­ties can move beyond passive hiring and embrace in­ter­na­tio­nal re­cruit­ment stra­te­gi­cal­ly.  

An in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry team laid the ground­work for SHARE — a syn­the­tic health data re­po­sito­ry for rare di­sea­ses — at the second Sandpit work­shop of the Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft in Frank­furt. The goal is to create a stan­dar­di­zed, privacy-com­pli­ant, and openly ac­ces­si­ble data en­vi­ron­ment that sup­ports the trai­ning of AI models and global health re­se­arch. For rare di­sea­ses, high-quality data is often dif­fi­cult to access — or en­t­i­re­ly un­avail­ab­le.

The third sandpit event funded by Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft in the social sci­en­ces will explore re­spon­si­ble ways of using brain-com­pu­ter in­ter­faces (BCIs) in the work en­vi­ron­ment. A brain-com­pu­ter in­ter­face con­nec­ts the human brain to a machine – either through non-in­va­si­ve methods such as elec­tro­en­ce­pha­logra­phy (EEG) or via im­plan­ted elec­tro­des. How can these in­no­va­tions in neu­ro­tech­no­lo­gy be re­con­ci­led with ethical stan­dards, fair­ness, and social in­clu­si­on? This is the ques­ti­on that experts from en­gi­nee­ring, ethics, labor law, me­di­ci­ne, trade unions, and in­dus­try hope to answer in the sandpit setting. 

At the first Sandpit work­shop funded by the Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft, an in­ter­na­tio­nal, in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry team came tog­e­ther in Saar­brü­cken to explore how to develop an AI-powered mo­ni­to­ring system for child­ren with cancer in their homes.

How can Germany attract out­stan­ding in­ter­na­tio­nal aca­de­mics to pro­fes­sor­ships, and what con­di­ti­ons do they need for a suc­cess­ful start? At the be­gin­ning of April, Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft pre­sen­ted its pro­grams to the deans and those re­spon­si­ble for ap­point­ments at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Münster on the oc­ca­si­on of wel­co­m­ing Ora Hazak, the first tenure-track pro­fes­sor funded by the foun­da­ti­on.

On 2 and 3 May, Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft wel­co­med the 2025 Student Grant cohort to their of­fi­ci­al meeting at the Wann­see­fo­rum in Berlin. In an in­spi­ring setting, par­ti­ci­pants ex­ch­an­ged ideas and worked tog­e­ther on pro­s­pec­ts for their future aca­de­mic careers.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft has laun­ched its Ad­van­ced Pro­fes­sor­ship funding program to secure top in­ter­na­tio­nal re­se­ar­chers for German uni­ver­si­ties. The program sup­ports uni­ver­si­ties in their efforts to appoint and in­te­gra­te leading re­se­ar­chers from abroad. Uni­ver­si­ties can apply for up to €1.6 million for a maximum of four years.

German uni­ver­si­ties must take a stra­te­gic ap­proach to global re­cruit­ment to stay com­pe­ti­ti­ve in the evol­ving in­ter­na­tio­nal aca­de­mic land­s­cape. With the U.S. be­co­m­ing less at­trac­tive for re­se­ar­chers and China’s sci­en­ti­fic in­flu­ence rising, Germany has a unique op­por­tu­ni­ty to attract top talent. To succeed, uni­ver­si­ties must enhance their appeal, refine re­cruit­ment stra­te­gies, and prio­ri­ti­ze on­boar­ding mea­su­res to ensure a smooth tran­si­ti­on, in­te­gra­ti­on, and long-term re­ten­ti­on of in­ter­na­tio­nal re­se­ar­chers, says Ca­th­le­en Fisher, one of our Experts on In­ter­na­tio­nal Mo­bi­li­ty. 

Through its Sandpit funding program, Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft sup­ports the de­ve­lop­ment of in­no­va­ti­ve and highly re­le­vant re­se­arch ap­proa­ches. The first call for pro­po­sals focused on pro­jec­ts that unlock new ways of using big data in cli­ni­cal re­se­arch. Two pro­mi­sing in­itia­ti­ves have now been selec­ted for funding: a project to build a syn­the­tic health data re­po­sito­ry called SHARE, and a pionee­ring project for home-based health mo­ni­to­ring in pe­diatric on­co­lo­gy.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft is funding two tenure track pro­fes­sor­ships at German uni­ver­si­ties for out­stan­ding re­se­ar­chers re­crui­ted from abroad. Mole­cu­lar bio­lo­gist and plant re­se­ar­cher Ora Hazak is trans­fer­ring to the Uni­ver­si­ty of Münster from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Fri­bourg in Switz­er­land. Bio­che­mist Thomas Schlicht­här­le is joining the Tech­ni­cal Uni­ver­si­ty of Munich (TUM) from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wa­shing­ton, Seattle (USA).

“Making it Work – Best Prac­tices in Hiring In­ter­na­tio­nal Tenure Track Pro­fes­sors” was the title of a work­shop that the Foun­da­ti­on or­ga­ni­zed with in­ter­na­tio­nal experts in Berlin at the end of No­vem­ber. Six uni­ver­si­ties were invited, each having de­le­ga­ted a team of three par­ti­ci­pants, con­sis­ting of the uni­ver­si­ty’s (vice-)pre­si­dent, a re­p­re­sen­ta­ti­ve of its aca­de­mic ap­point­ments de­part­ment, and a re­p­re­sen­ta­ti­ve of its in­ter­na­tio­nal de­part­ment. The in­ter­na­tio­nal experts and the Foun­da­ti­on were im­pres­sed with the re­spon­se and the keen in­te­rest shown by the uni­ver­si­ties.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft will be laun­ching four new calls for its Sandpit program next year. Having kicked off the program with “Big Data in cli­ni­cal re­se­arch” in 2024, the Foun­da­ti­on’s follow-up calls in 2025 will be looking for in­no­va­ti­ve project ideas on Big Data in the social sci­en­ces, the natural sci­en­ces, en­gi­nee­ring, and the hu­ma­nities.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft is sup­por­ting 54 stu­dents with one-year student grants worth €550 per month from the start of the winter se­mes­ter. The grants will enable stu­dents in the final phase of their degree pro­grams to con­cen­tra­te fully on their re­se­arch. The re­ci­pi­ents come from 14 dif­fe­rent coun­tries, in­clu­ding India, Iran, Spain, and the USA, and re­p­re­sent a range of dif­fe­rent subject areas, es­pe­ci­al­ly biology, physics, en­gi­nee­ring, and me­di­ci­ne. 

Our sand­pits offer re­se­ar­chers at all career levels the freedom they need to develop new re­se­arch ap­proa­ches in a crea­ti­ve, in­ter­di­sci­pli­na­ry en­vi­ron­ment. Up to 20 curious minds are invited to work tog­e­ther to give shape to a topic. They are given a heading, but are other­wi­se not cons­trai­ned by any pro­vi­si­ons. 

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft will again hold two online in­for­ma­ti­on ses­si­ons on June 25 and July 8 for all in­te­rested parties. The ses­si­ons will cover the funding pro­grams and the ap­p­li­ca­ti­on process.

Wenn Neu­gier­de am Anfang der Er­kennt­nis steht, dann steht Ir­ri­ta­ti­on nicht selten am Ende. Denn Wissen, das unsere Wahr­neh­mungs- und Ur­teils­rou­ti­nen außer Kraft setzt, ir­ri­tiert uns. In unserer neuen Ge­sprächs­rei­he wollen wir uns ge­mein­sam mit dem Pu­bli­kum ir­ri­tie­ren lassen von un­ge­wöhn­li­chen For­schungs­fra­gen, ori­gi­nel­len Me­tho­den oder neu­es­ten Er­kennt­nis­sen.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft has awarded its first round of scho­l­ar­ships to 30 out­stan­ding stu­dents en­rol­led at German uni­ver­si­ties. Star­ting with the 2023/24 winter term, they will be pro­vi­ded with a monthly grant of €550 for one year.

Two days of peer-to-peer lear­ning for heads of German uni­ver­si­ties: On De­cem­ber 7 and 8 2023, Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft’s newly laun­ched Pre­si­dent Coa­ching program sup­por­ted six first-time uni­ver­si­ty pre­si­dents and rectors to prepare for their lea­dership roles.