Welcome

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.

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.

“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 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).

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. 

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.

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.