Academies of sciences and humanities

In these publications, options for action are outlined; making decisions, however, is the responsibility of democratically legitimised politicians. The experts who prepare the statements work in a voluntary and unbiased manner.

The Leopoldina represents the German scientific community in the international academy dialogue. This includes advising the annual summits of heads of state and government of the G7 and G20 countries. With 1,600 members from more than 30 countries, the Leopoldina combines expertise from almost all research areas.

Founded in 1652, it was appointed the National Academy of Sciences of Germany in 2008. The Leopoldina is committed to the common good.

As a working academy, acatech supports policymakers and society, providing qualified technical evaluations and forward-looking recommendations. Moreover, acatech is determined to support knowledge transfer between science and industry and to encourage the next generation of engineers.

acatech works to promote sustainable growth through innovation. Its work focuses on four core areas:

• Scientific recommendations: acatech advises policymakers and the public on future technology issues based on state-of-the-art research
• Transfer of expertise: acatech provides a platform for exchanging excellence between the sciences and business
• Promotion of young scientists and engineers: acatech is involved in supporting young scientists and engineers
• A voice for science and engineering: acatech represents the interests of scientists and engineers at the national and international levels

Die Junge Akademie has set itself two overriding tasks: encouraging academic, especially interdisciplinary, discourse among outstanding young academics as well as promoting initiatives at the intersection of academia and society.

The eight academies in the Union are:

• Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1992/1700)
• Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1751)
• Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1759)
• Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig (1846)
• Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1909)
• Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz (1949)
• North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts (1970)
• Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg (2004)

The Academies Programme

The Academies Programme (Akademienprogramm) is coordinated by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It is currently Germany’s most comprehensive research programme in the humanities and social sciences, bringing together research projects of the academies under one umbrella.

It involves about 140 projects with almost 200 working groups. The projects include dictionaries and editions in the humanities, long-term studies at the interface between the natural sciences and humanities as well as basic research projects in social sciences and cultural studies.

Once a year the academies affiliated in the Union organise the so-called Academies’ Day, where they present their research to the public at large.

The Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities administers the Academies Programme, which is funded equally by the German states (Länder) and the Federal Government with a total budget of 70.8 million euros (2020).  As the individual Academies of Sciences are state institutions rather than federal institutions, their basic budgets are funded solely by their respective states.