Funding organisation discusses measures in response to authoritarian attacks in the United States and anti-intellectual currents in Germany – three-day meeting held in Hamburg 

The steadily increasing global attacks on science and the humanities as well as on freedom of research were the dominant theme of the annual meeting of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) in Hamburg. In discussions over the course of the three-day meeting, the statutory bodies of Germany’s largest research funding organisation and central organisation for the self-governance of science and the humanities focused in particular on the situation in the United States following the return of the Trump administration, as well as anti-intellectual currents in other countries, including Germany. 

In addition to the consequences for research and the researchers in the countries concerned – and for international academic collaboration more broadly – the debate also centred on possible support measures and mechanisms of resistance. One key question was how the German research system itself can become more resilient in the face of mounting threats.

Speaking in Hamburg, DFG President Professor Dr. Katja Becker described the situation in the United States as a “war on science”. In her address at the ceremonial event held as part of the annual meeting, Becker told an audience of approximately 400 guests from academia, politics and society: “Democracy, and science and the humanities are in the crosshairs. Funding cuts, the manipulation of law and the imposition of ideology are being systematically deployed to bring down autonomous individuals who think independently.” However, Becker also emphasised that targeted attacks on freedom of research are currently being observed in many other countries around the world: “Together with hostility towards the judiciary and the free press, these tactics serve to consolidate power through autocratic means.”

Focus on Solidarity, Support and Resilience

The research community must not remain passive in the face of these developments, said the DFG President: “Now is the time to stand up and take a stand!” She stressed that solidarity must also take concrete form – such as through the DFG’s own support measures, which include additional research agreements with affected organisations, joint publications, data-sharing initiatives and invitations to conferences involving at-risk researchers.

The DFG also plans to take part in the new German federal government’s proposed “1000 Köpfe plus” initiative, which aims to enable leading international researchers who are prevented from continuing their work in their home countries or institutions to pursue their research independently in Germany. At the recommendation of the Executive Committee, the DFG Senate and Joint Committee resolved in Hamburg to make such support possible in principle through both individual and collaborative funding programmes. Details of the scheme are to be elaborated in the coming weeks. “This initiative comes at precisely the right time as a means of support,” said President Becker, “and it also boosts the concept of global brain circulation.”

With regard to anti-intellectual currents within Germany, the DFG Senate already set up a working group at the end of March to help protect the long-term freedom and institutional autonomy of both the DFG and the German research landscape as a whole. As President Becker explained in Hamburg, this includes efforts to “close possible gateways for influencing the content and funding of research” – by strengthening the rules of procedure and governance frameworks of the DFG’s statutory bodies to make them more crisis-resistant, for instance. On many issues, the DFG is also committed to joint action through the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany – notably in the crucial area of research data security, as part of the DFG-led Alliance priority initiative “Digitality in Science”. Finally, efforts are also focused on strengthening individual resilience through advisory and support services for researchers. 

Meetings of the Statutory Bodies

Other topics discussed during the sessions of the statutory bodies at the annual DFG meeting included the new federal government’s initial science policy initiatives. From the DFG’s perspective, these signal a clear commitment to freedom of research and a strong research landscape, as well as a high level of trust in the innovative potential of scientific knowledge. One particularly powerful example of the close and constructive cooperation between science and politics was the recent unanimous selection of the 70 future Clusters of Excellence under the federal and state governments’ Excellence Strategy.

At the final General Assembly, President Katja Becker and Secretary General Dr. Heide Ahrens reported on the DFG’s funding activities and other developments since the 2024 General Assembly in Potsdam. Following their report, the representatives of the DFG’s member organisations adopted adjustments to the procedure and criteria for membership. Further information for organisations interested in joining will be made available shortly on the DFG website. Additional resolutions included an amendment to the DFG statutes concerning the structure and procedures of meetings and decision-making processes for statutory bodies, as well as an update to the rules of procedure for preparing and conducting elections and votes within the General Assembly – with a particular focus on election processes.

In the elections to supplement the statutory bodies, economist Professor Dr. Caren Sureth-Sloane (University of Paderborn) was newly elected to the DFG Executive Committee, while Vice Presidents Professor Dr. Karin Jacobs and Professor Dr. Peter H. Seeberger were re-elected for a second term. Six members were newly elected to the DFG Senate and six were re-elected for a second term. 

Annual Report Presents Updated Funding Figures

As outlined in the 2024 annual report presented at the General Assembly, the DFG funded a total of 30,944 projects last year, with an overall funding volume of approximately €3.9 billion. As in previous years, more than half of all funded projects – 16,963 projects or 54.8 percent – received individual project funding; a total amount of approximately €1.4 billion was approved for these. In the Research Training Groups, Collaborative Research Centres and other coordinated programmes, 877 consortia with a total of 11,976 projects received total funding of approximately €1.7 billion.

Broken down according to the major research disciplines, the life sciences received the most funding with about €1.4 billion (35.9 percent of the total amount approved), followed by the natural sciences with about €913 million (23.5 percent), the engineering sciences with about €780 million (20.1 percent) and the humanities and social sciences with about €656 million (16.9 percent); projects not assigned to a specific discipline received funding of approximately €146 million (3.7 percent).

Presentation of the Communicator Award 

In addition to the formal evening event held at the historic Fischauktionshalle in Hamburg-Altona – where Federal State Secretary for Research, Technology and Space, Dr. Rolf-Dieter Jungk, and Hamburg’s Senator for Science, Maryam Blumenthal, delivered welcome remarks – the annual meeting also featured a second festive occasion: the presentation of this year’s Communicator Award, jointly conferred by the DFG and Stifterverband. Endowed with €50,000 and regarded as Germany’s most significant award for excellence in science communication, this prestigious prize was presented at the Opernloft in the Old Ferry Terminal in Altona. This year’s recipient was Professor Dr. Petra Anders, a scholar at the Humboldt University of Berlin, who was honoured for her outstanding science communication in promoting reading and language skills among primary school pupils. 

The 2026 DFG annual meeting is to be held in Bonn. 

Further Information

The speech given by DFG President Katja Becker at the festive event entitled "Science and the Humanities in the Crosshairs" will be available on the DFG website from Thursday, 3 July.

Following this summary, further press releases will be issued providing details of key individual decisions made at the annual meeting. These will be continuously updated and made available in a digital press kit(interner Link). Photos from the festive event and the presentation of the Communicator Award are also available for download there.

Additional information is also available on the DFG website at www.dfg.de(interner Link) and via social media on 
LinkedIn(externer Link), Bluesky(externer Link), Mastodon(externer Link) and Instagram(externer Link). 

The full text of the DFG’s 2024 annual report is available at www.dfg.de/annual_report(interner Link), while a printed version can be ordered from: presse@dfg.de(externer Link)