General Assembly elects six researchers to central scientific body / Six Senate members re-elected

At the DFG annual meeting in Hamburg, the General Assembly of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) elected six new members to the Senate of the largest research funding organisation and central self-governing organisation of science and the humanities in Germany. In addition, six Senate members have been elected for a second three-year term. The Senate is the central scientific body in which all matters of essential importance to the DFG are discussed and decided on, unless they are reserved for the Joint Committee as the principal decision-making body.

The Senate has a total of 39 members; the latter are also the Scientific Members of the Joint Committee. Of the six newly filled Senate seats, one is in the humanities and social sciences, two in the life sciences, two in the natural sciences and one in engineering. The new members’ term of office will begin on 1 January 2026. 

The following six members were newly elected to the DFG Senate:

• Clinical Medicine I: Professor Dr. Thomas Benzing, University of Cologne
• Molecular Chemistry: Professor Dr. Stefanie Dehnen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
• Systems Engineering: Professor Dr. Susanne Boll, University of Oldenburg
• Theoretical Medicine: Professor Dr. Oliver Kurzai, University of Würzburg
• Theoretical Physics: Professor Dr. Julia Tjus, University of Bochum
• Economics: Professor Dr. Miriam Beblo, University of Hamburg

The following were elected for a second term of office:

• Agricultural Sciences: Professor Dr. Georg Guggenberger, University of Hannover
• History: Professor Dr. Andreas Fahrmeir, University of Frankfurt/Main
• Computer Science: Professor Dr. Mira Mezini, TU Darmstadt
• Materials Science and Engineering: Professor Dr. Martina Zimmermann, TU Dresden
• Jurisprudence: Professor Dr. Heike Krieger, FU Berlin
• Sociology / Political Science: Professor Dr. Ursula Mense-Petermann, University of Bielefeld

On 31 December 2025, the following members will retire from the Senate:

• Clinical Medicine I: Professor Dr. Ansgar Lohse, University of Hamburg
• Molecular Chemistry: Professor Dr. Tanja Weil, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz
• Systems Engineering: Professor Dr. Helge Ritter, University of Bielefeld
• Theoretical Medicine: Professor Dr. Petra Dersch, University of Bremen
• Theoretical Physics: Professor Dr. Jan Plefka, HU Berlin
• Economics: Professor Dr. Caren Sureth-Sloane, University of Paderborn

The Senate is responsible for all major decisions in research funding in the run-up to concrete funding decisions as well as for all major decisions regarding the organisation of the review, evaluation and decision-making process. It also decides which review boards are to be formed and how these are to be structured. 

Of the 39 members of the Senate, 36 are elected for three years by the General Assembly based on a rolling system. In addition, the Presidents of the German Rectors’ Conference, the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities and the Max Planck Society are members of the Senate by virtue of their office. 

Further Information 

List of current Senate members and further information about the statutory body(interner Link)