The Foundation Staff

At present some 100 people work directly for the Volkswagen Foundation – in the "Staff Divisions" of the Secretary General as well as in the departments "Funding", "Investment Management" and "Finance and Administration".

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Selahattin Danisman
Dr. Selahattin Danisman

Program Director

T +49 511 8381-256
F +49 (0)511 8381-4256
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Additional Information

Funding Initiatives:

Subject Areas:

  • Health Sciences
  • Medicine
Gabriele Darge
Gabriele Darge

Assistant; Accounts Payable

T +49 (0)511 8381-268
F +49 (0)511 8381-4268
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Dettenwanger.jpg
Dr. Franz Dettenwanger

Program Director; Coordination Niedersächsisches Vorab

T +49 511 8381-217
F +49 (0)511 8381-4217
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Additional Information

Program Director in the funding team "Challenges — for Academia and Society", has been responsible for projects from the engineering and material sciences as well as mathematics.

Background: Studied Physics at the University of Tübingen and  NMI Reutlingen, Doctoral studies in the area of Materials Science at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research at the University of Stuttgart, later research assistant; previously worked for DECHEMA, Frankfurt am Main, in the areas of research and research funding.

Subject areas:

  • Computer Sciences  
  • Engineering Sciences  
  • Mathematics  

Funding initiatives:

Program Director
Dr. Pavel Dutow

Program Director

T +49 (0)511 8381-396
F +49 (0)511 8381-4396
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Additional Information

Program Director in the funding team "Challenges – for Academia and Society". Responsible for projects in life sciences, especially in Biomedicine.

Background: Studies of Biology with focus on Microbiology, Genetics, and Biochemistry at the University of Göttingen (Institute of Microbiology and Genetics). Doctoral studies and Postdoc at the Hannover Medical School (Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology).

Subject Area:

  • Biomedicine

Funding initiatives: