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News 15 December 2020

Artificial Intelligence and the Society of the Future: 12 million euros of funding

The Volkswagen Foundation has approved a total of around 12 million euros for eight interdisciplinary and international research networks in the social and the engineering sciences that share an integrative focus on the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and society. The aim of this funding initiative is to strengthen interdisciplinary and trans-national research on socially responsible approaches to the further development of AI systems.

Interview 07 December 2020

When science fails: "You might as well spare yourself the effort!"

Science, too, has its share of failures and mistakes. But nobody likes to talk about it in public. The Journal of Unsolved Questions takes a completely different approach. It publishes zero results.

Grafik von einer Lostrommel.
Story 23 November 2020

8 theses for a lot element in research funding

Quality assurance is and remains absolutely indispensable for science. However, the limitations of peer review are becoming increasingly evident. New approaches are therefore urgently needed – such as the partially randomized selection of projects by lot.

Interview 05 November 2020

High level of acceptance for project selection by lot

In our interview, Dr. Dagmar Simon and Dr. Martina Röbbecke from Evaconsult report on initial results from their accompanying research project on the partially randomized procedure applied in the "Experiment!" funding initiative.

News 19 October 2020

PREMIER - a model for better research quality

Missing data, incomplete minutes, unclear research designs: many pre-clinical studies in biomedicine are not quite 100% robust. A team led by Charité researcher Prof. Dr. Ulrich Dirnagl is committed to improving research quality – so they developed PREMIER.

Interview 15 September 2020

On the way to an ideal science discourse

Corona gives science a shakeup. One effect is that researchers discuss their ideas more openly and share their data and results earlier. That is Open Science. Does openness make research better? A conversation with Ulrich Dirnagl.

Stories

Satellitenansicht der Innertropischen Konvergenzzone
Story 09 June 2026

Climate Research Using Old Ship’s Logs: the Wind Leaves no Trace on the Sea

Did a volcanic eruption in 1783 shift the tropical rain belt? Old ship’s logs could provide the answer – and also shed light on the future climate for millions of people living around the equator.

Mehrere Personen sitzen zusammen, eine Frau erzählt etwas, ein Mann tippt dabei an einem Laptop. Im Hintergrund sind Bananenpflanzen und ein Dschungel-Wald zu sehen.
Story 27 May 2026

A Pharmacy From the Rainforest: Remedies for the Mind

Fabien Schultz is searching for natural materials that can be used to treat mental health conditions. To this end, he is working with indigenous communities in Uganda and Tanzania – and with monkeys.

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