At a Leopoldina symposium held on December 19, 2022, the Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation Dr. Georg Schütte presented a new funding initiative. Fifty years after publication of the "Limits to Growth" report, the foundation creates a renewed geo-scientific focus on the Earth system as a whole. 

The foundation provided around 800,000 euros for the substantial and sustainable improvement of PhD training in Georgia. Ilia State University and the Rustaveli Foundation also participated in the financing of the pilot program.

In 2021, the Volkswagen Foundation approved EUR 238.8 million for scientific projects. The most important figures, data and facts from our 2021 annual report.

Around 17 million euros for unusual, high-risk research projects: Thirteen scientists were able to convince in the assessment process and receive a Freigeist Fellowship, which offers them maximum freedom for their research.

In the following interview, Hanna Denecke, leader of the "Exploration" funding team, and Tobias Schönwitz, funding officer for the NEXT program, explain how we are paving the way for new topics and research methods under the NEXT funding framework.