Niklas Boers
Interview Dec. 13, 2021

Climate change: "It’s absolutely vital to act now"

Freigeist Fellow Niklas Boers develops novel prediction models for the earth and climate system. In this interview, he explains what findings they are already delivering - and what should be concluded from them.

News Dec. 08, 2021

Artificial Intelligence: Nearly 10 million euros in funding for new projects

With its "Artificial Intelligence" funding initiative, the Volkswagen Foundation is strengthening interdisciplinary and transnational research into the responsible further development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. It is now funding seven project consortia from the social and technical sciences with a total of 9.8 million euros in this context.

Frau mit Maske auf der Stirn, ein Mann dahinter mit Maske auf dem Mund
Story Oct. 05, 2021

Science Communication: A Question of Perspective

As the covid crisis has shown: If scientific arguments are to be taken seriously in the public discourse and subsequently acted upon, researchers must make a greater effort to master the rules of today’s mediatized society. The following is a subjective situation report in five sequences.

News Sep. 21, 2021

Afghanistan: Special funding for refugee researchers

With special funding, the Volkswagen Foundation offers researchers who have fled Afghanistan the chance to continue their work in Germany. This is made possible by additional funds for funded projects and further fellowships at the Academy in Exile. A total of up to 2.9 million euros will be available for this purpose.

Interview Aug. 24, 2021

Science Communication: "The right call at the right time"

With 15 million euros, the Foundation is funding four centers for science of science communication. An interview about qualification criteria and the contribution to a highly topical field of research.

News Aug. 02, 2021

Volkswagen Foundation Grants 10.6 Million Euros for Eight "Challenges for Europe" Projects

As nationalist forces increasingly strain Europe's cohesion, the "Challenges for Europe" funding initiative brings together partner research institutions from East and West. The variety of topics in this open call for proposals is great: It ranges from AI-assisted asylum policy and civil movements to strategies against social polarization.