Neuroscientist Sarah McCann wants to improve the quality of biomedical research and make it more reproducible. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding her research as a pioneering project in the new profile area "Understanding Research – Evaluation and Science Practice".

There is less and less free space for scientifically controversial discussions. The Yehudit and Yehuda Elkana Fellowship Program wants to create this space for scientists.

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.

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.

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.

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.