Max Planck Director among the Humboldt Foundation’s first research talent scouts

MPIKG | As part of the Henriette Herz Scouting Programme, Prof. Dr. Markus Antonietti can now directly select three excellent young international chemists for a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

The aim of this program is to attract outstanding scientists to cooperate with a research institution in Germany. “For our institute, this means that we can quickly and unbureaucratically recruit excellent young scientists for a stay with us, who would fall through a scholarship grid due to a socially complicated environment or a non-linear career, for example,” says Markus Antonietti.

One of the conditions is that the first of three fellowships be awarded to a female researcher. The aim is to increase the proportion of women in the research fellowship programme. “Humboldt fellows are very often the highlights of our postdoc programmes, they change the scientific culture in their home countries and are often found later in the top positions of science,” says Antonietti, adding: “Over time, our institute has enabled about 100 professors to pursue careers. Overall, the Humboldt Fellowship Programme is one of the most sustainable for promoting international cooperation.”

In the first round, the Humboldt Foundation nominated a total of 33 scientists, including 10 women, as scouts. In the future, there will be 40 scouts. This program is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Pressemitteilung des MPIKG