The ''German Science and Humanities Council'' (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) is an advisory body to the German Federal Government and the federal state governments. It makes recommendations on the development of science, research, and the universities, as well as on the competitiveness of German science. These recommendations involve both quantitative and financial considerations, as well as their implementation. Funding is provided by the federal and state governments.
[']
' – Functions and Organization
The Science and Humanities Council's ''Scientific Commission'' has 32 members appointed by the Federal President. Twenty-four scientists are jointly proposed by the ''
German Research Foundation'', the ''
Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science'', the ''
German Rectors' Conference'', the ''
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres () is the largest scientific organisation in Germany. It is a union of 18 scientific-technical and biological-medical research centers. The official mission of the Association is "solving the g ...
'', the ''
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society () is a German publicly-owned research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on Basic re ...
'', and the ''
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community
The Leibniz Association (German: ''Leibniz-Gemeinschaft'' or ''Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz'') is a union of German non-university research institutes from various disciplines.
Funding and Structure
As of 2020, 96 non-u ...
''. Another eight persons of high public standing are jointly proposed by the Federal Government and the federal state governments.
Tasks
In the recent past, the German Council of Science and Humanities expressed its views in its statements, recommendations, and position papers on various topics, including university construction (2022), the transformation of scientific publishing to
Open Access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
(2022), and
science communication
Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities that connect science and society. Common goals of science communication include informing non-experts about scientific findings, raising the Public awareness of science, public awar ...
(2021). In 2020, it published the position paper "Impulses from the
COVID-19 Crisis for the Further Development of the Science System in Germany," which described ten challenges for research to be crisis-proof. In 2019, it called for more funds for
peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violence, violent and nonviolence, nonviolent behaviors as well as the structural violence, structural mechanisms attending Conflict (process), conflicts (including ...
. In the same year (2019), it issued a statement on the further development of university medicine in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
. In 2016, the Council produced a position paper on knowledge and technology transfer. In 2015, in a position paper titled "Major Societal Challenges" internationally referred to as societal challenges or grand challenges, it called for the "integration and flexible recombination of knowledge on ecological, technological, social, cultural, and economic aspects of a transformation process."
Presidents
Presidents (''Vorsitzender'') of the organization:
Wolfgang Marquardt neuer Vorsitzender des Wissenschaftsrats
– New president of the Council of Science and Humanities
* 1958–1961 – Helmut Coing
* 1961–1965 – Ludwig Raiser
* 1965–1969 – Hans Leussink
* 1969–1972 – Reimar Lüst
* 1972–1976 – Theodor Heidhues
* 1976–1979 – Wilhelm A. Kewenig
* 1979–1982 – Andreas Heldrich
* 1982–1985 – Hans-Jürgen Engell
* 1985–1987 – Heinz Heckhausen
* 1987–1989 – Kurt Kochsiek
* 1989-1993 – Dieter Simon
* 1993–1994 – Gerhard Neuweiler
* 1994–1996 – Karl-Heinz Hoffmann
* 1996–1998 – Dagmar Schipanski
* 1998–2001 – Winfried Schulze
* 2001–2006 – Karl Max Einhäupl
* 2006–2011 – Peter Strohschneider
* 2011–2014 – Wolfgang Marquardt
* 2014–2017 – Manfred Prenzel
* 2017–2020 – Martina Brockmeier
* 2020–2023 – Dorothea Wagner
* 2023–present – Wolfgang Wick
See also
* Educational accreditation in Germany
Notes
External links
German Science and Humanities Council
{{Authority control
Humanities organizations
Arts organisations based in Germany
Scientific organisations based in Germany
Arts organizations established in 1957
Science policy in Germany
Scientific organizations established in 1957
1957 establishments in West Germany