Dear Humboldtians,
Another successful year at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is coming to an end – not least thanks to the support provided in so many ways by our friends and partners. You, the Foundation’s alumni all over the world, are the focus of our attention. And it is to you that we should like to express our particular thanks for supporting our common goals.
What were the innovations of the last year, and what is the Foundation planning in future? In 2009, more than 800 new research fellows and award winners became members of the Foundation’s network – and have joined an illustrious circle: witness the fact that this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson, both Humboldtians.
We are currently anticipating the first selection round for the new International Climate Protection Fellowships. From 2010, prospective leaders from threshold and developing countries will receive sponsorship to allow them to address a topic in the field of climate protection and resource conservation.
2009 also saw the advent of the Humboldt Alumni Award. Every year, three initiatives designed to promote the Humboldt Network will be eligible to receive funding of up to 25,000 EUR each. The 2010 initiatives will be selected this coming February. Applications for the 2011 award may be submitted until 30 November 2010.
During the current year, 42 alumni in four continents have been actively working for the Foundation as Humboldt Ambassador Scientists. And we are now planning to appoint Ambassador Scientists in Germany, too. This is one of the ways in which the Foundation is recruiting additional academic hosts for foreign fellows and award winners as well as enlisting junior researchers from Germany for a research stay abroad.
If you know of any colleagues who might be suitable candidates for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s international research sponsorship programmes, please make them aware of our portfolio. You, the Humboldtians, are our very best ambassadors.
On behalf of the President, and in the name of all the staff at the Foundation, I should like to wish you and your families a happy and prosperous New Year. We are certainly looking forward to continuing our productive and successful cooperation with you.
Very best wishes,
Dr. Gisela Janetzke
Deputy Secretary General
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Jean-Paul-Strasse 12
53173 Bonn
GERMANY
