The Academy of Sciences and Literature was founded on July 9, 1949, mainly on the initiative of Alfred Döblin and in cooperation with fellows of the former Berlin-based Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences who had moved toWestern Germany in the wake of World War II. Additional support and permission was provided by the French Military Administration and the government of Rhineland- Palatinate. The Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz is the only academy of sciences and humanities in Germany whose fellows include not only scholars and researchers, but also literary writers. Ordinary fellows must be residents of the Federal Republic of Germany at the time of their election, i.e. they need not be resident at the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the humanities, the Academy concentrates mainly on producing large editions and dictionaries as well as on compiling reference works and documentations. For example, it is home to the “Hittite Studies” project, which can be accessed online from all over the world via its Hittitology portal. The “Lessico Etimologico Italiano”, an outstanding example of German philological lexicography, is also based at Mainz. In the natural sciences, activities at the Mainz Academy focus mainly on long-term studies and data collection for basic research in subject areas such as medicine and biology. The social relevance of research on “New persisting viruses”, to name but one of the Academy's projects in this field, is self-evident. Furthermore, the Academy, on behalf of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, coordinates numerous large editions of the complete works of important composers (e.g. the complete edition of Haydn's works and the Complete Edition of Schönberg's works). The current President of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz is Professor of Anatomy, Prof. Dr. Elke Lütjen-Drecoll.