The German academies of sciences and humanities are scholarly societies as well as non-university research establishments. As their working is based on continuity, independence and excellence, they are able to tackle research projects requiring sustained efforts over long periods of time, such as the compilation of scientific dictionaries, encyclopaedias or critical editions of the complete works of great thinkers or musicians, or the carrying out of long-term observations in the natural sciences. Thus, the academies establish stores of knowledge and information. In making their dictionaries, encyclopaedias, editions and series of measurements available to other scientists as well as to the general public, the academies provide a welcome fund of information to be used in individual research, in scientific discussions or in dealing with problems relating to specific professions.

The Academies’ Programme is a programme, financed jointly by the Federation and the federal states (Länder) since 1979/80, for the funding of long-term research projects in the humanities and the natural sciences. Run by the German academies of sciences and humanities, it is one of the Federal Republic of Germany’s most comprehensive research programmes in the humanities. The Academies’ Programme is coordinated by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It comprises (as of 2010) a total of 157 projects with 205 working groups. The projects consist of 24 dictionaries, 117 editions, 14 long-term observations in the natural sciences and two basic research projects from the field of cultural and social sciences. Their staff amounts to a total of more than 600 employees. Furthermore, more than a hundred university teachers work on a voluntary basis as heads of projects.

In order to be eligible for funding by the Academies’ Programme, projects must meet the following criteria: they must be of national significance and high academic relevance standards, must have a duration of 12 to 25 years, and be calculated for at least 120.000 Euro per year. A special Committee on “Research Promotion”, on which the Federation and the Länder are represented, manages the budget of the Academies’ Programme, and decides on the admission of new and the continuation of running projects, on the basis of the financial and programme planning drawn up by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities. Since 2006, the Academies’ Programme is put out to public tender.

Individual academies also carry out research projects of their own, which are funded directly by the Land in which the academy concerned has its seat, or with money from third-party funds.

In order to promote the emergence of new talent in science and the humanities, or to honour outstanding research achievements or lifetime achievements in science, the German academies award numerous prizes, medals and scholarships. Irrespective of the prize money that goes with them, these academic awards are very special marks of honour. Award presentations are formal ceremonies, which usually take place at the public anniversary celebrations of the academies. For most awards, candidates cannot apply but have to be proposed.

Furthermore, the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities joint in the Union increasingly support certain forms of promoting junior researchers. For example, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Leopoldina initiated a “Junge Akademie”, the Academy of Sciences and Humanities at Heidelberg started the “WIN-Kolleg” and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Humanities founded the “Junges Kolleg” for the support of junior researchers.