| The Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities is the umbrella
organisation of eight academies of sciences and humanities that have joined
together to promote their common interests. It assembles more than 1600
scholars from a diverse range of academic fields, all of which are outstanding
representatives of their disciplines, both nationally and internationally. Together,
they are committed to promoting scientific exchange, excellent research, and
the emergence of new talent in the liberal arts and sciences. The Union coordinates the “Academies’ Programme”, one of Germany’s most
important and most comprehensive research programmes in the humanities
and cultural studies, the Union thus organises the joint research projects of its
member academies. It promotes the exchange of information and experience
between academies, engages in public relations activities and organises events
on current issues in academe. Furthermore, the Union represents the German
academies of sciences and humanities abroad and sends delegates to national
and international science organisations. Academies of sciences and humanities in the German language area actually
began to cooperate systematically more than a hundred years ago, forming
the so-called “Cartel” at Leipzig in 1893, which sought to put into effect joint
research projects. The Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities has been a
member of the Council for German Orthography since 2002 and is represented
there by Prof. Dr. Werner Besch, a scholar at Bonn University and a member
of the Northrhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Since 2007, the Union of the German Academies has been among the sponsors
of the “New Responsibility Foundation” initiative, which aims to create
networks of outstanding young talents in Germany. The Union is represented
on the board of directors by its president and on the executive board by its general
secretary. The president of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
represents the Union in several national and international institutions, e.g.
on the board of trustees of the German Research Council, in the senate of the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, on the board of trustees of the Stifterverband
für die Deutsche Wissenschaft or in the executive committee of the
InterAcademy Panel (IAP).
The eight academies forming
the Union are
the following:
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and
Humanities (1992/1700), seat:
Berlin and Potsdam
Göttingen
Academy of Sciences and
Humanities (1751)
Bavarian
Academy of Sciences and Humanities (1759),
seat:
Munich
Saxonian Academy of Sciences and
Humanities in Leipzig
(1846)
Heidelberg Academy
of Sciences and Humanities (1909)
Academy of
Sciences and Literature, Mainz
(1949)
North Rhine-Westphalian Academy
of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts
(1970), seat: Düsseldorf
Academy of Sciences and Humanities in
Hamburg
(2004)
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