
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
founded in 1759
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities conducts innovative basic research in the humanities and natural sciences through more than 60 different projects. Since it is not tied to any university, it can focus its efforts on long-term research endeavours. This includes work on scholarly dictionaries, important editions and series of exact measurements – all with the aim of preserving our cultural heritage and laying the foundations for further research. Many of the academy’s projects involve international collaboration. New ad-hoc working groups with a much shorter-term research horizon focus on highly topical social and political issues. With the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and the Walther-Meißner-Institute for Low Temperature Research, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities oversees two further institutes of international renown at the Garching research campus. Meanwhile, the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) explores the impact of digitalisation on society.
The Academy fosters the outstanding up-and-coming scientists in Bavaria in its young academy.
As a community of scholars and a forum for interdisciplinary intellectual exchange, the academy provides world-class networking opportunities for top researchers. At the same time, it offers outstanding young scientists the chance to learn from their more experienced colleagues. In addition, the academy draws on its expertise to engage with political decision-making processes through its ad-hoc working groups, Technology Forum and Ecology Forum. In 2010, the academy established the Young Academy to support outstanding young scientists in Bavaria. Generous funding from the Bavarian State Ministry for Education and Culture, Science and Art has provided long-term financial security for this initiative. The ongoing process of developing the next generation of scientists does not begin at the postdoc stage, however, but rather at school and undergraduate level.
The academy presents its scientific findings in various publication series and has been making these available free of charge as part of its open-access strategy. Sharing information like this not only benefits scholars, who can use the findings for their own subsequent work, but also members of the general public with an interest in science. The academy organises colloquiums and conferences to facilitate dialogue between scientists from different disciplines. Public events provide an interface between the scientific community and the general public, thus enabling the academy to share its broad scientific expertise with society. Targeted at the general public, the magazine “Akademie Aktuell” is published three times a year and contains news on research and events. The Academy’s online media centre contains films and podcasts about its research projects, members and events.