Lecture: Funding Basic Research, Promoting Excellence, and Building Trust

In this guest lecture, Helmut Schwarz, president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, discusses the increasing pressure to justify research, especially “fundamental” or “basic” research. He will argue that publicly financed fundamental research is neither a luxury nor a subsidy, but a cultural achievement and, as such, marks the starting point of every single value-added chain. Reflecting on the mission of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to fund individuals rather than projects, he will argue for more campaigning on behalf of the individual researcher is needed to support genuinely high-risk endeavors necessary for groundbreaking research.