The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship is Germany’s most prestigious prize for international researchers. It is awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The professorship recognises the achievements of leading researchers from all disciplines who are working abroad. It is designed to enable them to carry out long-term research at a German university. The prize money provides funding for the winners’ first five years in Germany. Up to ten professorships are awarded each year.

The prize money of 5 million euros for experimental research and 3.5 million euros for theoretical research is mainly used to set up a research team and purchase equipment for laboratories. The universities who host these researchers commit to involving them and their teams in an overall plan which will offer them long-term prospects in Germany.

Alexander von Humbold Professorships at the Faculty of Sciences

• Prof. Dr. Vahid Sandoghdar, Chair of Experimental Physics. Sandoghdar is also head of research at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.
• Prof. Dr. Oskar Painter, now: California Institute of Technology