Weekly Wrap-up: Highlights in week 45

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938, the Executive Board of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin gathered in front of the university’s main building to clean the 20 Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) located there and to commemorate the Jewish victims of National Socialism. With this act, HU once again seeks to take a stand against antisemitism and for democracy, humanity, and peaceful coexistence. (Photo: Stefan Klenke)

Last week, the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) underwent its first evaluation by the reviewers of the German federal and state governments’ Excellence Strategy, under which the BUA has been funded as an Excellence Network since 2019. With the submission of its self-assessment report on August 1, 2025, and the on-site visit by the German Council of Science and Humanities on November 4–5, 2025, the BUA has reached an important milestone on the way to a decision about the continuation of its funding. The final decision will be announced on March 12, 2026.

You can look forward to the Forum Junge Spitzenforschung (Forum for Young Top Research), which will take place next week on November 17, 2025, at Mindspace in Berlin-Mitte under the theme “Water & Water Management.” Six finalist teams made up of young researchers from Berlin’s major universities will receive awards totaling 42,000 euros. The FJS is an initiative of Humboldt-Innovation GmbH and the Stiftung Industrieforschung (Industrial Research Foundation).

Author and keynote speaker Tina Klüwer, former managing director of K.I.E.Z. (Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Center), presented her new book Zukunft made in Germany (Future Made in Germany) on November 5, 2025, at the Berlin hub of AI Nation. The book addresses the central question of how Germany can remain innovative and sovereign amid the fast-paced global technology race. (Photo: Ana by Valdivia Design)

The Startup Verband has elected a new board. Heike Freund of Marvel Fusion and Nils Aldag of Sunfire now head the network, and Verena Pausder has been reappointed as chairwoman of the board.

Der Beitrag Week 45: HU commemorates the Reich Pogrom Night erschien zuerst auf Humboldt-Innovation Insights.

If we go back more than 200 years, we arrive at the year 1810. That was when the University of Berlin was founded, an event driven partly by the then Prussian Minister of Education, Wilhelm von Humboldt, and which marked the birth of the modern German university. The founding was preceded by the Neo-Humanist university idea, which emerged around 1800 and laid the groundwork for the University of Berlin.

The Neo-Humanist university idea, and thus the Humboldtian university, was characterised by five principles:

1. The unity of research and teaching
2. The freedom of research and teaching
3. The notion that the university serves the “pure” idea of science for its own sake (Zweckfreiheit – freedom from practical purpose) and that the primary goal is scientific study, not academic vocational training
4. The assumption that science forms (bildet) and produces truly moral leaders (sittliche Führungspersönlichkeiten)
5. The unity of all sciences at the university, held together by the disciplines of the Faculty of Philosophy

However, these principles were not put into practice until the 20th century. Moreover, 19th-century society did not regard the University of Berlin as a reform university, but rather those in Göttingen and Halle. After the dawn of the 20th century, the understanding of the Berlin University as the first modern classical university gradually spread. It received its current name, Humboldt University of Berlin, in 1949.

Characteristic of Humboldt’s conception of science, however, was not only its inherent value as an end in itself, but also its necessity for the state and the nation. According to Humboldt, science must be “made available for use,” which we would today describe as knowledge transfer — the very principle to which we at Humboldt Innovation are committed.

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Der Beitrag The Invention of the Humboldtian University erschien zuerst auf Humboldt-Innovation Insights.

Weekly Wrap-up: Our topics in week 43

Berlin aims to become Europe’s leading AI hub. With the opening of the #ai_berlin hub on 22 October 2025, an important step has been taken toward this goal. The hub will serve as a guide, platform, and showcase for everything Berlin has to offer in the field of artificial intelligence. Volker Hofmann, Managing Director of Humboldt-Innovation, and founders from HU Startups attended the opening event. The launch was officially initiated by Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs, Franziska Giffey, together with Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner.

On 20 and 21 October 2025, Volker Hofmann, representing Humboldt-Innovation GmbH, welcomed a delegation from Shenzhen, China, to the Humboldt Graduate School. Over the course of two days, experts from Berlin’s business and research communities provided insights into political and economic developments in Germany in the context of globalization.

The HI Academy is seeing strong demand for its two new workshops: 1. “Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Adults”, and “Treatment of Adults on the Autism Spectrum”. Registration has been open for about three weeks, and one of the courses is already nearly fully booked.

The winners of the Humboldt Innovation Award have now been announced: Neuroscientist Barbara Hollunder received the Dissertation Award, and physicist Daniel Kohl was honored with the BA/MA Award – a great success!

The Science & Startup campaign has launched: With the new “We turn” campaign, the startup composite shows how startups emerge from research.

Der Beitrag Week 43: Opening of the #ai_berlin hub erschien zuerst auf Humboldt-Innovation Insights.

Weekly Wrap-up: Our topics in calendar week 42.

You are currently reading our very first Weekly Wrap-up! When we gave the blog a new design, we created this new category, among other things. At the end of each week, we look back on the past few days together and summarize the most important events.

• We launched our new blog.
• You received the second issue of our INSIGHTS newsletter and are now informed about all important updates regarding HI, HU and the startup scene: This year, HI has celebrated its 20th anniversary, the startup factory UNITE has received an initial funding of 20 million Euro and much more.
• Winter term 2025/2026 has started. This autumn, 7,860 freshmen begin to study at Humboldt University.
• On our blog, we published an interview with HU researcher Dr. Tolga Wagner as part of our HI:STORIES series. Also, we crafted a new HI:BITS with 10 facts about water (2025’s topic of the Forum Junge Spitzenforschung).
• The Humboldt-Store has started a raffle to which you can register until October 20, 2025. The prize is a backpack from the store.

Der Beitrag Week 42: INSIGHTS, water and flashchips erschien zuerst auf Humboldt-Innovation Insights.