Former president: Detlev Ganten
"The Helmholtz Association is changing. After all, only a flexible and learning research organisation will have any chance of asserting itself as a key focal point for research in Germany and as a global player in international research."
Bild: MDC
"An important research nation like Germany, rich in tradition and ambition, needs national centers where the pressing questions of society, science and industry are researched on a long-term basis and at a high level. The mission of the Helmholtz Association is based on this idea. In the diversity of the German research landscape, the Helmholtz Association thus holds a central position.
After reunification, nothing in eastern Germany remained as it was before. The whole country, had to adapt to Germany's changed importance in the world. This was especially true with regard to research and science, which are of elementary importance for our future. It was a great experience to contribute to the establishment of new modern research institutes and new structures in Germany's research system during this incredibly eventful and moving time in the years after 1989. Participating in the transformation of large-scale German research into a modern, scientifically excellent and internationally recognized Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers was a personal and science policy highlight of my professional work." This is how Ganten looks back on his term of office.
Current President
