Germany takes in 166 researchers as part of the Global Minds Initiative

Germany has welcomed 166 researchers as part of the country's Global Minds Initiative, which was launched in the summer of 2025. Funding for the scheme will be increased by €375 million to a total of €600m, Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space, announced on 18/12/2025.

The initiative, also known as the 1,000 Köpfe+ ('thousand minds") programme, was set up in response to restrictions on academics in the United States. It is nevertheless open to the whole world and to all scientific disciplines. Among the researchers who have come to Germany, 26 come from the United States.

Of the beneficiaries of the programme, 37% come from European countries, followed by Asia (29%), North America (20%), the Middle East and North Africa (5%), sub-Saharan Africa (3%), Central and South America (2%), and Australia-Oceania (1%).

The Global Minds initiative is based on several funding instruments deployed by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

“The programme was launched in its…