The Minerva Stiftung is the flagship of German-Israeli Scientific Cooperation

The Minerva Stiftung

The Minerva Stiftung is the flagship of German-Israeli scientific cooperation. It is financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, and works closely with leading universities and research facilities in Israel.

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Minerva Center Programme

Minerva Center Programme

Minerva Centers are scientific pioneer institutions in Israel with topics that are innovative and of special interest to the scientific community in Israel and Germany. The research at the Centers is carried out in cooperation with German partners and are funded by the Minerva Stiftung. Minerva Centers are located at the six Israeli universities and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

© Michael Nagel

The Minerva Fellowship Programme

The Minerva Fellowship Programme

Since 1973 the Minerva Fellowship Programme enables Israeli and German scientists to complete a research residency at institutions in the respective other country. Graduates and postdocs get the possibility to further their scientific background while conducting a research project at their host institution in Israel or Germany. They promote research and strengthen the cultural and scientific exchange between Germany and Israel. To date, more than 2000 Minerva Fellowships have been awarded to German and Israeli researchers.
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The Minerva Weizmann Programme

The Minerva Weizmann Programme

The Minerva Weizmann Programme was the first scientific Programme between Germany and Israel. For its implementation, the Minerva Stiftung was founded to maintain and cultivate the scientific exchange between the two countries. Since 1964 the agreement has been renewed every year and secured funding for roughly 2,000 projects in chemistry, physics, mathematics, and the biosciences. Today approximately eighty projects are supported with a total of € 3,580,000 annually.

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The Minerva Weizmann Meeting 2025 was held in Rehovot again after a 2-year break
32 new projects were selected at this year's meeting of the Minerva Weizmann Committee, which took place at the Weizmann Institute after a two-year hiatus.
For the committee, the meeting was special not only because of its location in Rehovot.

Minerva Programmes

Conference room with a presentation titled "Wissenschaftsmanagement in Zeiten des Krieges" on the screen.
Lou Bohlen presented the Minerva team's work during a presentation at the Max Planck Society, discussing the impact of the past two years of war on their operations.
Minerva Fellowship - Application
The call for applications for the current round is now closed.

To find general information about the application procedure for the Minerva Fellowships and future calls, please click below.
Alon Chen, President of the Weizmann Institute, and Ulman Lindenberger, former Managing Director of the Minerva Foundation
In his farewell address to the members of the Minerva Weizmann Committee, which met in September 2025 at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Ulman Lindenberger shared his journey through academic life in Israel.

Minerva Topics

The Minerva Center for Human Rights (MCHR) is part of a joint initiative that inaugurated the Max Planck Center for Democracy, Security and Human Rights on November 11, 2025.
The Minerva Center for Human Rights (MCHR) at the Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) is part of a joint initiative with the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (MPI-CSL) in Freiburg: The Max Planck Center for Democracy, Security and Human Rights.
Leibniz Award Winner and Scientific Managing Director of the Minerva Stiftung, Christian Doeller
The scientific director of the Minerva Stiftung, Prof. Dr. Christian Doeller, is honored with Germany's most prestigious research award.
He receives the Leibniz Prize for his work in the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychology.
Team of the Minerva Stiftung
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Get in touch with us and find out more about the Minerva Team and their responsibilities.

Minerva Inside

The Managing Directors of the Minerva Stiftung: Prof. Dr. Christian Doeller (left) and Maximilian Prugger
Prof. Dr. Christian Doeller (Director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences) and Maximilian Prugger (Deputy Secretary General of the Max Planck Society) serve as joint Managing Directors of the Minerva Stiftung.
The first scientific German delegation in Israel 1959
Today, the Minerva Stiftung, founded in the 1960s as a subsidiary of the Max Planck Society, is the flagship of German-Israeli scientific cooperation. It is financed by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and works closely with leading universities and research facilities in Israel.
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