The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) celebrated the start of a new chapter in its history with a ceremony today: 13 years of funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) will come to an end in December, with Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony taking over the majority of the basic funding. In a joint statement, the minister presidents of the three Central German states committed to funding iDiv beyond 2030. They also called for greater involvement from the federal government, which has so far contributed to basic funding through the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
More than 150 guests from politics, science, and society attended the ceremony in the Löwengebäude of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Saxony-Anhalt’s State Secretary for Science, Thomas Wünsch, and the prime ministers of Thuringia and Saxony, Mario Voigt and Michael Kretschmer, recapitulated the successes of iDiv’s 13-year history in their speeches. In particular, they praised iDiv’s role in establishing integrative biodiversity research as a pioneering field of research at the universities of Halle, Jena, and Leipzig, as well as at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. In a video message, Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider emphasised the research centre’s contributions to safeguarding biological diversity. The DFG considers the multi-million euro funding a success: the research centre now enjoys international recognition and visibility.
Read all statements in German.