The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards a maximum of ten Humboldt Professorships per year. As the foundation announced today, in the current round, one of these will be offered to the macroeconomist Professor Matthias Doepke, who has been nominated by the University of Mannheim. Doepke is the only economist to receive this award this year. With funds of EUR 3.5 million over five years, this professorship is the most highly endowed German research award. Funding is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
“We are very pleased that a Humboldt Professorship has been awarded in response to our nomination,” said Professor Thomas Puhl, President of the University of Mannheim. “This is a recognition of the proven excellence of our Department of Economics and will further strengthen its profile and performance.”
Professor Volker Nocke, Speaker of the Department of Economics who holds the Chair of Microeconomics, added: “The Department of Economics is very proud and happy that Matthias Doepke has been awarded the requested Humboldt Professorship. Doepke is a world-leading researcher in the fields of macroeconomics and family economics. It is envisaged that he will establish a research center on family economics and policy at the University of Mannheim that is unique in the world. His appointment would strengthen the Department of Economics and the entire University of Mannheim at the highest academic level.”
The award is intended to help attract top researchers working abroad to conduct research in Germany. Doepke currently teaches at the Northwestern University in Evanston, United States, which according to the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking is one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Doepke is considered a pioneer in the field of family economics and is the world's leading researcher in this area. He draws attention to family and gender issues as an important subject of macroeconomic research.
The researchers now receiving the award are expected to commence their work over the course of the next year. They will now embark on final appointment negotiations with the German universities that nominated them.