On 4 December 2024, the North German Science Award 2024 was presented in Hanover as part of the North German Science Ministers’ Conference. It recognises excellent, cross-state research projects in the humanities and social sciences.
Four projects in total were awarded prizes, including three main award winners and one recognition award winner, with a total prize fund of €250,000. The award ceremony emphasises the importance of cooperation for innovative insights and the power of Northern Germany as a research location.
The winning projects cover a wide spectrum:
- T-NORTH (Leibniz University Hannover) investigates the transfer of biomedical research findings into practice
- FORMAT (University of Hildesheim) explores the use of AI in the writing learning process
- ReproGerecht (University of Rostock) is dedicated to reproductive justice.
- SEASCAPES (University of Rostock / Kiel Kiel) investigates Stone Age structures in the Baltic Sea. Recognition award.
Strategic implications:
- Promoting cooperation: The award emphasises the need to continue actively promoting and supporting cross-state research cooperation. This is particularly the case for projects that combine natural sciences and humanities (such as SEASCAPES).
- Application relevance: The projects show a clear focus on the social relevance and applicability of the research results (T-NORTH, FORMAT, ReproGerecht). This should be considered more in future funding decisions.
- Innovation and promoting early-career researchers: The jury particularly recognised the innovative approaches and commitment of young scientists (ReproGerecht, FORMAT). Promoting early-career researchers and supporting high-risk but potentially pioneering projects is essential.
- Digitalisierung und KI: Das Projekt FORMAT verdeutlicht das Potenzial von KI in der Bildung und die Notwendigkeit, die ethischen und pädagogischen Implikationen dieser Technologie zu untersuchen.
- Digitalisation and AI: The FORMAT project illustrates the potential of AI in education and the need to analyse the ethical and pedagogical implications of this technology.
The results of the 2024 North German Science Award provide a valuable impetus for the strategic orientation of science policy in Northern Germany and can also serve as best practice examples for future research funding programmes.
