We see our­sel­ves as a stra­te­gic partner and service pro­vi­der for German uni­ver­si­ties and re­se­arch in­sti­tu­tes, helping them iden­ti­fy, attract, and in­te­gra­te in­ter­na­tio­nal aca­de­mics. We believe in the value of un­con­ven­tio­nal ideas, and en­cou­ra­ge stu­dents, re­se­ar­chers and uni­ver­si­ties to break new ground.

In all pro­grams and ac­tivi­ties, we follow the princip­le of en­ab­ling:

We want to enable

• Germany to attract the best in­ter­na­tio­nal aca­de­mics,
• uni­ver­si­ties to fill top pro­fes­sor­ships quickly and suc­cess­ful­ly,
• pro­mi­sing stu­dents to com­ple­te their degrees suc­cess­ful­ly,
• un­con­ven­tio­nal sci­en­ti­fic ideas, ap­proa­ches, and con­cepts to find a plat­form,
• newly ap­poin­ted uni­ver­si­ty pre­si­dents to obtain va­lu­able ideas for their new role through peer-to-peer coa­ching.

The Foun­da­ti­on

• pro­mo­tes world-class science and re­se­arch,
• pro­vi­des stimuli to streng­t­hen the ef­fec­tiveness and in­ter­na­tio­nal profile of the German science system,
• has a po­si­ti­ve at­ti­tu­de to risk, is in­no­va­ti­ve in its thin­king, fle­xi­ble in its working methods, and prac­ti­cal in its actions,
• pro­vi­des funding both through its own pro­grams and by sup­por­ting and col­la­bo­ra­ting with part­ners,
• iden­ti­fies the best in­itia­ti­ves/ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons through a com­pe­ti­ti­ve, science-led selec­tion process,
• seeks dia­lo­gue with po­li­cy­ma­kers and society,
• uses its funds re­spon­si­b­ly and ef­fi­ci­ent­ly, and expects the same of its part­ners,
• de­ve­lops quality bench­marks against which it mea­su­res its funding ac­tivi­ties,
• is po­li­ti­cal­ly and re­li­gious­ly in­de­pen­dent, and com­mit­ted to de­mo­cra­tic princi­ples and values,
• re­co­gni­zes the Guiding Princi­ples of Good Prac­tice for Foun­da­ti­ons.

Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft is a member of the As­so­cia­ti­on of German Foun­da­ti­ons and Stif­ter­ver­band für die Deut­sche Wis­sen­schaft.

The Foun­da­ti­on was es­tab­lished in 2023 by Dr. Walter Wübben, who also laun­ched Wübben Stif­tung Bildung in 2013. Both foun­da­ti­ons follow the aim of streng­t­he­ning Germany as an edu­ca­ti­on and re­se­arch hub. They are two se­pa­ra­te or­ga­ni­za­ti­ons and operate in­de­pendent­ly of each other.

The Board of Trus­tees advises the Ma­nage­ment Board on the achie­ve­ment of the Foun­da­ti­on’s ob­jec­tives and its con­cep­tu­al ori­en­ta­ti­on. It is com­pri­sed of in­di­vi­du­als whose stan­ding, qua­li­fi­ca­ti­ons, and skills further the aims of the Foun­da­ti­on.

Niels Bunzen
Dr. Niels Bunzen is a ma­na­ging partner of NGEG Nord­deut­sche Grund­stücks­ent­wick­lungs­ge­sell­schaft mbH and was, until the end of 2025, di­rec­tor of the Damp Stif­tung.

Chris­ti­an Lindner
Chris­ti­an Lindner was Germany’s Federal Mi­nis­ter of Finance from De­cem­ber 2021 to No­vem­ber 2024. He was the leader of the Free De­mo­cra­tic Party (FDP) for more than ten years.

Heyo K. Kroemer
Prof. Heyo K. Kroemer has been CEO of Charité – Uni­ver­si­täts­me­di­zin Berlin since Sep­tem­ber 2019. A qua­li­fied phar­ma­co­lo­gist, he was pre­vious­ly dean and CEO of the Uni­ver­si­ty Medical Center Göt­tin­gen.

Thomas Salomon
Thomas Salomon is a partner at ALR Treu­hand GmbH. A busi­ness studies gra­dua­te, he is a cer­ti­fied auditor and tax adviser.

Andrea Schen­ker-Wicki
Prof. Andrea Schen­ker-Wicki has been Pre­si­dent of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Basel since August 2015. Prior to that, she was a pro­fes­sor of busi­ness ad­mi­nis­tra­ti­on at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Zurich. She com­ple­ted her ha­bi­li­ta­ti­on with a study on uni­ver­si­ty per­for­mance eva­lua­ti­on.

Walter Wübben
Dr. Walter Wübben is an en­tre­pre­neur and founder of Wübben Stif­tung Bildung and Wübben Stif­tung Wis­sen­schaft.

E. Jürgen Zöllner
Prof. E. Jürgen Zöllner was Senator for Edu­ca­ti­on, Science and Re­se­arch of the State of Berlin from 2006 to 2011, and State Mi­nis­ter for Edu­ca­ti­on and Re­se­arch of Rhi­ne­land-Pa­la­ti­na­te from 1991 to 2006.