Humboldt Foundation Sponsorship Programs and Awards
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants prestigious fellowships and awards and to leading international researchers. The goal is to encourage international collaboration and attract highly skilled researchers to Germany.
Since 1978, the University of Bremen has hosted a total of 36 recipients of Humboldt awards and fellowships.
Dr. Francesca Aiuti
2026
Dr. Francesca Aiuti is a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow who is conducting a 24-month research stay at the University of Bremen. Her project explores Black European identities through a transnational and transmedial lens. Focusing on collaborative practices among Afro-French and Afro-Italian artists and activists, her research hightlights the formation of diasporic networks across physical and digital borders. During her fellowship, she will collaborate with Prof. Dr. Julia Borst, principal investigator of the ERC project Afroeurope & Cyberspace, and her research team.
Dr. Alison Posey
2026
Alison Posey is an assistant professor of Spanish at Transylvania University (USA) and a journalist in the Spanish-language press. As a recipient of a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers, she will conduct research at the University of Bremen from 2026 to 2028. During her stay, she will collaborate closely with Prof. Dr. Julia Borst on her ERC-funded AFROEUROPECYBERSPACE project, exploring themes of migration, globalization, and race in contemporary Peninsular creative production.
Dr. Ianto Cannon
2026
Dr. Ianto Cannon is a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow conducting research from 2026 to 2028 at the University of Bremen, where he works closely with Prof. Dr. Marc Avila. His research focuses on the physics of droplet breakup and coalescence in turbulent flows. Using large-scale numerical simulations, he seeks to improve the understanding of fundamental processes such as ocean spray and cloud formation, with the goal of improving their representation in global climate models.
Dr. Manojit Ghosh
Dr. Manojit Ghosh
2026
Dr. Manojit Ghosh is a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen. There, he collaborates with Prof. Dr. Marc Avila to investigate flow instabilities in the cardiovascular system that are associated with the onset and progression of cardiovascular diseases. His project, entitled "Instabilities and Transitions in Pulsatile Flows through Elastic Pipes," aims to shed light on the mechanisms underlying these instabilities and their subsequent transitions, contributing to the advancement of physiological fluid dynamics. The outcomes of this work have potential long-term implications for clinical applications.
Prof. Dr. Susan Peabody
2025
Professor Susan Peabody from Washington State University in Vancouver, Washington, USA, is conducting research for two months at the University of Bremen as part of her Humboldt Research Award. Together with Professor Rebekka von Mallinckrodt, she is working on a project about the presence of enslaved and free People of Color in early modern Europe.
Prof. Dr. Fumio Inagaki
2023
Fumio Inagaki, a professor of microbial ecology and applied microbiology at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), visited the University of Bremen as part of the Philipp-Franz-von-Siebold Prize awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Inagaki is one of the world’s leading scientists in geomicrobiology. He collaborated closely with Professor Kai-Uwe Hinrichs from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, and Professor Bo Barker Jørgensen from the Biogeochemistry Department at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology. His research focuses on the interplay between geochemical processes and microbial communities in the deep subseafloor biosphere.
Dr. Nikita Basov
2022
Nikita Basov, Senior Lecturer in Network Analysis at the University of Manchester, was hosted by the SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy at the University of Bremen as part of his fellowship through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award. During his stay, Basov worked with Professor Dr. Bettina Hollstein.
Prof. Dr. Maria Karakinou
2019
Professor Maria Kanakidou has received the Humboldt Research Award. In collaboration with her host, Professor, Mihalis Vrekoussis from the University of Bremen, she has developed a novel modeling framework that integrates conventional and contemporary modeling tools with Earth observation data products. This work enables them to optimize surface-flux estimates. Based on Earth system models, these estimates are necessary for evaluating the impact on climate and ecosystems.
Prof. Dr. Sergei Tretiak
2017
Sergei Tretiak, a professor of theoretical chemistry and condensed matter physics at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, visited the Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science (BCCMS) and the University of Oldenburg as the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award for U.S. academics. During his stay, he collaborated closely with Professor Thomas Frauenheim of the BCCMS and the Ultrafast Nanophotonics Group led by Professor Christoph Lienau of the University of Oldenburg. All partners are united by an interest in researching photoinduced phenomena in extended molecular systems, solids, nanoscale materials, interfaces, and optoelectronic devices, which are crucial for energy storage applications.
Prof. Dr. Oleg Prezhdo
2015
Oleg Prezhdo, a Guido Daub Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque (USA), visited the University of Bremen as a recipient of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His groundbreaking work on key processes in optoelectronic and solar energy materials is recognized worldwide. During his stay, he collaborated closely with Professor Thomas Frauenheim at the Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science (BCCMS), focusing on research questions in the Physics degree program.
Prof. Dr. Karol Miller
2015
Professor Karol Miller of The University of Western Australia is the recipient of the research award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 2015. He develops complex image-guided surgical procedures for the operating theater. These include the computer simulation of procedures for high-risk arterial dilatations in the abdomen or the bio-mechanical model calculation of deformations of soft organs as well as the differentiation of brain tumors from healthy tissue. The radiologist and professor of computer science continues his scientific work at the University of Bremen.