Organisation

Senate

The Leopoldina’s Senate represents the interests of the Academy’s members before the Presidium and advises the Presidium. It currently has 39 members, 27 of whom are elected spokespersons, each representing one of the sections of the Academy. In addition, there are two elected members who represent the Academy’s members in Austria and Switzerland, respectively. Members of the Senate are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected once.

The Senate generally convenes once a year. During these meetings, the Senate, in accordance with the statutes, elects members of the Presidium and honorary members, checks the Presidium’s annual reports and approves its actions, appoints auditors and decides on the expulsion of members. In addition, the Senate approves regulations governing the election of Academy members, spokespersons and regional representatives, members of the Senate and their deputies, and members of the Presidium, as well as structural regulations for the sections and adjunct territories.

No.	Sections	Elected Senators (Academy Members)
1	Mathematics	Prof. Dr. Gisbert Wüstholz, Zurich
2	Informatics	Prof. Dr. Thomas Lengauer, Saarbrücken
3	Physics	Prof. Dr. Paul Leiderer, Konstanz
4	Chemistry	Prof. Dr. Manfred T. Reetz, Mülheim/Ruhr
5	Earth Sciences	Prof. Dr. Wolf Dieter Blümel, Stuttgart
6	Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences	Prof. Dr. Klaus Eder, Gießen
7	Ecological Sciences	*)
8	Organismic and Evolutionary Biology	Prof. Dr. Eberhard Schäfer, Freiburg
9	Genetics/Molecular Biology and Cell Biology	Prof. Dr. Lothar Willmitzer, Potsdam
10	Biochemistry and Biophysics	Prof. Dr. Alfred Wittinghofer, Dortmund
11	Anatomy and Anthropology	Prof. Dr. Detlev Drenckhahn, Würzburg
12	Pathology and Forensic Medicine	Prof. Dr. Hans K. Müller-Hermelink, Würzburg
13	Microbiology and Immunology	Prof. Dr. Michael Hecker, Greifswald
14	Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine	Prof. Dr. Claus R. Bartram, Heidelberg
15	Physiology and Pharmacology/Toxicology	Prof. Dr. Franz Hofmann, München
16	Internal Medicine and Dermatology	Prof. Dr. Thomas Krieg, Köln
17	Surgery, Orthopaedics, Anaesthesiology	Prof. Dr. Jörg R. Siewert, Heidelberg
18	Gynaecology and Paediatrics	Prof. Dr. Walter Jonat, Kiel
19	Neurosciences	Prof. Dr. Michael Frotscher, Freiburg
20	Ophthalmology, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Stomatology	Prof. Dr. Gottfried Schmalz, Regensburg
21	Radiology	Prof. Dr. Karl-Jürgen Wolf, Berlin
22	Veterinary Medicine	Prof. Dr. Hartwig Bostedt, Gießen
23	History of Science and Medicine	Prof. Dr. Alfons Labisch, Düsseldorf
24	Epistemology	Prof. Dr. Gereon Wolters, Konstanz
25	Economics and Empirical Social Sciences	Prof. Dr. Andreas Diekmann, Zürich
26	Psychology and Cognitive Sciences	Prof. Dr. Onur Güntürkün, Bochum
27	Engineering Sciences	Prof. Dr. Peter Gumbsch, Freiburg
28	Cultural Sciences	Prof. Dr. Otfried Höffe, Tübingen
		* Section 7 is currently being reorganised.

Senators of the adjunct territories Austria and Switzerland

Austria: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Baumjohann, Graz
Switzerland: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Wehner, Zürich

Besides the senators elected by the sections and districts, the statutes allow for the Senate to include up to ten additional members, who do not necessarily have to be members of the Academy. Five of these ten additional members are elected ad personam; they are generally selected from the ranks of those holding senior positions in research organisations or other scientific institutions. The other five additional members are elected ex officio; these are the presidents of five major German scientific and academic organisations: the German Research Foundation, the Max Planck Society, the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.

Honorary Members of the Senate

Dr. Dr. Andreas Barner (Board of directors, Boehringer Ingelheim Gmbh
Dr. Andreas J. Büchting (Chairman Supervisory Board, KWS SAAT AG, Einbeck)
Prof. Dr. Michal Kleiber (President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
Dr. Wilhelm Krull (Secretary-General Volkswagen Foundation, Hannover)
Prof. Dr. Ursula Peters (Professor, Institut für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, University of Cologne)

Presidents of research organisations or research funding institutions

German Research Foundation, Prof. Dr. Peter Strohschneider, Bonn
Max Planck Society, Prof. Dr. Peter Gruss, München
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Prof. Dr. Helmut Schwarz, Berlin
German Rectors’ Conference, Prof. Dr. Horst Hippler, Karlsruhe
Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Dr. Günter Stock, Berlin

Honorary Senators