The Leopoldina was founded as an association by four physicians in the 17th century. Ten years ago, it was appointed to be National Academy of Sciences for Germany. The Annual Assembly 2018 will illustrate the achievements of the Leopoldina’s working groups, its recommendations, and international activities. In the session “Science and Society”, the topics of demography and socialization will be addressed, whilst the session “Environment and Energy” will focus on food security and agriculture in Africa, and the future of energy supply, as well as on artificial photosynthesis. The session “Diseases and Risks” centres around antimicrobial resistance as well as migration-related trauma. Finally, the session “Modern Technologies and Digitalisation” will address Big Data as well as topics such as quantum technology and robotics. Examples of responses to these themes, in both public and politics, will be presented. In this context, a Panel Discussion entitled “Nature – Understanding of Nature – Society” will explore how the knowledge of basic science can be conveyed to the general public and made useful to politicians.

During the Annual Assembly, the Leopoldina Early Career Award will be presented. It is awarded for outstanding achievements by junior scientists in a field represented by the Leopoldina and has a value of 30,000 Euros, which has been donated by the Commerzbank Foundation.

Furthermore, around 40 gifted secondary school students from throughout Germany have been invited by the Leopoldina and the Leopoldina Akademie Freundeskreis (Friends of the Leopoldina Academy) to attend the Annual Assemby. They will be able to sit in on the scientific lectures and will have the opportunity to talk with high-profile researchers.

The scientific coordination of this year’s Annual Assembly has been the responsibility of Frank Rösler ML and Gunnar Berg ML.