Senate

The Leopoldina’s Senate represents the interests of the Academy’s members before the Presidium and advises the Presidium. It currently has 40 members, 28 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. Friedrich Götze, Bielefeld
2	Informatics	Prof. Dr. Gerhard Fettweis, Dresden
3	Physics	Prof. Dr. Gerd Leuchs, Erlangen
4	Chemistry	Prof. Dr. Gerhard Erker, Münster
5	Earth Sciences	Prof. Dr. Manfred R. Strecker, Potsdam
6	Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences	Prof. Dr. Bertram Brenig, Göttingen
7	Global Health	Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler, Potsdam
8	Organismic and Evolutionary Biology	Prof. Dr. Ulf-Ingo Flügge, Köln
9	Genetics/Molecular Biology and Cell Biology	Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Amrhein, Zürich
10	Biochemistry and Biophysics	Prof. Dr. Roland Lill, Marburg
11	Anatomy and Anthropology	Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kummer, Gießen
12	Pathology and Forensic Medicine	Prof. Dr. Hans Kreipe, Hannover
13	Microbiology and Immunology	Prof. Dr. Axel Brakhage, Jena
14	Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine	Prof. Dr. Oliver Brüstle, Bonn
15	Physiology and Pharmacology/Toxicology	Prof. Dr. Armin Kurtz, Regensburg
16	Internal Medicine and Dermatology	Prof. Dr. Thomas Schwarz, Kiel
17	Surgery, Orthopaedics, Anaesthesiology	Prof. Dr. Brigitte Vollmar, Rostock
18	Gynaecology and Paediatrics	Prof. Dr. Annette Grüters-Kieslich, Berlin
19	Neurosciences	Prof. Dr. Peter Falkai, München
20	Ophthalmology, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Stomatology	Prof. Dr. Barbara Wollenberg, Munich
21	Radiology	Prof. Dr. Wolfram Knapp, Leipzig
22	Veterinary Medicine	Prof. Dr. Thomas C. Mettenleiter, Insel Riems
23	History of Science and Medicine	Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel, Regensburg
24	Philosophy of Science	Prof. Dr. Ulrich Gähde, Hamburg
25	Economics and Empirical Social Sciences	Prof. Dr. Martin Weber, Mannheim
26	Psychology and Cognitive Sciences	Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hommel, Dresden
27	Engineering Sciences	Prof. Dr. Horst Hahn, Karlsruhe
28	Cultural Sciences	Prof. Dr. Andreas Kablitz, Köln

Senators of the adjunct territories Austria and Switzerland

Austria: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lutz, Laxenburg
Switzerland: Prof. Dr. Detlef Günther, 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. jur. Nikolaus von Bomhard, Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats der Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft
Dr. Georg Schütte, Generalsekretär der VolkswagenStiftung, Hannover
Prof. Dr. Ursula Gather, Vorsitzende des Kuratoriums der Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung
Prof. Dr. Renate Köcher, Geschäftsführerin des Instituts für Demoskopie Allensbach
Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff, Rektorin der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal

Presidents of research organisations or research funding institutions

German Research Foundation, Prof. Dr. Katja Becker ML, Bonn
Max Planck Society, Prof. Dr. Patrick Cramer ML, München
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Prof. Dr. Robert Schlögl ML, Berlin
German Rectors’ Conference, Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, Berlin
Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Dr. Christoph Markschies, Berlin