The Leopoldina has established a new Department of Research Library and Reflection on Science, bringing together the former departments Archive and Library, Scientific Editorial Office and the Centre for Science Studies. The aim is to further strengthen the links between the areas of cultural heritage preservation, research on the history of academies and science, and scholarly publications. The head of the new Department of Research Library and Reflection on Science is Dr Danny Weber, who previously headed the Archive and Library.
As Research Curator, Prof. Dr Peter Strohschneider will assume the scientific leadership of the area of Research and Reflection on Science and chair the Research Advisory Board. “I am delighted to have secured Peter Strohschneider, with his outstanding expertise in reflection on science and research policy, as Research Curator,” says the President of the Leopoldina, Prof. Dr Bettina Rockenbach.
Prof. Dr Peter Strohschneider is a medievalist and has been a member of the Leopoldina in the Cultural Sciences Section since 2014. He has also held numerous positions on academic committees and in scientific organisations, both nationally and internationally. In connection with his work in science policy, Strohschneider has published extensively on issues in science studies, the development of the science system and its institutions (universities, libraries and collections), as well as on general science policy. In 2024, his book Truths and Majorities: A Critique of Authoritarian Scientism was published, in which he examines the role of science in societal and political discussion and decision-making processes.
Peter Strohschneider studied German language and literature and history, as well as law, sociology and political science, at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). He received his doctorate there in 1984 and completed his habilitation in 1991 in German language and literature of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. From 1992 onwards, Strohschneider taught at the Technical University of Dresden until he accepted a professorship in German Medieval Studies at LMU Munich in 2002. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Chair of the German Council of Science and Humanities; from 2013 to 2019 he led the German Research Foundation (DFG) as its President. In 2024 he was Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission and Chair of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.