Laureates, Leaders urge collaboration, AI Sovereignty at Heidelberg Forum
The 12th Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) opened on Sunday with a call for deeper collaboration between different generations of scientists, ethical development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and greater investment in STEM education.
In his welcome address, Rafael Lang, Chairperson of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation, urged participants to embrace curiosity, openness, and boldness throughout the week-long event.
He noted that beyond formal sessions, “informal encounters, in the hallways, over coffee, or at social events- make the Forum truly unique.”
In her address, Germany’s Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space, Dorothee Bär, stressed AI’s role as a driver of innovation, capable of accelerating research and transforming industries.
She said Berlin’s High-Tech Agenda targets 10 per cent of global AI value creation by 2030, with Germany investing in data, computing power, and European AI leader factories.
From the host state, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Research and Arts, Petra Olschowski, described the region as Germany’s most research-intensive, home to world-class institutions such as Heidelberg University.
She highlighted state investments in STEM and digitalisation, while paying tribute to the late Klaus Tschira, whose foundation underpins the Forum.
Also, the Rector of Heidelberg University, Prof. Frauke Melchior, said mathematics and computer science now permeate all disciplines, from medicine and astrophysics to the humanities.
She said that international scientific cooperation was vital in addressing global crises such as pandemics and climate change.
“Our university’s motto, Semper apertus, ‘always open’—reflects the openness needed in a world facing hostility and division,” she added.
In her address, Scientific Chairperson of the HLF Foundation, Prof. Anna Wienhard, announced a milestone: the return of an alumna as a laureate. Amanda Randles, winner of the ACM Prize in Computing.
According to her, over 200 young researchers from more than 50 countries were at the 2025 12th HLF conference.
Wienhard praised the continued support of the Tschira family, which allows HLF to remain a space for “unconstrained scientific exchange.”
“The Forum, inspired by the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, brings together laureates in mathematics and computer science, fields without a Nobel Prize, with outstanding early-career researchers for dialogue and collaboration,” Wienhard said.
