The Hertie Foundation is the largest private sponsor of brain research in Germany.

With the Hertie Senior Research Professorship in the Neurosciences, the Hertie Foundation has introduced a model for a new kind of foundation-sponsored professorship. The primary goals of the programme are to preserve, promote and call public attention to the significant research potential offered by many older scholars and scientists. Thus the Senior Professorship also represents an award for outstanding achievements by experienced neuroscientists over a period of many years. In addition, the programme aims to make attractive, internationally competitive positions available to young scientists at an earlier point in their careers and to reduce the length of the often longsome transition period at research institutions preceding the retirement of their faculty. Universities retain the freedom to dictate the substantive focus of their professorships and faculties.

The Hertie Senior Research Professorship in the Neurosciences is awarded to outstanding neuroscientists aged 60 and above who wish to devote the final years of their career exclusively to research. Appointments are limited to a maximum term of eight years and expire upon retirement. Grants match the selected candidates’ current salaries and benefits (including pension contributions, health insurance premiums, etc.). Recipients are therefore assured the same salary and entitlements offered under their previous employment agreements. Hertie Senior Research Professors also receive a bonus for extraordinary research achievements on the basis of an agreement with the Hertie Foundation.

The Hertie Senior Professor will be provided with appropriate research facilities (laboratory space, research budget, etc.) in accordance with his/her needs and in consultation with the university until retirement and for an additional five years, on the basis of a corresponding application and evaluation. The exact nature and scope of these research facilities are determined in accordance with the specifications set by the Hertie Senior Research Professor in negotiations between the Hertie Foundation and the university. The Hertie Senior Professor is free to choose his or her place of work, provided a corresponding agreement can be reached with the university in question. By accepting an appointment, the Senior Professor agrees to relinquish all management and administrative duties at the institution under his/her direction once his/her successor is appointed (“honorary” executive functions may be retained). The Senior Professor occupies the new position upon the assumption of duties by his/her appointed successor. The Hertie Senior Professor also agrees to pursue full-time research in the field of neuroscience until retirement and to take on limited teaching duties, which usually involve three semester hours per week. In cases of failure to meet these obligations, the Hertie Foundation is entitled to terminate the appointment. 

Since July 1st the next Hertie Senior Research professorship in the Neurosciences has been announced in an Europe-wide call for application. The prize is offered every two years and will be awarded in the first half of 2011.
By extending the invitation to Europe the exemplary character of this Senior Professorship is emphasised and the vibrant response to this form of professorship in academic circles is taken into account.
The invitation is addressed to all professors in the European-Union who are engaged in the area of Neurosciences. At the time of application the candidates must at least have the age of 59 years.

The deadline for applications for the Hertie Senior Research Professorship 2011 in the Neurosciences expires on December 1st, 2011.

Candidates for the Hertie Senior Professorship are selected in an open competition process. Applications for the Senior Professorship to be awarded in the year 2010 may be submitted in written form to the Hertie Foundation by 1 October 2009. Eligible to apply are all professors employed at universities in Member States of the European Union who are at least 59 years of age and are engaged in research in the neurosciences. On the basis of written application documents, a jury of leading neuroscientists chooses the candidate of the year in a confidential selection process. The most important selection criteria are the applicant’s research achievements in recent years and his or her personal qualifications. Recommendations from universities or university bodies are not required.

In the second phase of the process, the Hertie Foundation negotiates with the university in question in consultation with the selected candidate for the purpose of establishing the professorship position and reaching agreement on the research facilities required. Among other things, this agreement covers the appointment of a successor prior to retirement of the selected candidate and the provision of a faculty slot for the professorship. The final decision regarding award of the Hertie Senior Professorship is taken by the Executive Board of the Hertie Foundation upon completion of negotiations with the university and the candidate.

Applications should contain the following documents:

1. CV (tabular CV including date of birth, work and home addresses; maximum 5 pages)
2. Research background (description of applicant’s field of research and research activities during the past 5 years; 1 page)
3. Data relating to specific aspects of the appointment (desired date of assumption of duties as Senior Professor, university at which the professorship is to be established)
4. Research plan (description of the applicant’s plans for research during the period of the appointment as Senior Professor; maximum 3 pages)
5. Required facilities (description of the research facilities required by the Senior Professor, itemized by personnel space requirements, necessary equipment, personnel needs, annual research budget, etc.)
6. Publications I (list of publications during the past 5 years, divided into sections covering original publications and review articles; description of impact factors wherever possible)
7. Publications II (list of the 10 most significant publications authored by the candidate during his/her career)
8. Funded projects (list of projects funded by outside sources during the past 5 years, to include project titles, funding institutions, project terms and funding amounts as well as planned requests for third-party funding)
9. Lectures (list of lectures presented in response to invitations during the past 5 years)
10. Teaching and educational activities (courses taught, undergraduate and doctoral degree candidates supervised during the past 5 years and planned teaching activities during the period of the appointment as Senior Professor)
11. Explanations (personal explanations, comments, statements by other individuals, etc., as appropriate)

The fourth Senior Professorship was announced in July 2008. By September, the jury had unanimously chosen Professor Dr. Adriano Fontana. Adriano Fontana (b. 1946) has been Director of Clinical Immunology at Zurich’s University Hospital since 2005 where his work focuses on the investigation and treatment of inflammatory diseases of the brain. The new Hertie Senior Professor has spent the last 30 years examining the connections between the immune system and the nervous system. A major part of his scientific investigations are devoted to so-called cytokines, the body’s own inflammation-modulating agents. In cases of chronic disease like Multiple Sclerosis, cytokines are released and influence the activity of the cells in the immune system.

In the field of neuro-immunology and infection biology Adriano Fontana is one of the 100 most frequently cited immunologists worldwide. He is a member of numerous neuroscientific bodies and advisory committees. He has, for example, been a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Fondation Leenaards since 2004, and a member of the Board of Foundation of the Professor Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation since 2008.
Adriano Fontana has received many honours including the German AIDS Research Prize which he shared with three colleagues in 1999 and the Hoechst Marion Roussel Multiple Sclerosis Research Prize which he shared with two other colleagues in 1997.

During his Hertie Senior Research Professorship, Adriano Fontana wants to discover whether the tiredness, loss of appetite and depression that often occur in patients with autoimmune and infectious diseases are a result of disturbances in the central nervous regulatory system caused by cytokines.

Appointment negotiations for the Senior Research Professorship have been completed, and the Professorship was awarded to Adriano Fontana at a gala ceremony at Zurich University on 6 October 2009.

The winner of the competition for the 2008 Hertie Senior Research Professorship was Prof. Dr. Frank Lehmann-Horn, Director of the Institute for Applied Physiology at the University of Ulm. 

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Dipl. Ing. Frank Lehmann-Horn (born 1948 near Nürnberg) was appointed Professor of Physiology and Director of the Institute for Applied Physiology at the University of Ulm in 1992. His research focuses on muscle and nerve cell excitability and genetically determined disorders affecting this process. He coordinated two European networks concerned with the phenomenon of electromagnetic muscular coupling and currently serves as Spokesman for the Neuromuscular Centre in Ulm. He was honoured for his work with patients with the ‘Art of Listening Award’ presented by the Genetic Alliance. As Hertie Senior Professor, he will pursue further intensive research on cell degeneration associated with muscular and cerebral channelopathies and apply treatment strategies developed in the course of his basic research in cooperation with clinical practitioners.

The recipient of the second Senior Professorship award is Prof. Dr. Michael Frotscher, Professor of Anatomy and Cellular Biology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.

Prof. Dr. med. Michael Frotscher (born 1947 in Dresden) was appointed Director of the Institute for Anatomy and Cellular Biology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg in 1989. Since beginning his career in scientific research, he has been concerned with the structures underlying complex activities of the nervous system. He has received numerous research awards, including the advancement award for German scientists under the auspices of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Programme sponsored by the DFG (German Research Association), the State Research Prize awarded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine. As Hertie Foundation Senior Research Professor, he will devote himself to research into the functional significance of structural anatomical principles at higher levels of the brain, such as the hippocampus.

The first competition for award of the Senior Professorship was announced in July 2005. The jury chaired by Prof. Einhäupl and composed of six other members, Prof. Konrad Beyreuther, Prof. Johannes Dichgans, Prof. Michael Madeja, Prof. Eckard Rehbinder, Prof. Wolf Singer and Prof. Otmar Wiestler, selected Prof. Thomas Brandt, Director of the Neurology Clinic of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich in October 2005.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Thomas Brandt (born 1943 in Dessau) was appointed Professor of Neurology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich in 1984. He has received numerous awards for his scientific achievements, including the Barany 2000 Gold Medal in Sweden, and is the editor of several scientific journals including the Journal of Neurology. During his tenure as Hertie Senior Research Professor, he continues to pursue intensive research on the vestibular and oculomotoric system and visual-vestibular interactions in support of perception, balance and vision control and conducts further studies in related disorders associated with symptoms of dizziness.