Dear Humboldtians,
As the year draws to a close, I write to offer you and your loved ones season’s greetings and to provide you with a Rückblick on 2025. It has been a busy year and there are updates to share in relation to the Australian Association of von Humboldt Fellows (AAvHF) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. I also want to let you know that planning is underway for the 21st AAvHF Biennial Conference to be held in Brisbane on 13-15 November 2026.
20th AAvHF Biennial Conference in February 2025
The Association’s 20th Biennial Conference, “The Humboldtian Vision: Integrating Fundamentals with Applied Research”, was held on 13-15 February at RMIT University in Melbourne. I express our gratitude to the AAvHF Treasurer Professor Gary Bryant, Victorian representative Dr Sarah Turpin-Nolan and Drs Daniel Priebbenow and Ravichandar Babarao for arranging and hosting a most successful and enjoyable conference. Both the scholarly and social programs provided were much appreciated by attendees.
Highlights of the opening ceremony included a message to Humboldtians from Interim Secretary General of the Humboldt Foundation Dr Thomas Hesse and remarks by Honorary Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany Michael Pearce SC on significant links between Victorian and German institutions. I presented a paper which gave an overview of the Association’s twenty colloquia and related publications. During the Conference dinner, the Association’s biennial awards were presented to new Distinguished Member Associate Professor Roger Read and Peter Schwerdtfeger Award recipients Drs Matthew Tam and Daniel Priebbenow. The inaugural Peter Gänssler Award was also announced on the occasion. It will enable travel for mentorship by New Zealand Humboldt Fellow Professor Peter Lockhart of the awardee, Miss Bindiya Rashni from the University of the South Pacific, in the preparation of her Humboldt Fellowship application.
Honorary Secretary Associate Professor Trevor Finlayson prepared a detailed conference report which is available on the Association’s website [https://humboldtaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/AAvHF-20th-Biennial-Conference-Report.pdf]. A book containing submitted and peer-reviewed manuscripts has been published and is also available on the AAvHF website: T R Finlayson and G E Wheeler (eds) The Humboldt Vision: Integrating Fundamentals with Applied Research (Melbourne: AAvHF, 2025).
Kolleg Leads to Fellowship
Dr Rosemary Hancock,Senior Lecturer and Convener, Religion, Culture and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia, participated in the Humboldt Kolleg on Religious Constitutionalism held at the University of Divinity in December 2023. After that conference, and from talking with Humboldt alumni there, she decided to apply for a Humboldt Research Fellowship. In March this year Dr Hancock was advised that her application had been successful and from January 2026, will spend 12 months at the University of Leipzig, working on a project about religious super-diversity and urban nature. The Fellowship will be focused on writing a monograph based on a 12-month ethnographic research project Dr Hancock is currently completing on bush regeneration groups and community gardens in inner Sydney.
Association Members at Connecting Continents
Professor Kathy Andrews, Head of the Tropical Parasitology Group at Griffith University’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, promoted the benefits of a Humboldt Fellowship at Connecting Continents: Research Dialogue with Europe held on 9 July at the Shine Dome in Canberra. Kathy was part of the 4-member ‘Lessons and Impacts’ panel, who were invited to discuss the speakers’ experience of working across borders and disciplines. Kathy’s input highlighted her Humboldt Fellowship as “a game changer” for her career. She was joined on the occasion by AAvHF Vice-President Professor Jeff Malpas.
Vice-President Jeff Mapas and Kathy Andrews at Connecting Continents
The Connecting Continents event was hosted by the Australian Academy of Science in collaboration with the European Union Delegation to Australia, EURAXESS Australia and New Zealand, Australia-Germany Research Network, and the embassies of France and Italy in Australia. The occasion brought together Australian government representatives, leading researchers and European stakeholders to explore the ways Australia and Europe could collaborate more closely on science and innovation. The focus was on benefits to Australia in joining the Horizon Europe scheme as an associate member.
Promoting the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms Sigrid Sommer, hosted a lunch reception at the Embassy in Canberra on 13 August to promote the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s programs to the wider Australian community. The event sought to make the Foundation and the benefits of its fellowships and awards better known ‘down under’. The Embassy’s guests from universities, government and business were joined by Humboldt Fellows. Formal presentations and networking highlighted opportunities for academic mobility and the German-Australian research partnerships offered by the Humboldt Foundation.
With Honorary Treasurer Professor Gary Bryant at the Embassy gathering
I was invited to join the Deputy Head of Mission in welcoming attendees. Humboldt Fellow Dr Sarah Turpin-Nolan of Monash University andFeodor Lynen Fellow Associate Professor Christoph Nitsche of the Australian National University spoke on the occasion about the impact of their fellowship on their academic career. Emeritus Professor Hans-Albert Bachor from the Australian National University, 1999 Humboldt Research Prize recipient, moderated the discussion. Our Association is most grateful to the Ambassador and Embassy staff for providing this opportunity to promote the Foundation.
Leadership Changes at the Humboldt Foundation
Dr Markus Zanner has been appointed the new Secretary General of the Humboldt Foundation. He joined the Stiftung on 1 May from the University of Technology Nuremberg where he was Kanzler from 2021 to 2025. I met with Dr Zanner online on 19 August in preparation for his attendance at the Australian celebration of Humboldt’s birthday. On the occasion he noted that Australian Humboldt Fellow Dr Bronwyn Winch had contributed significantly to the opening of the Jahrestagung der Humboldt-Stiftung in Berlin on 25 June. Dr Zanner had interviewed Bronwyn and a Portuguese Humboldtian about their experiences during their research stay in Germany. Bronwyn completed her PhD in Global Studies at RMIT University and, since 2013, had worked in Timor-Leste. In August 2024 she joined the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies as a Humboldt Fellow. Her “research focuses on exploring security and peace ‘in the vernacular’, with an interest in cosmology and Indigenous knowledge systems and practices” [https://www.bicc.de/Staff/Bronwyn-Winch~s14699].
In the interregnum between General Secretary appointments, Dr Hesse served for an extended period as Interim General Secretary. When he retired from the Stiftung in September this year, I wrote to him on behalf of the Australian Association, expressing our gratitude for all that he had contributed to the Foundation and to our Association. In particular, I highlighted his trip to Australia for our biennial meeting in 2022 at Deakin University and associated visits to local universities.
On 1 October Dr Katrin Amian was appointed the Humboldt Foundation’s new Deputy Secretary General. She is well known to many Australian Fellows as she had joined us at biennial colloquia in her previous role as Head of the North America, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania Division of the Stiftung. On behalf of the Association, I wrote and congratulated her on her promotion.
Celebration of Alexander von Humboldt’s Birthday
The Australian and New Zealand Associations held their annual online celebration of Alexander von Humboldt’s birthday on the evening of 25 September, joined by members of the Foundation. Our special guest was Dr Zanner whose address was entitled “The AvH in 2025: News and Current Topics”. Following his presentation and discussion, Professor Ron Clarke of the University of Sydney proposed the toast to Humboldt. In recent years, Ron has taken a leading role in AAvHF participation in national reviews of research and research funding. In July this year, he was promoted to Professor of Biophysical Chemistry.
With the two-hour time difference in Perth, the online celebration of Humboldt’s birth-day preceded an extended Western Australian gathering organised by Humboldt Fellows Professor Roger Dawkins and Dr Animesh Gain. Fellows gathered at the CY O’Connor ERADE Village Foundation in Perth to participate in the national online celebration. This was followed an in-person series of presentations on topics of current interest and then a birthday dinner. Fellows in other capital cities also arranged dinners to mark Humboldt’s birthday. I joined a belated Victorian gathering at University House at the University of Melbourne on 12 November. We were pleased to be joined by Honorary Consul-General Michael Pearce SC.
German Week in Melbourne
On 20 October Trevor Finlayson and I attended a function at the BMW Centre in South Melbourne, which marked both the Day of German Unity and the launch of German Week in Melbourne. The occasion was hosted by Honorary Consul Michael Pearce. The official speaker at the function was Her Excellency Beate Grzeski, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany. The festive celebrations saw German Week fittingly launched!
Service of AAvHF Executive
On behalf of the Association, I express deep appreciation to the members of the AAvHF national committee and especially to Vice-President Jeff Malpas, Honorary Secretary Trevor Finlayson and Treasurer Gary Bryant – each of them makes a generous and valued contribution to the Association on your behalf.
The 2025 general meeting of the Australian Association during the biennial conference elected office bearers for the period 2025-2026 as follows:
| President | Professor Gabrielle McMullen AM |
| Vice-President | Professor Jeff Malpas |
| Secretary | Associate Professor Trevor Finlayson |
| Treasurer | Professor Gary Bryant |
| Australian Capital Territory representative | Professor Hans Bachor |
| New South Wales representative | Dr Glen Wheeler |
| Northern Territory representative | Professor Michael Fellows |
| Queensland representative | Associate Professor Thomas Haselhorst |
| South Australia representative | Revd Dr Stephen Hultgren |
| Tasmania representative and Webmaster | Dr Nathan Kilah |
| Victoria representative | Dr Sarah Turpin-Nolan |
| West Australia representative | Dr Animesh Gain |
| Member of the executive (immediate Past President) | Professor Rob Robson |
| Member of the executive | Dr Bhabananda Biswas |
I strongly encourage AAvHF members to recruit other Humboldtians to join the Association and take part in our activities. Gary Bryant as Treasurer works actively to recruit Fellows to the Association and then to support members. Membership applications from former Humboldt and Feodor Lynen Fellows should be sent to him – the biennial membership fee is $40, and Gary sends a renewal reminder every two years. His contact details are: Professor Gary Bryant; Associate Dean Physics, School of Science, RMIT University; GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, 3001; email: gary.bryant@rmit.edu.au
Frohe Weihnachten und alles Gute zum Neuen Jahr! I look forward to seeing many of you in Brisbane in November 2026 when we gather for our 21st colloquium.
With very best wishes,
Gabrielle McMullen AM
President, Australian Association of von Humboldt Fellows