Network of leading researchers

The Academy elects outstanding scientists from Bavaria as ordinary members. Being accepted into the Academy ranks as one of the highest academic honours in the state of Bavaria. The Academy offers its members a central forum for interdisciplinary exchanges.

Membership

In order to be eligible for membership, candidates must have made a significant contribution through their research to the advancement of knowledge within their discipline. Candidates cannot apply for membership themselves. The Academy has four categories of membership:

Ordinary members must be living or working in Bavaria. They can elect new members and regularly participate in meetings of the Academy.
Corresponding members are based all around the world and they do not hold the right to elect new members.
The directors of major scientific institutes in Bavaria are extraordinary members, as are the scholarship holders of the Young Academy during the period of their funding.
Honorary membership is conferred on individuals who have distinguished themselves through exceptional commitment to the Academy.
As of February 2026, the Academy currently has 208 ordinary members and 98 corresponding members, 20 extraordinary members and two honorary members: Franz, Duke of Bavaria and Prof. Dr. Ing. habil. Ulrich L. Rohde. (As of February 2026)

As well as bringing together scientists who are outstanding in their field, the membership structure also reflects the broad spectrum of disciplines in current research. The Academy provides an important interdisciplinary forum for leading scientists. This creates synergy effects and impetus for new research ideas. The community of scholars is almost unique among institutions in providing a platform for meeting new colleagues, sharing expertise and engaging in interdisciplinary cooperation – across all generations.

All members

Young Academy

The Young Academy (Junges Kolleg) offers talented postdocs in Bavaria an exclusive platform for research, interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific development at the highest level. Appointees to the Young Academy also become extraordinary members of the community of scholars. The fellows of the Academy benefit from the networking opportunities created by the platform and contribute their expertise to the Academy’s working groups and events. This creates lively dialogue between the most talented young academics and the more established scholars.

Young Academy

From the Maximilian Order to the Nobel Prize

The awarding of the highest distinctions to its members underlines the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities’ reputation as a network for elite-level research. Since the 18th century, the Academy has benefited from having a number of famous researchers and scientists as its members, including 79 Nobel laureates. Many Academy members have received the Bavarian Maximilian Order – the state’s highest award for achievements in science and art. The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG), which ranks as Germany’s top research prize, has to date been awarded to 50 members of the Academy.

Prize winners

From cuneiform script research to quantum physics

An Assyriology scholar meets a quantum physicist … it may sound like the start of an amusing anecdote, but it’s just a typical day at the Academy, where researchers from all academic disciplines come together. Whether it’s a cuneiform script researcher, a quantum physicist, a literary scholar or a mathematician – representatives of many different disciplines share their expertise and often provide the impetus for new interdisciplinary approaches and research ideas. The Academy’s mission is to create a membership base that reflects every facet of science.

The members belong to one of four sections:

Section I – Humanities and Cultural Studies
Section II – Law, Social Sciences and Economics
Section III – Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Technology
Section IV – Natural Sciences, Life Sciences and Medicine

All members

Science’s contribution to society

The Academy’s members come together to discuss their own research or the findings of others, present manuscripts for publication in the Academy’s own series of publications, and provide updates on current and new research projects. They take part in public events events addressing current science and research topics and add to public debate with the benefit of their expertise.

In addition, the members set up ad hoc working groups to investigate topics relevant to society within a three-year period. They also provide advice to policy-makers and civil society through opinions and position papers thus fostering dialogue between the scientific community and the general public.