When French astrophysicist Bérengère Parise, 27, wants to understand the birth of a star, she simply can’t get by without the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn. After all, a new sun develops from cold clouds of particles in outer space at temperatures of up to minus 263 degrees Celsius, vastly lower than even the coldest winter temperatures in the Antarctic. With this data physicists can easily calculate that such a cloud will emit radiation with a wavelength of less than a millimetre. Anyone who feels like taking a look at the maternity ward of the stars has to build a telescope that is able to observe this wavelength with a great deal of precision. The scientists at the Max Planck institute in Bonn have managed to solve this complicated task: their APEX telescope is located 5,100 metres above sea level on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile’s Atacama Desert. This provides ideal conditions for looking deep into the cradle of the stars.

But Bérengère Parise’s scientific career began with a much simpler telescope, which wasn’t even her own. It belonged to her sister, who is two years older. When she was just ten years old she used her sister’s instrument to observe the night sky which filled her with fascination. How does this gigantic spectacle in the skies function? How do the stars get into the heavens? Questions like this occupied her not only as a young girl in Toulouse, but still inspire her today, the young woman whose childhood curiosity still lives on. Her studies took her via Toulouse and Paris to the stargazer’s paradise in Hawaii, where the astronomy centre provides excellent views of the night skies undisturbed by neon lights or the millions of headlights on the highways.

After finishing her Ph.D. the young astrophysicist was determined to go to Bonn. Although Bérengère Parise knew little about Germany, she did know a great deal about the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy: it has an excellent reputation and currently boasts the best insights into the birthplace of the stars – a convincing argument for the 27-year-old scientist. So she applied to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a post-doctoral scholarship – and has been commuting between Bonn and the Atacama Desert ever since.

Joni Apakidze, 46, is definitely not a typical Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) scholar. This is the third time that he has received such a scholarship in Germany. Other researchers are pleased if they gain just one of these elite stipends. Admittedly, the archaeologist is something approaching the ideal image of an AvH scholar: he cultivates an intense scientific exchange with Germany, and his career has brought him to Germany on many occasions. Shortly after Georgia gained independence in 1993 he came to Germany with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). He then went on digs with the well-known archaeologist from Tübingen, Manfred Korfmann, including an expedition to the famous city of Troy. In 1996, Joni Apakidze returned to Germany with a scholarship from the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), this was followed by three different Humboldt scholarships. The last one has brought him back to Berlin for three months, so that he can complete his three-volume work on the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the western Caucasus. Joni Apakidze, who has been director of the Archaeological Institute at the University of Tiflis since 2004, discovered during his research astonishing parallels between the prehistoric cultures of Georgia and those in Anatolia, Palestine, Greece and Italy. Why are his stays in Germany of such benefit? “The libraries here are simply very good, and I can carry on important discussions with colleagues,” he says. And he talks about the excellent reputation that German archaeologists still enjoy throughout the world. Back in Georgia Joni Apakidze also works very closely with German scientists. But his work with the Humboldt Foundation involves not only archaeology. He also organizes international political events, such as the international interdisciplinary symposium on The South Caucasus on the Path to European Integration, which was held in Georgia in 2005.

Pseudopeptides – doctors should make a note of this term. It stands for substances that chemists intend to use to combat cancer in the future. At the Technische Hochschule in Aachen, for instance, two scientists from Germany and New Zealand have joined forces in their efforts to change, or reproduce, these miniscule proteins using chemical methods. But how on earth has a Kiwi found his way to Carsten Bolm in Aachen? Gwion Harfoot, 29, goes back a bit further in time for his answer. “Science was always part of my life,” he says. His father and mother were both scientists, too. So it wasn’t difficult for the young man to decide on studying chemistry. After completing his first degree, he gained a doctorate in Australia. The classic career in chemistry is usually followed by a post-doc period abroad. Young scientists from “down under” often go to the States. But that was precisely where Gwion Harfoot didn’t want to go. Then a colleague told him about the Humboldt scholarship scheme. And since Germany is still regarded as the “birthplace of chemistry”, and German chemists enjoy an excellent international reputation, Gwion Harfoot again had no difficulty in making a decision. The foreign language wasn’t an obstacle – he now speaks good German – and in the lab the everyday language is English anyway.

And again the Kiwi hit a bull’s eye with his new work: pseudopeptides are seen as highly promising. Gwion Harfoot and Carsten Bolm have developed methods enabling them to replace the carbon atoms normally present in the mini-proteins with silicon, which is a similar element. Whereas genuine proteins are broken down completely in the stomach, the silicon derivatives would be able to gain access to the intestine without suffering any major damage. From there they could reach the rest of the body, where they could then combat tumours. These future anti-cancer treatments could simply be swallowed, thus replacing the injections and infusions used in present-day therapies.

You are out in the garden completely engrossed in a book. Suddenly a branch snaps – you abandon your book to see what’s happening. One second earlier your attention was fully focused on the page and peripheral noises simply went unnoticed. Yet the subdued cracking noise of the wood immediately excites the senses. Why humans immediately register such changes, although they are seemingly outside their field of perception, is explained by Canadian psychologist Alexandra Muller-Gass (32): “This awareness of sudden changes in our environment has its origins in early humans.” Registering and correctly interpreting such small noises was a matter of life or death. But what actually happens inside the brain when these minute changes are registered? This is one of the questions posed by the psychologist Erich Schröger in Leipzig. He is investigating the roots of these responses using modern methods for monitoring brain activity – and this research awakened the interest of Alexandra Muller-Gass, a specialist in biological psychology. She heard about the work in Leipzig after completing her Ph.D. in Ottawa. A Humboldt scholarship then gave her the chance to work alongside Schröger. Since then she has been measuring impulses in the brain and recording which areas are suddenly activated when a branch snaps in nearby bushes. Eventually, she wants to return to Canada. “And then I’d like to have some of Erich Schröger’s students doing research with me.” That’s precisely the kind of “after-effect” the Humboldt Foundation hopes for when top overseas scientists return home following their scholarships and research in Germany.

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation