The ranking shows how many guests have come to Germany in the past five years while receiving an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grant—and where preferences lay regarding the location of their research stays. The first places are held by universities in Berlin and Munich. The University of Bonn ranks 8th and is the only university in North Rhine-Westphalia among the top 10.
AvH President Hans-Christian Pape says: "The Humboldt ranking shows that Germany is a highly attractive research location and that German academia has an excellent international network. The ranking also indicates which universities and research institutions are particularly popular among the Humboldt Foundation's international visiting researchers."
The Humboldt Ranking is based on the number of top international researchers and junior researchers who have conducted research in Germany in the last five years while receiving fellowships or awards from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In order to avoid statistical distortions due to the different sizes of host institutions, the ranking puts the stays in relation to the number of professorships at the respective academic institution. In addition to the overall ranking, more specific rankings by scientific discipline were also drawn up. Here, the University of Bonn ranks 7th in the humanities and social sciences and 10th in the natural sciences.