No. 115/2023

4 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 115/2023 EDITORIAL Dear readers, This year, the Humboldt Foundation is cele­ brating its 70th anniversary. On such occasions people are fond of looking back. We want to grasp the opportunity, above all, to look for­ ward, which is why the title of this edition is “What’s next?” – the question all researchers ask themselves again and again. What discovery will the next experiment bring? What secret is contained in this new find? What insights are hidden in that apparently unsolvable problem and how does today’s supposedly useless knowledge become tomor­ row’s groundbreaking application? We asked members of our worldwide network what they consider to be the most important tasks facing us in the future and what problems they want to solve next. “What’s next?” is also a question for our new president, the chemist and energy expert Robert Schlögl. In the interview, he talks about his plans for the Foundation’s future. But we do allow ourselves a bit of retrospec­ tion when we seek to explore the formula for success that has evolved during these 70 years of the Humboldt Foundation and to discover what the Foundation has in common with Coca-Cola. The question “What’s next?” also refers to me personally. After 30 editions of Humboldt Kosmos as editor-in-chief, I should like to take this opportunity to bid farewell to you and the Foundation. I look forward to continuing my association with the Humboldt Network. It has been a pleasure. GEORG SCHOLL INHALT Photo: Henning Mack 06 03 HUMBOLDTIANS IN PRIVATE Learning by playing 06 BRIEF ENQUIRIES What drives researchers and what they are currently doing COVER PHOTO Siri Stafford/Getty Images