Christian Walter elected Vice President of the DFG

Professor Christian Walter, Chair of Public International Law and Public Law at LMU Munich, has been elected Vice President of the German Research Foundation (DFG). At the DFG General Assembly, Walter was elected alongside Professor Lutz Mädler, a process engineer, to join the Executive Committee of Germany’s largest research funding organization.

As Vice President, Walter will help shape the DFG’s strategic direction together with the Executive Committee. The Committee represents the DFG externally, advances its positions on science and research policy, and oversees the organization’s work in close cooperation with its governing bodies.

Christian Walter has been Professor of Public International Law and Public Law at LMU since 2011. His research focuses on German and European fundamental rights protection, constitutional law on religion, constitutional procedural law, and the law of international organizations. Walter is a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and is actively involved in numerous academic associations, including the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). In recognition of his scholarly achievements, he has received, among other distinctions, the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society and the Ruprecht Karls Prize of Heidelberg University Foundation. From 2016 to 2024, Walter served on the DFG Review Board for Legal Studies, and since 2025 he has been a member of the LMU Senate.

“I congratulate Christian Walter on being elected to the DFG Presidium and am delighted that LMU will continue to have a strong presence there through him,” says LMU President Matthias Tschöp. “And I would also like to congratulate the DFG on this election, because in Christian Walter it has gained an outstanding scholar and recognized expert on the research system in Germany. The DFG is not only Germany’s most important research funding organization; it is also an independent and indispensable voice for academia in politics and society. Its firm commitment to protecting and strengthening the freedom and independence of science is more important today than ever before – and that aligns with the values we uphold at LMU.”

Christian Walter shares this perspective on his future role as DFG Vice President: “It is foreseeable that the pressure on the research system will increase in the coming years. Funding will become more limited, while public awareness of the importance of free and independent research appears to be declining. One of our central tasks will therefore be to safeguard the institutional framework necessary to protect academic freedom, even in a more challenging environment. I am eager to take on this responsibility. I look forward to my new role, even though it will inevitably leave me with less time for my own research.”