Dear Readers,
We have further enhanced our reporting with this Annual Report 2025, publishing our first web-based report. Our new digital format makes our findings easier to access while also improving their cross-integration.
This year's report is crucially informed by our guiding theme: WE. We research. We advise. We connect. We enable. At ZEW, these core activities demonstrate how we collaborate with partners in politics, business and civil society to offer direction in an age marked by profound transformation.
Our research programme continues to evolve strategically. Following a positive evaluation by the Joint Science Conference (GWK) of Germany's federal and state governments, we achieved a significant milestone in 2025, which enables us to expand our research on health care markets in the digital age. To this end, we are establishing a new research unit dedicated to health economics. This will enhance our capacity to analyse and design key markets based on empirical evidence and to provide actionable insights to policymakers and civil-society actors.
The accolades received by our scholars in 2025 are a further testament to the excellence of our research. Cäcilia vom Baur was honoured with the Leibniz Dissertation Award. Karolin Kirschenmann was appointed as Leibniz Professor, strengthening the link between research and teaching with her joint appointment to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Furthermore, Marion Ott accepted a professorship in Market Design at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, thus integrating core ZEW research themes into educational curricula.
As always, ZEW thrives on an exchange of ideas, especially in the context of economic policy advising. Irene Bertschek was elected Chair of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI), assuming a pivotal role in providing evidence-based recommendations to the federal government. ZEW economist Hanna Hottenrott is now contributing her expertise in innovation economics as a newly elected member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. In addition, we were privileged to host two Nobel Laureates – Paul Milgrom and Joshua Angrist – who shared their insights as part of our "First-Hand Information on Economic Policy" lecture series.
This annual report additionally reveals the breadth of our outreach and engagement, spotlighting everything from our fourth victory in the YES! school competition and our participation in the TransforM Cluster of Excellence to our deepening international ties, e.g. within the Leibniz Research Network on China. Internally, we have also refined our organisational structures, appointing new leadership to key positions.
All of these achievements speak of a shared identity: We see ourselves as a platform for excellent research; as a catalyst for evidence-based policy; and as a network that makes knowledge accessible, thus enabling real-world impacts.
WE is thus much more than a slogan – it is a standard of excellence to which we hold ourselves.
We hope you enjoy exploring this annual report, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in person.
Warm regards,
Achim Wambach and Claudia von Schuttenbach
