The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (German: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development as well as other national and international partners; it promotes international academic cooperation between excellent scientists and scholars from Germany and from abroad. The Humboldt Foundation offers flexible sponsorship programmes for researchers at all stages of their careers. Its research fellowships and awards enable outstanding scientists and scholars from abroad to complete long-term research stays in Germany. There are no quotas for specific countries or subjects; only personal academic achievement counts. The foundation also maintains close links with its alumni, the Humboldtians, after their stay in Germany. It offers numerous alumni support programmes for that purpose.

Every year the Foundation grants more than 700 competitive research fellowships and awards, primarily going to academics from natural sciences (mathematics included) and the humanities. In particular, these fellowships and awards include a number of large prizes, such as Humboldt Professorships and Sofia Kovalevskaya Awards. Fellowships and awards from the Foundation are considered to be among the most prestigious and generous awards in Germany; the alumni network is the foundation’s greatest asset, comprising over 26,000 Humboldtians in more than 130 countries — including 50 Nobel laureates.

The foundation supports some 2,000 collaborative research partnerships between foreign and German researchers (2013).