Ursula Rao Elected Member of National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Ursula Rao, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, was elected as a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina at the end of 2025. Around 1,700 scholars from more than 30 are members of the Leopoldina, which has the mission of promoting the responsible application of scientific insight for the benefit of humankind and the natural world.
Recognition of Outstanding Scientific Achievements
Election to the Leopoldina is one of the highest academic honours awarded in Germany. Academy members nominate researchers with exceptional scientific achievements; nominations are then subject to a multi-stage selection process that may take up to a year. “Candidates are not informed that they have been nominated – they only learn about it once the Academy has voted to admit them as a member,” says Ursula Rao. “It was therefore a wonderful surprise when I received a letter last December informing me that I had been elected to the Leopoldina.” Members of the renowned scientific society are considered internationally recognized experts in their fields – a position that enables them to promote science in Germany and abroad. Rao: “It is a great honour for me to work alongside other members of the Academy to develop policy briefs on current political questions and societal challenges and to propose solutions for complex problems.”
An Expert on the Consequences of Digitalization and Climate Change
Rao is committed to the goal of applying scientific insights to inform policy-making. Three years ago she was chosen to join the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR), where she has played a key role in drafting position papers and policy recommendations; she will continue as a member of this body for a second three-year term alongside her new activities in the Leopoldina. “Being elected to the Leopoldina is particularly exciting because I can use my knowledge and experience to amplify the voice of the scientific community and help ensure that it is heard.” Rao has undertaken extensive fieldwork on the roll-out and implementation of digital bureaucracies in India. Her work has led to new theoretical insights into how digital processes and media are changing the fundamental character of public administration as well as the relationship between administration and politics. In a new research project she turns her attention to the question of how residents of Indian metropoles survive in the face of air pollution and water shortages.
Academy
Founded in 1652, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is a classic learned society with around 1,700 members from almost all scientific disciplines. It was appointed Germany's National Academy of Sciences in 2008. In this function, it has two special tasks: representing German science abroad and advising politicians and the public.
https://www.leopoldina.org/en/
Contact for this press release
Prof. Dr. Ursula Rao
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Advokatenweg 36, 06114 Halle (Saale)
Tel.: 0345 2927-100
E-mail: office.rao@eth.mpg.de
https://www.eth.mpg.de/rao
PR contact
Stefan Schwendtner
Press and Public Relations
Max-Planck-Institut für ethnologische Forschung
Advokatenweg 36, 06114 Halle (Saale)
Tel.: 0345 2927-425
E-mail: schwendtner@eth.mpg.de