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Federation of German Scientists

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The Federation of German Scientists - VDW (Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler e. V.) is a German non-governmental organization.

History

Since its founding 1959 by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and further prominent nuclear scientists, known as Göttinger 18, who had previously publicly declared their position against the nuclear armament of the German Bundeswehr, the Federation has been committed to the ideal of responsible Wissenschaft.[1] The Federation of German Scientists comprises around 400 scholars of different fields. This group of scientists was almost identical to the "Göttinger 18" (compare the historical Göttingen Seven), who, two years previously, had publicly declared their position against the nuclear armament of the German Bundeswehr. The politician Egon Bahr was a longstanding member. Both the “Göttinger Erklärung“ and the formation of the VDW were an expression of the new sense of responsibility felt by some scientists after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The members of VDW stand in this tradition. They feel committed to taking into consideration the possible military, political and economical implications and possibilities of atomic misuse when carrying out their scientific research and teaching.[2] The VDW tried to mirror the American Federation of Atomic Scientists and the Pugwash movement.[3] Georg Picht presented a radio series about the Limits of growth on behalf of the VDW in the 1970ies.[4] VDW was closely connected with the German Friedensbewegung (peace movement) in the 1980ies.

The Federation of German Scientists addresses both interested members of the public and decision-makers on all levels of politics and society with its work. In 2005/2006, the VDW was the patron and main contributor to the Potsdam Manifesto‚ 'We have to learn to think in a new way’ and the Potsdam Denkschrift. 2015 Hartmut Graßl, a former Wuppertal Institute scientist took over the chair of VDW from Ulrich Bartosch, a political scientist at Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.[5]

Awards

The Whistleblower Prize worth 3,000 euro, is given biannually and was established in 1999, and is also sponsored by the German branch of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms ILANA.[6] FAZ's Joachim Müller-Jung called it among a series of Gesinnungstrophäen and Goodwillprämien (trophys and premias for a certain opinion and dogooding), but not expressing interest in serious scientific work. [7]

In 2015, the selection of Gilles-Éric Séralini generated some controversy. Ulrich Bahnsen in Die Zeit described VDW and ILANA as consisting of busybodys with best wills - and worst possible outcome in the case of this award. The award for Séralini was being described as a failure, as Séralini was not a "whistleblower" but eine ausgezeichnete Pfeife[8] (honored Pfeife = whistle but as well swab or moron) and an anti-GMO activist using scientifically discredited papers for a doubtable campaign.[8]

Recipients

References

  1. ^ "FGS Brochure" (PDF). Convention on Biological Diversity. Federation of German Scientists. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  2. ^ Stephan Albrecht, Hans-Joachim Bieber, Reiner Braun, Peter Croll, Henner Ehringhaus, Maria Finckh, Hartmut Graßl, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (Hrsg.): Wissenschaft – Verantwortung – Frieden: 50 Jahre VDW, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-8305-1704-7.
  3. ^ Seefried, Elke (2015-07-01). Zukünfte: Aufstieg und Krise der Zukunftsforschung 1945-1980 (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 9783110349122.
  4. ^ Picht, Georg (1992-01-01). Zukunft und Utopie (in German). Klett-Cotta. ISBN 9783608916218.
  5. ^ "Neue Spitze bei der Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler". wupperinst.org. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  6. ^ Snowden Gets Whistleblower Award in Germany | News. The Moscow Times.
  7. ^ Müller-Jung, Joachim (2015-09-24). "Whistleblower-Preis Die falschen Helden". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in Deutsch). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2015-12-16.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  8. ^ a b Ulrich Bahnsen (8 October 2015). "Ausgezeichnete Pfeife". Zeit Online (in German). Séralini ist in der Wissenschaft zu Recht und zur Gänze diskreditiert
  9. ^ "Vor fünfzig Jahren wurde in Berlin die Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler gegründet. Ihre Friedensmission ist heute so aktuell wie damals: Im Interesse der Menschheit". www.berliner-zeitung.de. https://plus.google.com/106665073671606897868. Retrieved 2015-12-16. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Was Margrit Herbst mit Edward Snowden gemein hat". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  11. ^ "Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler VDW e.V." www.vdw-ev.de. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  12. ^ "Transparency International Germany: Whistleblower Prize 2013 for Edward Snowden". Transparency International. 2013.
  13. ^ "Former US Drone Operator to Get German Whistleblower Award". 2015.
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