The Members’ Assembly

The Members’ Assembly (seven in number with one vote per member) takes key decisions toward realizing the Verein’s objectives and spells out the Verein’s general working conditions. It selects a president from among its members, and its decisions are upheld on the basis of a two-thirds majority. The Assembly has particular authority to decide on the provisional budget presented by the director; to accept the director’s activity report; to approve the certified accounts at the end of the fiscal year, and to give final discharge to the director; or to rule on amendments to the Verein’s Statutes.

The Members’ Assembly selects candidates by a two-thirds majority for the positions of Director and Deputy Director following the Scientific Council’s selection and classification. It proposes the candidate selected for each position, for a joint validation by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE). This validation is followed by a nomination, as the case may be, either by the BMBF or the MEAE.

The Verein’s seven founding members are:

on the German side:

• the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

• the Land of Berlin, represented by a deputy of the Senate Department responsible for research

• the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin - Institute for Advanced Study

on the French side:

• the French Republic, represented jointly by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR)

• the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

• the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)

and the Franco-German University (UFA/DFH).