Dorothee Bär is the new Minister of Research, Technology and Space. Federal President Steinmeier appointed her as federal minister on 6 May 2025. Originally from Bamberg, she has been a member of the German Bundestag for the CSU since 2002. From 2018 to 2021, she was Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery and Federal Commissioner for Digitalization. Following this, she became Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for matters pertaining to family affairs and culture.

On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the winners of the 3rd German-African Innovation Award 'GAIIA' were honoured in Berlin on 12 December 2024. The award ceremony was organised in cooperation with the Sub-Saharan Africa Initiative of German Business (SAFRI). It honoured outstanding project ideas from African-German research collaborations that contribute to sustainable progress on the African continent.