Academy member Wolfgang Wahlster receives the Konrad Zuse Medal

Professor Dr Dr h.c. mult. Wolfgang Wahlster, member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz, was honoured with the Konrad Zuse Medal of the German Informatics Society (GI) for his life's work in computer science. The award ceremony took place on 17 September 2025 at the Community Dinner of the INFORMATIK FESTIVAL 2025 in Potsdam.

In her laudatory speech, Christine Regitz, President of the GI, emphasised that Wahlster "is not only an extraordinarily influential scientist, but also a very successful university lecturer and science manager who has had a decisive influence on European AI research. In addition, he contributes his expertise to political and social debates and takes a clear stand on issues such as data ethics."

Wolfgang Wahlster's research has addressed one of the key challenges of the future: the study of artificial intelligence. In doing so, he has made Germany one of the leading countries in this field of science. The former professor of computer science at Saarland University was the founding scientific director of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in 1988. From 1996 to February 2019, he headed the renowned institution – the world's largest research facility for artificial intelligence – as director and chairman of the management board. Since 2019, he has been Chief Executive Advisor (CEA) to the DFKI management board. Wolfgang Wahlster played a key role in developing the fundamentals of human-technology interactions and, as the initiator of the 'Industry 4.0' project, was a visionary researcher into what will shape all our lives more than ever tomorrow: the collaboration between humans and robots. He has been a member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz since 2002.

The German Informatics Society (GI) is the largest professional association for computer science in the German-speaking world. Since 1969, it has represented the interests of computer scientists in science, society and politics and has been committed to digitisation for the common good. With 14 specialist areas, over 30 active regional groups and countless specialist groups, the GI is a platform and mouthpiece for all disciplines in computer science.