The origins of the veterinary clinics date back to 1780. In 1923, it was incorporated into the University of Leipzig where a separate campus was built for the new Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Today, it is one of five veterinary training centers in Germany. Research focuses on emerging animal diseases and zoonoses in Europe, and their potential impact on agriculture, ecosystems and human health. The faculty is involved in knowledge transfer at the children’s project day “VetDay,” participation in the Children’s University and the studium universale, as well as the Long Night of Sciences.

The Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow (DI) conducts multidisciplinary and historically comprehensive research on Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe from the Middle Ages to the present. Its research adopts a pan-European perspective and includes the regions of Jewish emigration, particularly Israel, as well as North and Latin America. Through events, university teaching, and a wide range of publications, the research findings are communicated to both academic audiences and the interested public. A stated goal is to conduct high-level humanities research and to enhance societal differentiation and critical thinking through the transfer of knowledge by conveying scientific insights.

The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig was founded on 1 July 1846, under the name of Royal Saxon Society of Sciences. It follows the tradition of scientific academies set out by Leibnitz around 1700: bringing together scientists from various disciplines for regular exchanges of ideas, discussing methods and findings of specialized research in an interdisciplinary dialogue, conducting long-term research projects, and combining “theoriam cum praxi”—the union of theory and practice. To this end the Academy regularly convenes nationally and internationally renowned scholars for cross-disciplinary discussions.

The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA) was founded in 1997. Researchers from over 30 countries and different disciplines work in seven departments. Their common goal is to explore the history of humanity from an interdisciplinary perspective. This involves comparative analyses of the genes, cultures, cognitive abilities, and social systems of past and present human populations, as well as those of closely related primate groups. Of particular note is the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to the Institute’s founding director, Svante Pääbo, for his discoveries related to the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution.

The Max Planck Society (MPG) was founded in 1948 to keep up the tradition of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft. Many outstanding reserachers have worked and continue to work at this most renowned German research organization, as exemplified by the large number of nobel laureates among its ranks. After the reunification in 1989 the society founded new institutes in several locations in Eastern Germany. Three of them are located in Leipzig.

Physical research in Leipzig dates back to 1557 when a professorship for physics was established. In the 18th century, even Saxon princes traveled from Dresden to witness impressive demonstrations of electrical charges and discharges. In 1835, the University of Leipzig (UL) established “one of the first, if not the first, state physics institutes in Germany” (according to Otto Wiener). In 1905, the largest physics institute building in Germany at the time was inaugurated on Linnéstraße. In the 1920s, the institute was led by Peter Debye (Nobel Prize 1936), Werner Heisenberg (Nobel Prize 1933), and Friedrich Hund. The fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and its applications in solid-state physics, nuclear physics, and chemistry were largely developed in Leipzig. After World War II, Gustav Hertz (Nobel Prize 1925) rebuilt the building and the research operations.

The Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) focuses its research on the region between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Adriatic. From Late Antiquity to the present, it examines the characteristics, transformations, and interrelationships of this region within an increasingly globalized world. At the GWZO, experts from various humanities disciplines and scholarly traditions collaborate. The institute shares its research findings with specialists and the public through academic and non-academic publications, exhibitions, events, and digital knowledge resources. In this way, past and present developments in Eastern Europe are made more comprehensible.

The Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) is an internationally renowned research institute into the fundamentals of human cognition. The main focus of the research is on fundamental mechanisms of human thinking and the neural foundations of higher brain functions such as language, memory, orientation, music, and communication. Furthermore, the plastic change capacity of the brain and its influence on various cognitive abilities are examined, as well as the neuronal and hormonal basis of diseases of civilization such as high blood pressure and obesity.

Leipzig University established the first research institutes for many scientific disciplines. Thus, in 1846 the city became the seat of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences, and presently three Max Planck Institutes, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, and a large number of Leibniz-Institutes contribute to its role as an established center of international research.

In 1710, the University of Leipzig appointed its first “Professor of Chemistry.” Approximately a century later, the university inaugurated its first chemical laboratory. By the next century, Leipzig had firmly established itself as a distinguished center of research and education, recognized globally for its academic excellence. Wilhelm Ostwald received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his research at Leipzig, and four alumni from the university — August Arrhenius (1903), Walther Hermann Nernst (1920), as well as Friedrich Bergius and Carl Bosch (1931) — were also awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Leipzig’s research diversity is reflected in its four Leibniz Institutes. The Leibniz Association, named after the philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), a native of Leipzig, is one of Germany’s four non-university research organizations. It connects 96 independent institutes focusing on fields such as natural sciences, engineering, economics, and the humanities. Addressing socially, economically, and ecologically relevant topics, the Leibniz Institutes are jointly funded by federal and state governments due to their national significance.

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) is an internationally oriented research institute for mathematics, with a research focus on the interaction between mathematics and other sciences. The institute’s name is understood as a philosophical and cultural mission: to view mathematics not merely as a modern and powerful tool for scientific applications, but also as a means to address fundamental questions in the sciences through its unique approach, thereby enriching mathematics itself. In addition to its academic mission, the institute is particularly committed to supporting early-career researchers, fostering both doctoral candidates and young scientists in their initial postdoctoral steps. A distinctive feature of the institute is its highly international guest program, which promotes global collaboration and exchange.

The Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (IfL) is the only non-university research institute for geography in Germany. The institute’s origins date back to 1896, when the Leipzig Museum of Ethnology displayed the collection of geologist Alphons Stübel, which became an independent Museum of Regional Geography in 1907. The institution flourished, and by the 1930s, the museum had also become a research institute. From 1950 onward, the institute evolved into the central geographic research institute of the GDR. In 1976, it was integrated into the Academy of Sciences of the GDR as the Institute for Geography and Geoecology (IGG). After German reunification, it was re-established as the Institute for Regional Geography. Since 1996, it has been located at its current site in Leipzig-Paunsdorf.

The Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) pursues a clear and globally unique research profile, focusing on aerosols, which are tiny airborne particles, and clouds. Although they exist in minimal quantities, aerosols are vital components of the atmosphere, as they play a key role in regulating the Earth’s energy, water, and trace substance balance. Human activities can alter the properties of these highly dispersed systems, directly and indirectly affecting humans. This can happen both through the health impacts of inhaled particles and droplets, as well as through regional and global climate change.

The Leipzig Institute of Meteorology (LIM) has a tradition of over 100 years in meteorological and climatological research. Today, it is a recognized international center for meteorological research and teaching in the field of meteorology and climatology. The institute is an integral part of Leipzig University’s Children’s University and has its own blog for children (Mia’s Climate Diary). It is also an important part of the Long Night of Sciences and provides an overview of the currently measured weather from the measuring meadow in front of the institute and the institute tower on the website, and displayed on a screen in the building.

Leipzig University is organized into 14 faculties with more than 100 institutes. The research topics cover a broad spectrum of disciplines in life sciences, social sciences and humanities, and the natural sciences — with particular strength in the fields of global interactions, (bio-)materials, intelligent materials, biotechnology, mathematical sciences, and biodiversity.

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) is a leading research center in biodiversity sciences with a research focus on insights into the biological diversity of Earth. Researchers from all over the world cooperate to build the scientific foundation of a sustainable development in biological diversity. Moreover, the center reaches out to the civil society – for instance through its internationally oriented media relations, or in events like the Long Night of Sciences, the Leipzig Book Fair, or SPIN 2030.

The Else-Frenkel-Brunswik Institute (EFBI) at the University of Leipzig, founded in the fall of 2020, is named after the psychoanalyst Else Frenkel-Brunswik, whose research tradition the institute follows. The EFBI focuses on three key areas of research: attitude research, research in conflict areas, and the documentation of anti-democratic networks. Notable studies include the Berlin Monitor and the Leipzig Authoritarianism Studies. The results of the institute’s research are presented and discussed in numerous public events.

The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) was founded and developed as part of German reunification with the aim of establishing a “broadly based center for researching the ecology of industrialized urban regions.” Today, it stands as one of the world’s leading research centers in environmental science. More than 1,000 employees at the UFZ share the goal of identifying ways to reconcile a healthy environment with societal development through cutting-edge research. Their work has played a key role in transforming the Leipzig area into a rich ecosystem with significant recreational value.

The Institute of Communication and Media Studies was founded in 1916 as „Institut für Zeitungskunde”. It is one of the oldest and one of the largest institutes for this research in the German realm. Presenently, its research focus are the change of media and society. It is cooperating with stakeholders and experts from politics and society to turn its expertise in practical actions.

The Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ) explores how the limited resources of biomass can be used with maximum sustainability and efficiency in our energy systems. To this end the insitute identifies, develops, supports, evaluates, and demonstrates the most promising fields of application of bioenergy. Thus, its work extends our knowledge about the opportunities and limitations of the energetic and physical use of renewable raw materials, and it permanently secures the leading role of German industry in this sector.

Founded in 1873, the Institute of Art History is one of the few art historical institutes globally that was established in the 19th century. The research and teaching of the professors, lecturers, and numerous teaching assistants from the art history field cover the entire spectrum of the discipline, from the Middle Ages to the present. The institute maintains contact with the public in Leipzig through numerous and close collaborations with the art museums in the city center.

In 1879, Leipzig University professor Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832 – 1920) founded the world’s first Institute of Psychology. Many scholars from around the world attended Wundt’s lectures, participated in his seminars, and took part in experimental research in his laboratory. He wrote numerous highly influential books and provided assessments for 184 doctoral theses. At least 60 of his doctoral students came from abroad, including 18 from the United States. Today, ten university professors work at the Institute of Psychology, and three honorary professors serve as directors at the Leipzig Max Planck Institutes for Cognitive and Brain Sciences and for Evolutionary Anthropology. Their research spans all major fundamental and applied areas of contemporary psychology.

Lectures on political theory at the University of Leipzig have been documented since 1410, but today’s Institute of Political Science is a result and benefit of the period of German reunification. During this period, the relationship between politics and philosophy, history, jurisprudence, and economics was repeatedly renegotiated. In the 19th century, for example, a strong connection to national economics was promoted. With the break from the academic systems of the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, the founding of the institute in 1993 led to a reorientation of research and teaching under the thematic umbrella of “Democracy - Education - Europe”. The guiding principle here is the factual and problem-oriented analysis of political processes, structures and content in a non-discriminatory space.