Klaus Tschira established his foundation in 1995 in order to fund the natural sciences, mathematics, and computer science, as well as promoting the appreciation for these disciplines. For this purpose, the co-founder of SAP contributed private capital to the foundation and until his death, was actively engaged in pursuing its goals.

For more than 25 years now, the Klaus Tschira Foundation has funded research, education, and science communication throughout the country. Klaus Tschira’s passionate interest in topics from the areas of natural science and mathematics defined the foundation’s profile. At the core of his engagement were his curiosity, his insatiable interest in new findings and in innovative methods and creative approaches to answering questions not yet resolved by science.

“Supporting the natural sciences, mathematics, and computer science is close to my heart. And I would also like to make a contribution to seeing their appreciation increase.”

It was important to Klaus Tschira to awaken children’s excitement for the natural sciences as early as possible. This why, in 2012, he established the Forscherstation, the Klaus Tschira Competence Center for early education in the natural sciences. Here, teachers learn how they can stir the interest in natural phenomena as early as in kindergarten and grade school. Klaus Tschira took great delight in visiting Explore Science, his foundation’s hands-on natural science event. He greatly enjoyed the competitions among students and listened when children and young adults explained to him how they had designed their windmills, catapults, or chain reactions.

At the HITS, the Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien, which he founded in 2010, he took every opportunity to discuss researchers’ work with them – be it about molecular biology or astrophysics topics. Klaus Tschira was convinced that top research is essential for the advancement of our society.

In addition, he also cared about cooperation and communication among researchers from different disciplines, which is why he established the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF). This is where the best minds from mathematics and computer science meet every year with excellent young research talent.

Klaus Tschira liked to quote Albert Einstein’s, “What you cannot explain to your grandmother, you probably haven’t understood yourself.” This led him to the conclusion, “Good research needs to be understandable.” How important this was to him shows the first in-house project of his foundation, the initiation of the 1997 Klaus Tschira Award for comprehensible science, now renamed KlarText-Preis für Wissenschaftskommunikation (Plain-speak –Award for science communication). It is awarded annually to researchers presenting the results of their doctoral theses briefly and clearly.

But there is more: By founding the Nationales Institut für Wissenschaftskommunikation in 2012 (together with the KIT in Karlsruhe), under Klaus Tschira’s aegis the foundation created a teaching institute – the only one of its kind in Germany – that serves to improve the dialog between researchers and the public.

In order to provide those working in the media also with timely, solid knowledge, the foundation established the Cologne-based Science Media Center Germany in 2015. The SMC provides the media – fast and free of charge – with experts and background materials when science is in the headlines.

Another great passion of Klaus Tschira’s was contemporary architecture. He appreciated buildings that indicate on their exterior what kind of work was going on inside. Consequently, some of the buildings the Klaus Tschira Foundation had built imitate one of nature’s construction principles. So, for example, in Heidelberg there is the EMBL’s Advanced Training Centre in the shape of a DNA double helix ,or the Haus der Astronomie, which was modelled after a spiral galaxy. In Garching near München, the ESO Supernova, a planetarium and visitor center, was built in a shape reminiscent of a binary star system that will be turned into a supernova by mass transfer at some point.

Klaus Tschira passed away unexpectedly on 31 March 2014, aged 74. The Tschira family continues to support the Klaus Tschira Stiftung as partners. The employees have a heartfelt desire to continue to pursue the foundation’s goals in the founder’s manner – just as curious, innovative and creative as he would have wanted it.

Who was Klaus Tschira?

Klaus Tschira speaks about his life’s work in a film by the journalist Eberhard Reuß: