The physicist and SAP co-founder Klaus Tschira (1940–2015) established his Foundation in 1995 as a non-profit GmbH with its seat in Heidelberg.

We fund natural sciences, mathematics, and computer science with a focus on research, education, and science technology. Our country-wide engagement starts in kindergarten and continues in schools, universities, and research institutions. We promote the dialog between science and society. In select cases, we also support architecture for science.

The work of our foundations pursues charitable goals. In doing so, we always operate independently and adhere to evidence-based, fact-oriented philosophy, as well as the ideals and goals of the Basic Law. We aspire to contribute to the shaping of the future of society.

• Click here for the Mission of the Klaus Tschira Stiftung (in German).

We are active in operations and funding. This means that we realize projects of our own, but also issue funding upon application and positive evaluation.

The Tschira family is the shareholder of the Klaus Tschira Foundation. In its management, Lilian Knobel is responsible for the areas of education and science communication, while Rafael Lang is responsible for the research funding focus. Together with Prokurist (authorized signatory) Heribert Komarek they form the foundation’s management.

KTS-Verbund

Our three funding areas – education, research, and science communication – are imbued with life by our major operative projects and spin-offs. Together with them, we constitute the strong network of the KTS-Verbund:

• Forscherstation, Competence Center for early science education gGmbH
• Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology gGmbH (HeiGIT)
• Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien gGmbH (HITS)
• Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation (HLFF)
• National Institute for Science Communication gGmbH (NaWik)
• Science Media Center Germany gGmbH (SMC)

Villa Bosch

The Villa Bosch in Heidelberg was inaugurated on 11 July 1997 as our foundation’s seat. This building, a historic landmark, had been acquired by Klaus Tschira as the future headquarters of his foundation in 1994 already. It is named after Carl Bosch, the 1931 Nobel laureate in chemistry, who used to live here. From 1967 until 1995 Süddeutscher Rundfunk, a regional radio/TV station, had its Studio Heidelberg-Mannheim here until it was moved to Mannheim. The Studio Villa Bosch was later turned into a modern conference center.

Logo

The Klaus Tschira Stiftung‘s logo shows the solution of a mathematical problem: How can nine points arranged within a square box be connected by four straight lines without lifting the pencil from the paper even once? This solution can only be found by someone who is capable of think beyond the confines of the square, or “outside the box”. And this ability is also important to our foundation.