Stand up for democracy
Dear fellow citizens,
As scientists, we work every day to create the basis for well-founded decisions and innovations – based on verifiable data and facts. We observe with great concern that facts are increasingly being treated as mere opinions in our society.
Facts create the basis on which values, opinions and arguments can be exchanged and solutions developed. However, when fact-based discourse is supplanted by rhetoric, propaganda or populist simplifications, more is at stake than individual decisions. Our democracy itself becomes vulnerable to manipulation, mistrust and division.
Hence our call to all of you:
Go and vote! Support parties that take complexity seriously, that are committed to facts, that develop solutions based on this in discourse and that are democratic, capable of compromise and coalition. Not voting in this spirit strengthens populist parties and destabilizes our democracy.
The scientific facts speak for themselves:
It is a fact that unverified false reports corrode democracy
We therefore hope that Germany will resolutely implement the adopted rules on the Digital Services Act and thus take action against misinformation on the Internet.
It is a fact that man-made climate change and the drastic decline in biodiversity pose immense challenges for the entire world
That is why we want politicians and society to take decisive action to stop the destruction of our own living space. Time is running out and we have it in our own hands.
It is a fact that our infrastructure is in great need of renovation
We would therefore like to see new financing concepts in order to be able to implement the urgently needed investments with the highest priority.
It is a fact that we are an ageing society and have a considerable shortage of skilled workers
We therefore want immigration to be managed and organized in such a way that integration can succeed in the long term. We fear that populist polemics will prevent the influx of necessary skilled workers, lead to discrimination against deserving fellow citizens with a migration background and damage our social cohesion.
It is a fact that our country has benefited greatly from a united Europe.
That is why we want Europe to act in a united, democratically legitimized and decisive manner in order to counter authoritarian developments and set an example with a liberal social order.
It is a fact that our country is poor in natural resources and that the most important resources of our country are therefore our people and their ingenuity
We would therefore like to see significantly higher investment in education, science and innovation in order to create the essential basis for a sustainable and future-proof economy.
Who we are
We are convinced that a loud voice from the scientific community is needed to take a clear position here. Facts are the backbone of our democracy. We are particularly addressing undecided voters – because every vote not cast is a vote wasted for democracy and the democratic parties!
We therefore ask you to support the petition above.
If you would like to actively participate in the organization of the join-in campaign, please contact: teilnahme(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)aufstehenfuerdemokratie.de
Prof. Dr. Peter Albers, Düsseldorf, Onkologie
Alejo Alvarez Garcia, Münster, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Betsch, Erfurt, Gesundheitskommunikation
Prof. Dr. Arndt Borkhardt, Düsseldorf, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. Christian Brandts, Frankfurt, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Stefan Burdach, München, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. Joachim Curtius, Frankfurt, Atmosphärenwissenschaften
Dorothea de la Motte, München, Kinderheilkunde
Christin Diegmann, Leipzig, Lehrerin
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Moritz Diehl, Freiburg, Ingenieurswissenschaften
Dr. Antje Dietrich, Dresden, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. med. Uta Dirksen, Essen, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. Beate Ditzen, Heidelberg, Psychologie
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duffner, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Onkologie
Angelika Ehlerding, Rheinbach
PD Dr. med. Jan Eucker, Berlin, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Tobias Feuchtinger, Freiburg, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Fröhling, Heidelberg, Onkologie
Dr. Gaetano Gargiulo, Berlin, Molekulare Medizin
Prof. Dr. Stefan Geibel, Heidelberg, Rechtswissenschaften
Prof. Dr. Manfred, Gessler, Würzburg, Krebsforschung
Prof. Dr. Norbert, Graf, Homburg, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. Heike Haarhoff, Berlin, Kommunikationswissenschaftlerin
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hartmann, Münster, Pathologie
Dr. med. Cordula Heidecke-Fodil, Köln, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. med. Maja Hempel, Heidelberg, Humangenetik
Prof. Dr. Richard Herrmann, Basel, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Simone Hettmer, Halle, Kinderonkologie
Dr. rer.nat. Franz J. Hilke, Berlin, Dermatologie
Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Hochhaus, Jena, Onkologie
PD Dr. med. Dirk Holzinger, Essen, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Ilse Hoffmann, Heidelberg, Krebsforschung
Dr. Wolfgang Huber, Heidelberg, Mathematische Statistik
Prof. Dr. Stefan Huster, Bochum, Rechtswissenschaften
Prof. Dr. Irmela Jeremias, München, Kinderonkologie
Dr. Martin Jungkunz, Karlsruhe, Medizinethik
Dr. Claudia Kalla, Stuttgart, Krebsforschung
Prof. Dr. Michael Karremann, Mann heim, Kinderonkologie
Dr. med. Dorothea Kingreen, Berlin, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Christoph Klein, München, Kinderheilkunde
Prof. Dr. Monika Koch-Müller, Potsdam, Geowissenschaften
Prof. Dr. med. Sarah König, Würzburg, Medizindidaktik
Dr. Cindy Körner, Heidelberg, Krebsforschung + Patientenvertretung
Prof. Dr. Mechthild Krause, Dresden, Radioonkologie
Prof. Dr. med. Tanja Krones, Zürich, Medizinethik
Dr. rer.nat. Marius Külp, Frankfurt, Pharmazie
Prof. Dr. Winand Lange, Kempen, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. med. Bärbel Lange-Sperandio, Nephrologie
Prof. Dr. Johannes Liebrecht, Zürich, Rechtswissenschaften
Prof. Dr. med. Imad Maatouk, Würzburg, Psychosomatik
Dr. Dorothee Mansmann, Hamm, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Rolf Marschalek, Frankfurt, Leukämieforschung
Dr. Karl Matussek, Hamburg, Onkologie
Dr. Ana Messias, München, Forschung neurodegenerative Erkrankungen
Prof. Dr. Peter Möller, Ulm, Onkologie
Harald Müller-Huesmann, Paderborn, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Ralf Müller-Terpitz, Mannheim, Rechtswissenschaften
Prof. Dr. Timo Niedermeyer, Berlin, Pharmazie
Prof. Dr. Heike Pahl, Freiburg, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Ralf Palmisano, Erlangen, Molekularbiologie
Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Pfister, Heidelberg, Kinderonkologie
Prof. Dr. Viola Priesemann, Göttingen, Physik
Dr. Karsten, Richter, Heidelberg, Krebsforschung
Prof. Dr. Markus Ries, Heidelberg, Kinderheilkunde
Prof. Dr. Henning Schauenberg, Heidelberg, Psychotherapie
Sophia Scheuermann, Tübingen, Kinderheilkunde
Prof. Dr. Viviana Schulz, Nürnberg, Sozialwissenschaften
Dr. med. Eva Schwaibold, Heidelberg, Humangenetik
Prof. Dr. Jan Siemens, Heidelberg, Pharmakologie
Prof. Dr. Jens Siveke, Essen, Onkologie
Dr. Ulrike Söling, Kassel, Onkologie
Prof. Dr. Claudia Staab-Weijnitz, Aurora, Colorado, Experimentelle Pneumologie
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Karen Steindorf, Heidelberg, Epidemiologie
Prof. Dr. med. Ghazaleh Tabatabai, Tübingen, Neurologie
Dr. med. Maria-Veronica Teleanu, Heidelberg, Onkologie
Dr. med. Jochen Tröger, Heidelberg, Radiologie
Prof. Dr. Katja von Hoff, Aarhus, Kinderonkologie
Dr. med. Gregor von Komorowski, Mannheim, Kinderheilkunde
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wedding, Jena, Palliativmedizin
Prof. Dr. Benedikt Wiestler, München, Neuroradiologie
Prof. Dr. Eva Winkler, Heidelberg, Medizinethik
Prof. Dr. Frank Winkler, Heidelberg, Neurologie
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Zeidler, München, Krebsforschung & Biowissenschaften
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Press release from February 4, 2025
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