Its two core tasks take the form of "fostering interdisciplinary discourse amongst outstanding young academics and promoting initiatives at the interface between academia and society".
The board is elected by the general assembly at its spring meeting, and has a term of one year, beginning in the summer after the annual celebration event.
Unlike the situation in many other national academies, members of the Junge Akademie do not receive any direct instructions: It is up to them to decide which interdisciplinary projects make it onto the agenda.
[1] Each year sees members meet at three plenary sessions to discuss their current research projects and propose joint undertakings and publications.
The Junge Akademie's General Assembly establishes research groups (RGs) proposed by its members in order to promote interdisciplinary co-operation.
[12] In addition to research topics, they also deal with issues of general societal relevance, placing special emphasis on the fields of education and science policy.
The intervening period has witnessed the establishment of numerous other national academies for young academics outside of Germany, including in Belgium (Flanders),[14] Denmark,[15] the Netherlands,[16] Scotland,[17] Sweden,[18] and South Africa.
The Junge Akademie also played a key role in the founding of the Global Young Academy, which has been headquartered at the BBAW since October 2011.
"[24] The inspiration to establish the world's first academy for young academics came from Paul B. Baltes, former director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
[25] The celebration committee in turn recommended to the General Assembly that "the proposal made by Paul B. Baltes and Dieter Simon regarding the foundation of an academy for highly talented young academics be adopted, with the new institution to be established upon the election of founding members during the anniversary year".
[26] The Junge Akademie was founded by its two parent academies on June 30, 2000, and initially took the form of a five-year project based at the BBAW under the auspices of Edelgard Bulmahn, then Federal Minister of Education.
[27] The project phase of the Akademie's existence was financed by funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Volkswagen Foundation (limited to 2005, subsequently extended to 2008).
The positive results arrived at by a project evaluation carried out in 2005 convinced the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to extend financing for another five years (i.e. until 2010).
"[7] With the ten-year project phase having finished in 2010, 2011 saw the Junge Akademie become an institution operated on a permanent basis and firmly anchored in the budget of the Leopoldina.