[3] The Leibniz-Gemeinschaft is named after the German philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and inventor Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716).

The Leibniz Association evolved from the "Blaue Liste" (blue list) in former Western Germany and research institutions of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin of the former DDR, whose research capability was deemed worth keeping after an evaluation by the German Wissenschaftsrat.

The name 'Blaue Liste' for a German model for funding science has been retired, and traces back to the color of a dossier.

Since 2014, the engineer Matthias Kleiner has been president of the Leibniz Association, with Christiane Neumann acting as secretary general.

In 2020, the Nature Index based on scientific publication rates, ranked the Leibniz Association as 3rd in Germany and 56th across the globe.