Futura – the BIF journal

Ever since its first publication in 1986, the primary task of Futura, the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds' (BIF) international journal, has been to inform readers about the work of the BIF, for example, by reporting on the research it supports. However, in the interest of our fellows, we publish descriptions of planned or ongoing projects only in the print version, the results of completed projects are also published online. The Futura also contains general science news and articles and news from the BIF and its alumni as well as its sister foundations. As the journal is addressed to a wider audience, it aims to be both pertinent to those in the field and understandable to scientists outside the immediate discipline.

Getting your copy

Futura is usually published twice a year in print and online. Fellows and alumni receive a copy automatically, as long as we have their consent and a current postal address.

In addition, Futura is distributed free of charge to everyone who wishes to receive a copy, i.e. to our fellowship holders' supervisors, peers, reviewers, and our donors, as well as to individuals and institutions interested in biomedical research.

Request a print copy

Your project and results in Futura

New PhD fellows are required to submit a description of their project for publication in Futura (print only, not online). Fellows who have completed their PhDs are required to write a short summary of their results for the same purpose. Please find the links to the guidelines for these articles below.

Futura issues

  • A space to build bridges
  • Profile of Aplysia californica
  •  A meeting of minds – and machines. An account of the 126th ITC
  • 10 new PhD results, (only in print 10 PhD projects from round 3 in 2022)
  • 16 MD fellowships
  • Who does what at BIF? An overview of the whole foundation team
  • Papers in the spotlight by Dimitra Vardalaki, Ariën Schiepers, and a team or 5(!) BIF fellows: Johannes Kappel, Katja Slangewal, Fabian Svara, Johannes Larsch, and Herwig Baier
  • Who-is-who at BIF: Professor Christian Klämbt, member of BIF's Board of Trustees
  • A BIF Fellow's guide to Philadephia
  • Changing the watch, not the course – interview with the old and new managing directors of BIF
  • Profile of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae as model organism
  • The diversity within us
  • 12 new PhD results (only in print: 40 new PhD projects from round 3 in 2021 and rounds 1 and 2 in 2022)
  • 9 new MD projects
  • “If she can see it, then she can be it", BIF fellow Beata Mierzwa on science, art, and orange statues
  • Papers in the spotlight by  Marta Seczynska and Matthias Krings
  • Perspectives: Uwe Schlokat
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to Paris, France
  • News from the BIF network and the sister foundations.
  • BIF's DNA – editorial by Dr Claudia Walther on how to select new Trustees
  • Profile of the Escherichia coli as model organism
  • Fighting a shifty enemy
  • 14 new PhD results
  • (only in print: 34 new PhD projects from rounds 1 and 2 in 2021)
  • Taking things in stride and on the fly: BIF seminars in corona times
  • Papers in the spotlight by Barbara Bosch and Luis Cabrera-Quio
  • Who-is-who at BIF: Vera Schlick
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to Dresden, Germany
  • News from the BIF network and the sister foundations.
  • What are we looking for – editorial by Dr Claudia Walther on how to select new fellows
  • Profile of Arabidopsis thaliana as model organism
  • How to map 37 trillion cells
  • 18 new PhD results
  • (only in print: 10 new PhD projects from rounds 3 in 2020)
  • You can't blame anyone else - interview with biotech founders Carsten Linnemann dand Sebastian Virreira Winter
  • Papers in the spotlight
  • Perspectives: from PhD to cartographer of human cells - Sarah Teichmann
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to Dublin, Ireland
  • News from the BIF network
  • Resarch at warp speed – editorial by Dr Claudia Walther on research on SARS-CoV-19
  • Profile of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) as model organism
  • Microglia, dancers in the brain
  • 18 new PhD results
  • (only in print: 35 new PhD projects from rounds 1 and 2 in 2020)
  • Corona Special: Team work, serendipity, and keen observance against SARS-CoV-2
  • Papers in the spotlight by Emil Fischer and Gregor Weiß
  • Who-is-who at BIF: Our Board of Trustees member Prof. Thomas Braun
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to Stockholm, Sweden
  • News from the BIF network and the sister foundations.
  • Research in the spotlight – editorial by Dr Claudia Walther on the public attention on biomedical research
  • Cancer viruses: an overview – feature about the seven viruses known to cause cancer
  • Profile of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) as model organism
  • Ten new Phd results
  • (only in print: thirteen new PhD projects from round 3 in 2019)
  • Halfway around the world: interview with alumni Johannes le Coutre (Australia) and Clemens Franz (Japan)
  • Papers in the spotlight by Thomas Auer, Gerard Pieper, Ariën Schiepers
  • Perspectives: from PhD to consulting to venture capital – Yanxiang Zhou
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to Trondheim, Norway
  • News from the BIF network.
  • Standing together – editorial by Dr Claudia Walther on the pandemic
  • RNAs on the move – feature about RNA localization
  • Profile of Xenopus laevis and tropicalis as model organisms
  • Fourteen new PhD results 
  • (only in print: 30 new projects from round 1 and 2 in 2019)
  • Papers in the spotlight by Jörg Renkawitz, Erik Bakkeren, Sebastian Bonhoeffer, Wolf-Dietrich Hardt, Máté Borsos, Sabina Kanton, Barbara Treutlein
  • Life in motion – an account on the new venue for the Europeal alumni seminar
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to London
  • News from the BIF network and the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation.
  • Helping the body to fight cancer – immunotherapies
  • 13 results of PhD projects (the print version also introduces 9 new PhD projects)
  • Papers in the spotlight by Michael-John Dolan and Alexander Bates, Jakob T. Rostol, and Mohammed El-Brolosy
  • An article on the Learning from Partners study – an evaluation of BIF's work
  • A take on leadership and self-administration in academia – Perspective with Prof. Christian Ungermann
  • Our BIF fellow's guide to New York City
  • News from the BIF network and the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation.