Esther Seng | Secretary General

Esther Seng was born in Munich in 1975. Since 2019, the fully qualified lawyer has headed the Division for Policy Issues, Digitalisation and Transfer at the Higher Education and Science Department of the Federal Ministry of Research and Space (BMFTR). In this role, she was responsible for the conception and implementation of activities for the strategic development of the science system, among other things. Her work focussed on federal-state cooperation and science policy as well as general science management issues. Her tasks included the reorganisation of the Pact for Research and Innovation and the further development of instruments to strengthen the transfer of knowledge from science.

Esther Seng was Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Weizenbaum Institute and a member of the Senate of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Prior to this, she held various positions at the BMFTR (formerly BMBF) since 2003, including Head of the Legal Department.

Esther Seng studied law in Würzburg and Nottingham, UK, and holds a Master's degree in international environmental law. Before joining the BMFTR, she worked as a legal advisor in the field of International Environmental Law for the non-governmental organisation Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, DC, USA. There she focussed in particular on legal issues relating to genetic engineering.

Esther Seng is Secretary General of the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) since 1 July 2025.