Barbara Vetter, professor of theoretical philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin, has been awarded the 2026 Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The researcher is being recognized for her work in the field of modality theory, i.e., the question of how possibilities can be conceived. She is one of a total of ten prize winners. With 2.5 million euros each, the “DFG's Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Program Award” is considered the most important German research award. Barbara Vetter was selected from 144 nominations, as announced by the DFG on Thursday in Bonn. The award ceremony will take place on March 18, 2026, at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

The DFG stated the following reasons for awarding Barbara Vetter the prize: "The question of how possibilities can be conceived has preoccupied philosophy since its inception. In contemporary analytical philosophy, the model of a plurality of possible worlds dominates. Barbara Vetter has subjected this model to fundamental criticism and developed an alternative concept—namely that of potentiality—which presents possibilities as a driving force and capacity in the current world. The work has also been praised in professional circles for its technical virtuosity and has had a significant influence on the discussion. Vetter is currently working on further developing the approach in terms of action and epistemology: How do abilities differ from other possibilities, such as predispositions? What is the relationship between cognitive and practical abilities? How do we learn about our own abilities? Her thesis is that knowledge of one's own abilities and options for action is the basis of one's knowledge of possibilities. With her work, Vetter is helping to make Germany an internationally interesting place for contemporary analytical metaphysics, epistemology, and action theory."

The president of Freie Universität Berlin, Prof. Dr. Günter M. Ziegler, congratulated the scholar on the prestigious award and emphasized: “This is an extraordinary award for an extraordinary scholar. I am very happy for Barbara Vetter and for Freie Universität. Germany’s most important science prize is a clear sign of the excellence of humanities research at Freie Universität Berlin.”

Prof. Dr. Georg Bertram, Vice President for Appointments and Appointment Strategy and Professor of Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin, added: “I am very happy for Barbara Vetter. This is a well-deserved award for her work in analytical metaphysics, which has already received multiple awards. The philosophy department at Freie Universität considers itself fortunate to have Barbara Vetter as a colleague in its ranks.”

About Barbara Vetter

Barbara Vetter was appointed professor of theoretical philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin in 2017. Her work focuses primarily on analytical philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. Central to her research is the concept of ability, which she examines in relation to human capabilities, skills, and talents, as well as in relation to modal logic, the logic of possibility and necessity. In her systematic work, she draws on the history of philosophy, especially the Aristotelian tradition, which she applies fruitfully in the context of current findings in philosophy, but also in linguistics and cognitive science.

After studying philosophy at the University of Oxford, where she graduated in 2006 with a thesis on abstract objects, Vetter received her doctorate in 2010 with a dissertation entitled Potentiality and Possibility. She also worked briefly at the University of Duisburg-Essen before holding a junior professorship in theoretical philosophy at Humboldt University in Berlin from 2010 to 2016. After a professorship at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, she moved to Freie Universität Berlin in 2017. Here, among other things, she took on the role of managing director of the Institute of Philosophy.

She is vice president of the Society for Analytical Philosophy and co-spokesperson for the research group “Human Abilities,” which has been investigating questions about human abilities and their metaphysical and epistemological significance since 2020. She has also been involved in several externally funded projects, including the DFG project Capacities and the Good in collaboration with Erasmus Mayr. In 2015, she received the Stegmüller Prize from the Society for Analytical Philosophy for her academic achievements. In addition to numerous essays, she published the monograph Potentiality: From Dispositions to Modalities with Oxford University Press in 2015, in which she develops her comprehensive concept of a capacity-oriented modality. Barbara Vetter is also particularly committed to supporting first-generation academics in the field of philosophy.

Source (in German)