Global events of recent years have made it very clear
how big a role research plays in solving acute prob-
lems and overcoming long-term challenges.
We have to ask questions such as these: What can
science contribute to sustainable development and to
maintaining our prosperity? What can research do in
crisis situations? What basic conditions do we need
to create in Saxony in order to build on what we have
and to establish new research structures in promising
future fields?
Answers to these and other general but also very con-
crete questions take centre stage in the White Paper
process that was initiated by the Saxon State Minis-
try for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK).