Complementary Medicine – History of Homeopathy

Based on Robert Bosch's lifelong commitment, the foundation has been dedicated to the study of natural medicine and homeopathy for many years. This issue is more relevant today than ever.

The quality and credibility of scientific studies are of crucial importance in the debate about the effectiveness of complementary medicine and alternative therapies. In this area, we focus our activities on the search for suitable methods for studying the effectiveness of treatments which are recognized by both conventional and complementary medicine. The bulk of funding, however, flows into projects at the foundation's own institute for the history of medicine, the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung (IGM).

Since 1980, the foundation has made about two million euros in project funding available to the IGM. The institute is the only non-university institute for the history of medicine in Germany. Founded in 1980, it now focuses on the history of homeopathy. It also studies the social history of medicine and history of nursing. The research institute publishes its own periodical (Medizin, Gesellschaft und Geschichte) and research results in several of its own imprints.

With five full-time scientists, it is one of Germany's largest institutes for the history of medicine and produces a large body of internationally acclaimed research.