Fifty years is a long time. Long enough to see an impact – in research, in medicine and in the lives of people for whom new therapies have opened up new opportunities. And yet it is a short time when we consider how much still lies ahead of us.

This magazine is both a look back and a step forward. It bears witness to what fifty years of independent research funding can achieve, whilst also offering a glimpse of what seems within our reach from today’s perspective.

With his death, Wilhelm Sander established a foundation and immortalised his name in the field of medical research. He tied private property to a charitable mission whose impact extends far beyond his lifetime. This magazine tells the story of who he was, what drove him and how his era shaped him. Not as a tribute, but as a sincere attempt to get to know a man whose ideas and ultimate wishes have continued to bear fruit ever since.

More than 2,700 research projects. Over 350 million euros for cancer research. Thanks to this funding, thousands of researchers have been able to explore questions that previously seemed too risky or had not yet been asked. The sheer scale of the figures is impressive. Behind them, however, lies a philosophy. The philosophy that knowledge is vital. That genuine progress takes time and is not achieved on a quarterly basis. And that we need institutions capable of withstanding and facilitating these conditions.

In this issue, you will meet some of these researchers. You will learn how a vaccine against HPV made its way from basic research to prevention, and what role the Foundation played in this. You’ll meet scientists who distil their work into 280 characters, as well as others who talk about failure and explain why that, too, is at the heart of good research. You’ll hear from peer reviewers who decide which projects deserve funding. And you’ll read about what drives a Nobel laureate.

We’ve also turned our attention inwards – to the people who breathe life into this foundation every day, some of whom have been doing so for decades. At an institutional history that goes beyond the pages of annual reports. And finally, at the question of what patronage means today – not as a stopgap for state funding, but as a conscious assumption of responsibility.

Fifty years is a long time. Here, however, it does not feel like a standstill, but rather like a springboard.

I hope you find this an inspiring, thought-provoking and perhaps even a little pride-inducing read – about what research can achieve when given the necessary scope.