As the first recipient of the “Heinrich Heine Professorship of Economics” Hans-Werner Sinn held the first of two public lectures at the University of Dusseldorf on 25 October 2011. His lecture was entitled: “The sovereign debt crisis in Europe – what is happening with the euro?”. In his second lecture entitled "The battle over climate change" given on 10 January 2012 he critically examined German climate policy.

With the support of the Dr. Jost Henkel Stiftung, the University of Dusseldorf established the “Heinrich-Heine Professorship of Economics” to honour important figures from academia and experts who are taking a stand on the key economic policy questions of the day.