Leading sciences have had and continue to have an immeasurable significance for the organizational forms of knowledge and for the structures of the university. But what are leading sciences? Why do they exist? Or should they perhaps not exist today at all? Representatives of the cultural, social, natural, environmental, and neuroscience fields are asking themselves these questions in reflection on the history of science and are referring to new developments in their own disciplines, as well as primarily to the challenges posed by the life sciences and neuroscience. The contributions highlight that there is a particular need for problem-solving that must be developed collaboratively and transdisciplinarily by the natural, cultural, and social sciences if the new possibilities are to allow humanity to remain human and keep the Earth habitable.