As part of an effort to intensify its efforts for international cooperation, Germany has chosen India as one of five countries for setting up dedicated centres to promote collaborative projects in science, research and innovation, education, and languages.
The centres would serve as “one-stop shops’’ for students, researchers and potential institutions interested in getting information on the higher education and research landscapes in Germany, including the various sources for funding available for collaborative projects.
Apart from India, such centres are being set up only in US [New York], Japan [Tokyo], Russia [Moscow], and Brazil [Sao Paolo].
Called the German House for Research and Innovation, the centre here would be located at the German Embassy on Nyaya Marg at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi.
The centre would, among other things, organise lectures, exhibitions, workshops and seminars to provide for engagements between German institutions and young researchers and scientists here and provide support for science administration and policy makers in the two countries to interact for developing strategies for enhancing research collaborations.
In a statement, German Ambassador, Michael Steiner, noted, “Indo-German cooperation in science and technology is a defining pillar of our bilateral relationship. India and Germany maintain a highly dynamic academic exchange and a vast array of bilateral research projects to jointly develop the technologies for the future. The new German House for Research and Innovation will be a scientific hub for young talents and a landmark for innovation, which benefits India as well as Germany’’.
The centre is to be inaugurated on October 27. A ‘Grand Science Slam’ would be organised on the occasion, where young scientists and science enthusiasts from India would be allowed to showcase their ideas before a jury of eminent researchers.
Two best presentations would be chosen, one by the jury and the other by the general public sitting in the audience. Each of the winners would be awarded with a fully paid opportunity to work in the research group of a top scientist in Germany.
The competition would require the participants to present complex scientific concepts in simple form. Each of them would get just 10 minutes to prove his or her knowledge of science. They could use any format, from a conventional talk to a stage play or even a musical performance.
The ‘slammers’ can choose to make their presentations from one of the following streams – medicine/physiology, “green’’ life sciences, physics/ mathematics, geosciences, chemistry and process engineering/ engineering, informatics and social sciences.
Director of the German Research Foundation [DFG], Torsten Fischer, said, “it is a great opportunity for Indian researchers to showcase their knowledge of science in the presence of a distinguished gathering of very senior researchers’’. DFG is the official coordinator of the new German House for Research and Innovation.
