University of Bayreuth Extends bridges to Australia
- 200 participants from 20 institutions discuss strategic and scientific cooperation -
Bridge Melbourne
Photo: Dr Arnim Heinemann
The strategic hub of the University of Bayreuth in Melbourne begins the year 2019 with numerous dynamic activities which, together with the German and Australian partners, intensify and expand cooperation in research and teaching. In total, around 200 scientists, students and science managers from 20 German and Australian science institutions participated in the meetings, workshops and conferences held in Melbourne, Hobart, Perth, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and Sippy Downs. The International Office uses its liaison offices in Bayreuth and Australia in a targeted manner in order to coordinate the complex cooperation approaches and to open up new perspectives and project approaches. In accordance with the internationalization strategy of the University of Bayreuth, the focus is on cooperation with privileged and strategic partners in Melbourne. In addition to the further development of existing successful cooperation projects such as the Bayreuth-Melbourne Colloid / Polymer Network, the development of new and sustainable formats of project financing in the natural, environmental, legal, economic, sports, health, African and engineering sciences are more central Object of interest.
Gateway Office Melbourne has passed the test
With the organization and implementation of the first "Australian-German Network Coordinator Day" on 11th February 2019, the Gateway Office of the University of Bayreuth in Melbourne, which was officially opened in the middle of last year, successfully passed its first test. Nearly 100 participants from the areas of management, coordination and science of bilateral programs were brought together for this first German-Australian network event in order to exchange information and experiences at German and Australian universities. A large number of coordinators of transnational projects as well as several representatives of the DAAD and all partner universities of the University of Bayreuth in Melbourne were present.
The presentation of German-Australian projects, such as the DAAD-sponsored Bayreuth-Melbourne Colloid / Polymer Network, and further funding opportunities for German-Australian partnerships were met with great interest, as did the official presentation of the Gateway Office as an integral part of the hub strategy of the University of Bayreuth. This new type of event opened up completely new dimensions and perspectives of cooperation and interaction and was the highlight of a 3-week delegation trip in which the contacts could be deepened not only to the partner universities in Melbourne, but throughout Australia. In addition to the in-depth discussion and expansion of already existing cooperation, many new members were added to the circle of partners of the University of Bayreuth.
Network Coordinator Day
Dr Arnim Heinemann: Presentation about GO of UBT
Photo: Dr Melanie Pöhlmann
An outstanding achievement of this delegation trip and its close association with the University of Melbourne is the first campus-wide strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), whose solemn signature marks the culmination of a delegation visit by high-ranking University of Melbourne faculty members in April this year will represent. At the end of March, the University of Bayreuth will host a scientific delegation from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne for talks.
For a regular exchange of the numerous, formerly Bayreuth scientists, who are now working at Australian universities, the Gateway Office has created an alumni regular's table, to which all visitors from Bayreuth are cordially invited. Up-to-date information can be found on the homepage of the Gateway Office.
Bayreuth Melbourne Colloid Polymer Network - setting the course for the future
The 9th Symposium of the Australian Colloid and Interface Society (ACIS 2019) attracted visitors from 3-7. February more than 30 German and Australian members of the Bayreuth-Melbourne Colloid and Polymer Network to Hobart, Tasmania. With a share of 20% of total conference participants, the network attracted a lot of attention due to its impressive presence. The multiple mention of the network and the University of Bayreuth during various conference events led to lively discussions at the centrally located exhibition stand. Network members and conference participants from all over the world gathered information about Bayreuth infrastructures (BPI KeyLabs and Collaborative Research Centers (biofabrication, microplastics, mesotechnology) as well as forthcoming events in the field of polymer and colloid research (see teaser box).) Scientifically, the conference provided an ideal setting for on the conference topics "Colloids in Medicine, Nanoparticles: Colloidal Stability, Self-assembly and Interactions with Light Scattering in Colloids and Interface Science, Colloidal Frontiers and Soft Material Engineering in Foods, Consumer Care Products and Pharmaceuticals", which are also important for Bayreuth researchers. exchange.
ACIS 2019 - Prof Mukundan Thelakkat (UBT), Prof Matthias Karg (HHU), Master-Student Kai Meyer (UBT), Prof Thomas Scheibel (UBT)
Photo: Dr Melanie Pöhlmann
Under the motto "Future Perspectives", 60 scientists met in workshops on "Targeting Tissue", "Atomic Force Microscopy" and "Exciton Science" before and after the conference. The focus of these workshops was above all the long-term cooperation in research and teaching as well as sustainable concepts to stabilize the cooperation that has developed in the last 5 years.
Participants of the Workshop “Targeting Tissue” in Melbourne
Photo: David Sonnleitner
Organized laboratory tours at the Australian partners and at the Synchrotron as well as lectures by scientists from Bayreuth rounded off the program and maximized and deepened the interactions between the scientists in and around the network. Master students and postgraduate students, who then conduct their research stay in Melbourne, for example in the context of a joint PhD program, were able to gain an optimal overview of infrastructures and competences in the network and get to know specific local contact persons.
The result of the Future Perspectives events are, in addition to many individual new cooperation ideas, concrete plans for the preparation of joint applications for third-party funding as well as joint support for joint PhDs and Master's students during their final thesis. In addition, a comparable large return visit of the Australian network members was agreed in July 2019 on the occasion of the Bayreuth International Summer School (BISS) 2019 and a continuation of the workshop format Targeting Tissue. Currently, 20 Australian scientists have announced their plans for the July 2019 network!
These and other Bayreuth science workshops on health sciences and health economics in June and July, as well as additional courses from the Bayreuth International Summer School 2019, with strong Australian participation from another 20 Melbourne-based scientists, form a dense forward-looking portfolio of collaboration, the Due to its complexity and sustainable innovation potential, it can be described as 'Bayreuth - Melbourne Summer'. This newly established series of events will further strengthen the bridges between the University of Bayreuth and Australia.
Contact:
Dr. Arnim Heinemann
Leiter des International Office
Universität Bayreuth / ZUV
Universitätsstraße 40
95448 Bayreuth
Telefon: 0921 / 55-5240
E-Mail: arnim.heinemann@uni-bayreuth.de
www.international-office.uni-bayreuth.de
www.melbourne.uni-bayreuth.de
www.gatewayoffice-melbourne.com