Enhancing Science Partnerships for Innovation and Sustainable Development

Pretoria – On 28 August 2012, the information seminar "Research in Germany" was held for the first time in Pretoria, South Africa. The organisers, the DAAD information office in Johannesburg and the German Embassy in Pretoria, described the event as a resounding success.

Around 150 visitors informed themselves in various meetings and presentations about the German research environment, about political initiatives to promote and encourage research, and about existing and potential collaborations with German universities and research institutions. The event, which was held within the framework of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), attracted not only students and scientists, but also high-ranking representatives of renowned research institutions and universities.

As well as providing practical information about Germany as a research location, the event addressed the relationship between Germany and South Africa on a more personal level. Robert Krieger from the National Research Foundation (NRF), for instance, paid tribute to the importance of existing German-South African cooperation and reminded visitors of the recently deceased scientist and freedom fighter Dr. Neville Alexander. Dr. Alexander had studied in Tübingen and cultivated intensive relations with Germany thereafter. In a panel discussion, both up-and-coming and established scientists emphasised the benefits – both in professional terms and for themselves personally – of exchanging knowledge, experience and ideas with Germany. In the informal talks that followed, the exchange principle was then put into practice in a most direct and lively fashion.

The information seminar "Research in Germany" was held as part of the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013 and was attended by the South African Ministry of Science and Technology (DST) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). There are plans to carry on holding the event on an annual basis.

Find out more about the "Research in Germany" seminar in our Media Library.