Third network meeting in Rome
The third Research-Alumni Meeting of Heidelberg University took place in Italy in February 2013 under the motto “Italy and Heidelberg – Strong Partners in Europe”. Around 15 former visiting scientists of Ruperto Carola from Italy attended the network meeting in Rome on 21-22 February. Together with Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel, Rector of Heidelberg University, they discussed the prospects and challenges for science, research and teaching in Germany and Italy and exchanged views on the possibilities offered by the network to former visiting scholars. Italy is one of the three focal points of the Research-Alumni Network, besides the United States and India.
Rector Eitel began the meeting with an overview of recent developments at the university and of the prospects for researchers in Heidelberg. The participants of the meeting described the impact of their research stay in Heidelberg on their scientific career. Biologist Dr. Maria-Luisa Malosio, who earned her PhD at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH) and now works at the Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, which belongs to the National Research Council, explains: “My time in Heidelberg was a turning point in my career: It was there that I decided not to work in industry, but to continue doing research instead.”
During the subsequent panel discussion that was led by Dr. Roman Luckscheiter, Heidelberg alumnus and department head at the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, the scientists talked about the globalisation of research and the future of bilateral research collaborations. Besides Rector Eitel and Dr. Malosio, the panel included linguist Prof. Dr. Elda Morlicchio of the University of Naples and Prof. Dr. Furio Cerutti, professor emeritus of political philosophy at the University of Florence. Prof. Cerruti, a former member of an excellence network under the European Commission’s framework programme for research, stressed that the European university model must be preserved and further developed, a task that, according to him, is not reflected adequately by policy in Brussels. In view of the parliamentary elections that took place on the same weekend, the Italian researchers pointed to the increasing degradation of working conditions for scientists and universities in their country, especially in terms of research funding, and the resulting “brain drain” due to the migration of junior scientists. In light of this problem, the panel defined the free movement of scientists within Europe, without negative impact on their career or red tape, as one of the central challenges of European science policy in the coming years.
The introduction of HAIbridge, the new service for members of the Research-Alumni network, was another item on the agenda. HAIbridge is a programme that supports visiting scientists after their stay in Heidelberg. The Research-Alumni Meeting took place in the Casa di Goethe cultural centre, which is located in the building inhabited by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the painter Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein and other German artists during Goethe’s stay in Italy from 1786 to 1788. The meeting ended with a celebratory reception at the residence of German ambassador Reinhard Schäfers, which also marked the founding of the Italian alumni club, Heidelberg Alumni Italy (HAIT).
