Universität Heidelberg Presents Projects from the Excellence Initiative
Information stand at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego
Interdisciplinary research opportunities for young academics were the focus of a presentation by Heidelberg University at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego, USA. An information stand featured Heidelberg projects associated with the Excellence Initiative. Institutions represented were the Clusters of Excellence “Cellular Networks” and “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”, the Heidelberg Graduate School of Mathematical and Computational Methods for the Sciences and Heidelberg University’s Graduate Academy funded in the framework of its Institutional Strategy to Promote Top-Level University Research.
Heidelberg University’s presence was part of the joint stand set up by Baden-Württemberg International (BW-I). One of the objectives of the presentation was to explore the potential for future cooperation. Among the guests were Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen, the Heidelberg Nobel Prize laureate for medicine in 2008, and Dr. Peter Frankenberg, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Research and the Arts. At a BW-I workshop organised by the universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg in conjunction with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Professor Frankenberg also gave an introduction to the topic “Baden-Württemberg: Scientific Excellence Made in Germany”. Dr. Michael Winckler, managing director of the Heidelberg Graduate School for Mathematical and Computational Methods for the Sciences also outlined some of the projects currently being pursued there.
The American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences is the largest academic society in the world. It also publishes the renowned Science journal. The motto for the AAAS annual meeting 2010 was “Bridging Science and Society”. The wide range of symposia, workshops and lectures attracted some 5,000 visitors. This year, just under 80 academic institutions, social and scientific organisations and government ministries took advantage of the exhibition to promote their activities. It was the third time that Heidelberg University participated in the proceedings.