A delegation of prominent scientists from US and Canada visited the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV and its facilities at the Ruhr University Bochum to explore opportunities of cooperation on the 21st June 2017. The 20 scientists were led by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany’s main agency for the promotion of the international exchange of students and researchers worldwide. The DAAD delegation is currently on tour around Germany to give US and Canada scientists an overview about Germany’s Excellence strategy and Cluster Policy.
Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith introduced the cluster to the guest scientists: “For RESOLV it is a great opportunity for new collaborations at international level”, said Havenith. The delegation visited the new research building ZEMOS and its core facilities, including the new laboratories for modern laser spectroscopy and nano-electrochemistry. “Our guests come from many different areas, but they were fascinated by the introduction we had to the cluster”, says Ms. Gaedeke, senior Program Officer at DAAD.
The guests were interested in how the cluster is managed, how to facilitate the collaboration among people from different fields and how to increase the number of female faculty members. For Dr. Christian Schaefer, Head of Section Internationalization in Research and Teaching at DAAD, “clusters like RESOLV build the critical mass of interdisciplinary expertise to attract the interest of high ranked international institutions, scientists and students. We try to facilitate opportunities for knowledge exchange between them”.