UAS7 at the Conference of the German American International Network (GAIN) 2023
UAS7 went to Boston to participate again in the conference of the German American International Network on August 25-27, 2023. GAIN is a joint network of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH). The GAIN conference is hosted annually to support the transatlantic mobility of early career researchers. In the Boston area the conference attracts German, US and international researchers working at MIT, Harvard and Boston University and high-ranking regional research institutes, with an interest in German career paths and collaborations.
UAS7 contributions this year included the "HAW Pitch - Path to Professorships at Universities of Applied Sciences," formal and informal lunch and dinner sessions, and -of course- representation at our Talent Fair booth, where participants could engage us in in-depth discussions. Our HAW Pitch concerned the attractiveness of professorships at universities of applied sciences. The speakers, presidents from UAS7, Hochschulallianz für den Mittelstand (HafM) and institutions of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK), laid out clear paths to professorships and the associated prerequisites. Professors from FH Münster, HS Magdeburg-Stendal and Hochschule Niederrhein reported about their own path and experiences on the way to professorship. More than 30 people joined us in the audience.
At the UAS7 booth at the GAIN Talent Fair, and throughout countless networking opportunities, we had a range of stimulating conversations with early career researchers. We learned what they are looking for while they were able to connect and discuss with President Stefan Herzig from TH Köln University of Applied Sciences, Aline Poniatowski from Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and Samir Salameh, Professor for Particle Technology at FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, and Patrizia Nobbe, from UAS7 New York office.
Among the many highlights of our days in Boston were a reception at LabCentral -a biotech shared space in Cambridge-, as well as a discussion among State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Education and Research Dr. Jens Brandenburg, politicians of the Federal Committee for Education, Research and Technology Assessment, and Petra Olschowski, Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry for Science, Research and Arts. Dr. Sonja Kreibich, Consul General of Germany in Boston, moderated the lively exchange on contextual factors for researchers in Germany, research conditions, fiscal capacity and needs of the German research and education landscape.
We thank the GAIN team for organizing another impactful conference, President Stefan Herzig, Aline Poniatowski and Samir Salameh for their invaluable support on the panels and in the talent fair. Thanks also to all of the colleagues of the Hochschulallianz für den Mittelstand and the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz for their contributions to our joint endeavors. And finally, we thank all the researchers and all the colleagues we met and talked to, who all continuously shape Germany's role as a valuable partner in international collaboration and provider of opportunities.