(26.03.15) On 17 and 18 March the IV German-Chilean Joint Committee Meeting on Education, Science and Technology Cooperation took place in Santiago de Chile. The DFG participated in this meeting and, together with CONICYT, led the working group "Instruments for Cooperation in Research". The conference was organised on the German side by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and on the Chilean side by MINEDUC (Ministry of Education) and CONICYT (research funding council).

After a welcome from German Ambassador Hans-Henning Blomeyer-Bartenstein and the head of the Department of European and International Cooperation in Education and Research at the BMBF, Dr. Volker Rieke, Dr. Francisco Martínez, head of the higher education department of MINEDUC, gave a talk on the planned university reforms in Chile. Dr. Rieke and Prof. Dr. Francisco Brieva, President of CONICYT, presented a general overview of the science policy and funding programmes in both countries.

Participants of the working group "Instruments for Cooperation in Research" from German and Chilean universities, research institutions and funding bodies split into three working groups to discuss a variety of topics, including a more effective integration of mobility projects, the set-up and coordination of funding of (larger) joint projects and the involvement of early career researchers as well as the internationalisation of postgraduate programmes. Numerous examples of cooperation, with their successes and challenges, were presented. The results of the fruitful discussion were presented to all participants in the plenary session on the second day of the meeting in a talk by Dr. Dietrich Halm (DFG Office Latin America) and Gonzalo Arenas (CONICYT), along with suggestions for further discussion and collaboration.

Two further working groups dealt with the topics of sustainable mining research, raw materials/renewable energy and education.

At a round table on bilateral cooperation entitled "Discussion of best practice cooperation activities between German and Chilean institutions", 19 representatives of Chilean research and funding institutions presented their collaborative projects, results and experiences.