NIH International Opportunities Expo: Exhibits and Exhibitor Presentations, September 17, 2010
On Friday, September 17, 2010, the American Friends of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) joined together to host a Research in Germany booth at the NIH International Opportunities Expo. The Expo aimed “to provide Fellows with opportunities to learn about various research, career, and funding opportunities abroad. The Exhibitor Fair and Exhibitor Informational Talks that have characterized the Expo in the past allow both Visiting and U.S. Fellows to network with science and technology representatives from embassies, funding agencies, and other organizations with a global presence (NIH).” The morning kicked off with career discussion panels. The afternoon was comprised of a career fair where the 23 exhibitors hosted booths for the fellows to visit and explore international opportunities. Throughout the career fair in the afternoon, many exhibitors offered informative presentations followed by Q&A sessions.
The representatives at the Research in Germany booth (AvH, DAAD, DFG and GCRI) also banded together to give informative presentations. The first presentation introduced the three funding organizations and their programs. While the programs from AvH and DFG like the Humboldt Research Fellowship or DFG's Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators, address scientists from all fields, DAAD offers the DAAD/Roche Diagnostics Postdoctoral Program that is aimed specifically towards researchers in the medical and biotechnology fields. A second presentation focused on the German Center for Research and Innovation and the opportunities it offers. The GCRI representative discussed GCRI’s mission, the types of events it organizes, the kind of support GCRI provides postdocs, and how the participants can get involved with GCRI.
Roughly 50 of the Expo's 350 attendees visited the RiG booth to inform themselves about research opportunities in Germany. Most of the booth visitors were postdocs interested in the Humboldt Research Fellowship (AvH), Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (AvH), and the Emmy Noether-Program (DFG). A few of the visitors were Germans interested in opportunities to return to Germany or postdocs' advisors. Many were enthusiastic about Germany’s research landscape and viewed the country as a portal to Europe and European research organizations.
To bring the day to a close, the Fogarty International Center sponsored a post-Expo reception for the exhibitors, career panelists, and Fellow participants. This gave the exhibitors a chance to network and to discuss future possible collaborations (i.e. RiG representatives will join the NIH German Fellows’ “Stammtisch” to gather comparative feedback from fellows about impediments to overseas research stays, & differences, strengths and weaknesses in thethe German-U.S. postdoctoral training system).
