Colloquium: The Future of Scientific Cooperation between Rio Grande do Sul and Alemanha

(30.05.12) On 22 May the Goethe-Institut in Porto Alegre, Brazil, hosted a colloquium titled "The Future of Scientific Cooperation between Rio Grande do Sul and Alemanha". The colloquium was organised by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) and the DFG's Latin America Office in Sao Paulo. The German participants included the organisations and universities represented by the DWIH in Sao Paulo, while over 80 Brazilian researchers from the state of Rio Grande do Sul represented the Brazilian science community. Following welcome addresses by State Secretary Prof. Dr. Luciano Andreatta da Costa, the director of FAPERGS, Ms. Nadya Pesce da Silveira, and the General Consul for Germany, Mr. Hans-Josef Over, representatives of the DFG, DAAD, DWIH and AvH outlined their operations and funding programmes in short presentations.

This was followed by presentations from the UAMR, Technical University of Munich and Westphalian Wilhelm University of Münster – all members of the DWIH – and their partner universities in Rio Grande do Sul, providing an overview of current projects and exchange activities involving German and Brazilian universities and research centres. A number of other collaborative projects co-funded by the AvH, DAAD- and DFG were also outlined at this event, which was concluded by a panel discussion about the new challenges facing the Germany – Rio Grande do Sul partnership. A variety of suggestions were made in the course of this discussion with regard to the future development and expansion of this cooperation. The representatives of the participating institutions agreed that the provision of research funding in particular would enhance this historic partnership.