Last week saw the official inauguration of a new center of marine research in the coastal town of Qingdao, China. The Ocean University of China (OUC), the University of Bremen – with the Leibniz Center of Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) – and the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel – with the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) – have now crowned their long lasting trilateral cooperation with the opening of this new “Center for German-Chinese Cooperation in the Marine Sciences“.
Since 2004, the German and Chinese partners have been engaged in measures of bilateral support for young researchers funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Education Ministry of the People’s Republic of China. An interdisciplinary German-Chinese Masters was launched in the winter semester 2006/2007: graduates receive a dual degree and the program is delivered in the English language. Two years later saw the beginning of a program of PhD scholarships. Every year since 2005 there have also been jointly organized two-week summer schools for post-graduate students of the marine sciences, held both in China as well as in Germany. In future, the partners intend to increase the exchange of faculty. Joint research projects and the development of an alumni network are also part of the future agenda.
The new Center will enhance the visibility of activities by bundling the different forms of cooperation under one roof. In addition to intensifying cooperation in the area of research, other measures encompass the networking of research in the marine sciences and the joint acquisition of external funding.
The participating universities and the Federal ministries have high expectations of the Center. “This cooperation project fits perfectly into the research priorities the University of Bremen has set itself in the area of marine sciences“, says Professor Wilfried Müller, President of the University of Bremen. The marine sciences and international networking constitute cornerstones of Bremen’s efforts within the context of the German Government’s Excellence Initiative. All representatives of the participating institutions are united in their opinion that the Center is a milestone in German-Chinese relations and in the networking of research between the two countries.
Management of the new Center will be shared jointly between a Chinese director and directors from Bremen and Kiel respectively. The first targets have already been defined. For instance, a workshop to identify joint research topics is planned for September 2011, and what will be the 7th summer school.
