In her welcoming address, the chairperson of the Scientific Commission, Professor Julia C. Arlinghaus, emphasized the exceptional quality of Bremen as an academic location. Excellent cooperation exists both across institute boundaries and between the universities.
The President of the University of Bremen, Professor Jutta Günther, also emphasized the great importance of science for the state of Bremen. "The density of academic institutions across the entire spectrum of our science system is unique in Germany," she stated. Bremen has 13 federal government and state-funded institutes that, together with the University of Bremen, have entered into a strategic alliance: the U Bremen Research Alliance – UBRA for short - to present themselves as research-oriented institutions and work together on flagship projects. There are also other institutes funded by the state, for example in the field of production and logistics. And finally, Bremen is also home to several private universities. This wealth is the result of long-term strategic planning over the last five decades.
Sustainability Is a Major Topic for the Future
The common path towards sustainability – this unites Bremen's universities in a special way. As an example, the President cited the BreGoS network, which stands for "Bremen Goes Sustainable" and is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The university campuses become real laboratories in this project. Research, teaching, and learning take place on and with the campus, for example with the aim of making buildings more energy-efficient, green spaces more biodiverse, or developing new mobility concepts.
Cooperation Is the Backbone of a Vibrant Research Landscape
Jutta Günther emphasized that cooperation professorships play a key role in the collaboration between the university and institutes. As examples of important collaborations, she cited the "The Ocean Floor" Excellence Cluster, which is based at MARUM and in which colleagues from the AWI, the MPI for Marine Microbiology, and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research conduct joint research. DFKI is also a central partner in the Collaborative Research Center EASE – Everyday Activity in Science and Engineering, which is part of the Faculty of Mathematics / Computer Science. The focus here is on AI-based robotics and the development of learning systems, for example in everyday human situations. The third example mentioned by the President was the Leibniz Science Campus Digital Public Health, in which the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences works closely with the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology. The focus is on the question of how responsible digitalization can contribute to better healthcare.
Tenure track: Academic Mid-Level Sector Career Paths
The University of Bremen was an early advocate of alternative career paths in addition to professorships at the university and created tenure-track positions in the academic mid-level sector. Researchers and (post-tenure) senior researchers and lecturers have been conducting research and teaching independently and successfully at the university since 2019.
Transfer: Impulses for Social Progress
Compared to the rest of Germany, the University of Bremen also holds a leading position in the area of transfer. Once again, Jutta Günther emphasized that universities and non-university institutes are joining forces when it comes to promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology: "We want to be a driving force for technical progress, but also for social progress." Going forward, it is now a matter of successfully developing Bremen as a scientific location in cooperation with state politics and the federal government.
About the German Council of Science and Humanities' Scientific Commission
The Scientific Commission of the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) is made up of 32 members. Said members are appointed by the Federal President. Of them, 24 researchers are jointly proposed by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Max Planck Society (MPG), the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Hermann von Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HGF), the Fraunhofer Society (FhG), and the Leibniz Association. In addition, the federal government as well as the state governments jointly propose eight public figures.
