HKUST Inaugurates German Center

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) celebrated a new era of Sino-German collaboration today with the inauguration of the German Center of the HKUST Europe Institute. The German Center was opened by Prof Dr Ernest-Ludwig Winnacker, President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council, DFG) and Prof Chia-Wei Woo, President of HKUST. They were joined by Mr Wolfgang Gerz, Consul-General of Germany in Hong Kong, Mr Etienne Reuter, Head of Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong, and Dr Vincent Lo, Chairman of the University Council. "Cooperation with Asian countries, especially China, is a very important part of the work of the DFG in developing its international relations. Just a few days ago, we celebrated the completion of the office building of the Sino-German Center for Science Promotion in Beijing, and a Sino-German Center is expected to open next year," said Prof Winnacker. "We shall establish a communication network to support scientific collaboration between European and Asian scientists. In this connection, the HKUST German Center will play an important part," he said. In a new move to support scientific cooperation, Prof Winnacker announced today that DFG will offer annual fellowships to ten HKUST graduate students for a three-month stay in a German university or research institute of their choice. Already in full operation for three years, the German Center has been actively engaged in academic exchanges and collaborative research projects. Student exchange programs have been established with the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Karlsruhe. Partnership has also been forged with a number of leading German companies including Bayer AG and Siemens. For instance, HKUST researchers have been working with Bayer AG on the development of a Chinese herbal medicine-based anti-malarial drug. A Sino-German Nano-Analytical Lab (SiGNAL) has been established to bring German and Chinese academic and industrial partners together to develop innovative bio-sensors. The HKUST Europe Institute aims to promote academic exchange and RandD collaboration with European universities, research institutes, industrial enterprises and commercial organizations. Two national centers have so far been formed under the Institute: the German Center and the French Center.     Click here to download PDF file. Home | HKUST Inaugurates German Center Please send comments and suggestions to webmaster@www.ust.hk.