QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Changing lives

Message from Professor Ross Young Executive Director, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation The Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) at QUT was launched in 2006 in Brisbane. IHBI is devoted to improving the health of individuals and communities through research innovation, combining high quality health research with a commitment to social justice. IHBI occupies a unique position in the Australian health and biomedical research establishment with a commitment to cross-disciplinary research and community engagement. We focus on applied projects with the potential to have an impact in the medium term across our five interdisciplinary domains. IHBI has made several key appointments of German nationals, and so it has been very useful for us to sustain their networks and to ensure that their collaborative reach is maintained. Recent activity as a result of ‘the IHBI 2011 delegation, which visited Freiburg, Ulm, Berlin, Dresden and Munich, has extended these relationships even further. A key example of this is the developing relationship with the Technical University of Dresden (TU Dresden) which has led to the development of joint research funding proposals, a return delegation of senior bioengineering and cancer scientists to Brisbane and a joint conference to be held in 2013. Clear parallels exist between Queensland and Dresden in the development of research capacity, with both jurisdictions seeing major investments in new research infrastructure and the attraction of leading researchers over the past 20 years. Dresden is now one of the leading hubs for research in Germany, hosting twelve Institutes of the Fraunhofer Society, three Max Planck Institutes and two Leibniz institutes. Furthermore, in the 2012 round of the German Excellence Initiative, TU Dresden was elevated to the status of ‘elite university’ indicating that it is among the top universities in the country. Significant opportunities exist to form synergistic partnerships between QUT and several key German university partners to drive the ongoing development of research excellence across the applied sciences. We are very enthusiastic about the future of German-Australian collaboration.

QUT is a leading Australian university, committed to making a real and positive difference to its students and the wider community.

As a university for the real world, we place a strong emphasis on the application of scholarly excellence to issues of importance to society. Learning and leadership opportunities for our staff and students are important both in and out of the classroom. Exchange partnerships QUT enjoys mutually beneficial relationships with German universities, government and private organisations and has established 17 partner ships with German universities since 2005. These agreements support student exchange and study abroad opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students, joint research programs for faculty and the enrolment and supervision of doctoral candidates. International study experience is a key goal for QUT and we seek to prepare our graduates to be leaders in the real world. Student exchange is described as a genuinely life-changing experience by QUT students, and is offered through partner universities in the following cities: Aachen, Berlin, Darmstadt, Dresden, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Mannheim, München, Münster, Paderborn, Stuttgart, Tübingen and Ulm. There are also exciting prospects for QUT students to participate in short term study, or a semester/year long exchange program with universities in the German State of Hessen. Located in the heart of Germany, Hessen is home to some of the country’s leading universities and research institutes. Through the Hessen-Queensland network, universities have been able to develop strategic bilateral partnerships for student mobility and academic collaboration. QUT is currently in its second term as the Queensland Manager of the agreement, which has seen the exchange of 30 students between the nine universities each in Queensland and Hessen. In total, QUT has welcomed 1,197 German students through both study abroad and exchange programs and we look forward to further strengthening our German connections to offer the best international experience for our students.

A very Baroque encounter can be part of the cultural experience of students’ exchanges in Germany, as this image courtesy of the Hessen Ministry of Higher Education Research and the Arts shows. qut.edu.au/international

Professor Ross Young

ihbi.qut.edu.au

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