Welcome to the October 2007 edition of the DAAD Australia newsletter!

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1 team - Your Dear reader, to the October 2007 edition of the DAAD newsletter! In this edition of our newsletter, you'll find more information on the following topics: team - Your Happy reading! Kind regards, Andreas, Elisabeth & Monica

2 team - Your team DAAD-Alumni-Treffen im Rahmen von GerMANY Since June 2007, Monica Michalla has been supporting our team. Monica is doing her Master's degree in International Relations at Macquarie University in. She gained a Bachelor degree in German linguistics and European ethnology at the Bavarian Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg before moving to in September In addition to her studies, she works for the DAAD as a part-time assistant. Im Rahmen von GerMANY fand am 11. September 2007 das zweite Alumni-Treffen von DAAD und Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung statt. Es erschienen etwa 25 Alumni und 15 Studierende, die sich in der gemütlichen Sound Lounge des Seymour Centre in versammelten. Nach einem Willkommensgruß von Dorothea Fitterling (Leiterin DAAD Programmabteilung Nord) und einleitenden Worten von Dr. Andreas Jäger folgten insgesamt fünf hochinteressante Vorträge unter dem Motto "Research Cooperation Innovation". Die Vorträge waren konzipiert, um NachwuchsakademikerInnen und -forscherinnen das Wesen von Kooperationen näher zu bringen. Nach den ersten zwei Vorträgen gab es bereits informative und lebhafte Gesprächsrunden rund um die Themen Kooperation und Forschung. In der Pause konnten sich die TeilnehmerInnen bei Kaffee und Kuchen im Foyer kennen lernen und weiter diskutieren. Nach der Unterbrechung folgten drei weitere spannende Vorträge, bei denen sich die RednerInnen leider wegen der fortgeschrittenen Zeit kurz fassen mussten. Jedoch konnten Interessierte noch nach der Veranstaltung Kontakte knüpfen und unser Thema Kooperation aufleben lassen. Die nachfolgenden Programmpunkte von GerMANY boten dazu gute Möglichkeiten. Wir danken allen Alumni herzlich, dass sie unser Treffen durch ihre Anwesenheit, ihre Präsentationen und anregende Gespräche bereichert haben. Ebenso danken wir allen Studierenden, die gekommen sind und durch Fragen ihre Realität in die Veranstaltung trugen. Falls Sie Kommentare oder Wünsche zur Verbesserung der kommenden Treffen haben sollten, schicken Sie uns einfach eine Mail!

3 team - Your DAAD-Alumni-meeting as part of GerMANY Under the umbrella of GerMANY, the second alumni meeting of DAAD and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation took place on 11 th September About 25 alumni and 15 students gathered in the Seymour Centre's comfortable Sound Lounge in. After a welcome by Dorothea Fitterling (Director Programme Division North) and an introduction by Dr Andreas Jaeger, five highly interesting talks followed, according to the motto "Research Co-operation Innovation". Each speech was designed to introduce the characteristics of cooperation to up-and-coming academics and scientists. Informative and lively conversations about research and cooperation began as soon as the second talk ended. During the break, guests mingled in the foyer and took the chance to meet and greet while enjoying coffee and cake. Afterwards, three more talks followed. Unfortunately, these had to be shortened as time was almost up, but guests had the possibility to establish contacts and make the cooperation theme happen during the following sessions of GerMANY. We would like to thank all alumni for enriching our meeting through their presence, their presentations and stimulating conversations. In addition, we thank all participating students for their active involvement and contribution to the event. And please remember: Your feedback and ideas are absolutely essential in order to improve future meetings just us! Kurze Liste der Vortragenden/ Short overview of speakers: Dr Yixu Lu, Humboldt alumna, Germanic Studies, University of : Cooperation with Universität zu Köln. Yixu spoke about how cooperation has enhanced her research. A/Professor Andrew McIntosh, DAAD fellow, Director of the Biomechanics and Gait Laboratory, UNSW: Cooperation with Heidelberg University, Munich University & DLR. Andrew talked about partnerships and preliminary plans to establish new research collaborations. B.Sc. Carolin Plate, DAAD alumna, Cognitive Science, Universität Osnabrück: Cooperation with University of, supervisor A/Professor Judy Kay, CHAI (Computer-Human Adapted Interaction) research group, School of IT, University of : Carolin spoke about how cooperation has enabled her to write an interdisciplinary Master's thesis. Judy commented from her point of view. A/Professor Colin Clifford, n Research Fellow and Humboldt alumnus, Psychology, University of : Cooperation with Max Planck Institute Tübingen. Colin talked about his experiences in Germany and his subsequent research. Dr Ditta Bartels, Managing Director INPHAZE, an offspring of University of (Professor Hans Coster and Dr Terry Chilcott). Ditta spoke about commercial aspects, including: staffing, production, marketing and government funding. There's even more to come at! This exciting arts festival started with GerMANY and will continue to showcase cuttingedge programmes until October 20. Another highlight that might interest many of you would be a symposium and CityTalk on "Liquid Cities: Berlin and in Conversation".

4 team - Your This international symposium, organised by the Centre for Cultural Research and the Urban Research Centre, brings and Berlin into conversation around the question of how to build charm, creativity and wit into a city while managing economic competitiveness, quality of life and environmental challenges. Symposium Thursday 4 and Friday 5 October Customs House, Register at CityTalk Thursday 4 October, pm City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Free event, tickets essential - phone: or Further information: liquidcities@uws.edu.au For more information and a full programme of, please have a look at (Forum for European-n Science and Technology) The European Union (with Germany as the biggest financial contributor) is 's largest scientific partner, mainly through bilateral collaboration but also through multilateral projects. aims to highlight existing multilateral and bilateral science and technology cooperation between Europe and, and to improve this cooperation, particularly multilateral cooperation, through identifying priorities and enhancing the quality, quantity and visibility of future action. Dr Mark Matthews was appointed as executive director of in April 2007 following Neil Hamilton s move to Oslo to head the WWF s Arctic research program. Mark has a long-standing interest in the nature and extent of international collaboration in public science as well as industrial research and development. Mark is currently examining s performance as well as standardising the approach to managing the diverse requirements for bilateral network support in order to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of 's work. The German Embassy via its First Secretary Culture/Science/Press, Inga Heuser, as well as DAAD will assist in developing the most sophisticated level of service support, the effects of which will be visible soon. For more information please visit Excellence Initiative - 2nd Round! 44 graduate schools, 40 excellence clusters and eight future concepts have been shortlisted in the final round of the second excellence initiative funding series. The preliminary selections in the second excellence initiative round were announced on 12th January Over 300 proposals from from every German state had been submitted. In the second round, new proposals as well as proposals from the first call were given equal consideration.

5 team - Your Issue 9 - October 2007 The DFG received proposals from 70 throughout Germany, of which 35 submitted full proposals by April The humanities and social sciences are significantly better represented than in the first round. Said Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan: "The excellent results achieved by the humanities are a most gratifying development given that 2007 is the Year of the Humanities. This considerably boosts the international recognition of the humanities in Germany." The invited to submit proposals in the second round are no longer predominantly located in the south of Germany, but also in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Berlin. They cover a broad spectrum, ranging from small, highly specialised to very large all-round. They include technical, with and without medical schools, with a long tradition and very young. A total of 1.9 billion euros has been allocated to the Excellence Initiative over a five-year period. There is approximately 1 billion euros left for the second round. Part of the initiative is the introduction of full economic costing for research in Germany: For each approved project, an additional 20% of the amount allocated is granted to cover indirect costs incurred by the research work, such as procurement of equipment, rental costs, etc. Final funding decisions will be made by on 19 October Advertisement DEUTSCHE UNIS STELLEN SICH VOR - Leibniz University Hanover Have you heard of the world s largest wave channel? Are you keen on investigating gravitational waves, predicted by the theory of relativity? Or would you rather follow the footsteps of philosopher Hannah Arendt, born in Hanover in 1906? Leibniz University Hanover makes all of this possible! Hanover is a green city at the heart of Europe. The historic city centre, the baroque Herrenhausen Royal Gardens, a great diversity of cultural events and the booming trade fair there is something here for everybody. And everywhere you ll stumble on the vestiges of the Royal Family of Hanover, which wore the crown of England in the 19 th century! Leibniz ( was founded in 1831 and is a member of TU 9, the leading technological in Germany ( More than 22,000 students are enrolled at Leibniz University. The university stands for excellence in engineering and sciences and offers a wide range of subjects. Leibniz offers a wide range of possibilities for international students to study and research. From a semester or academic year as an exchange student to a full Bachelor s, Master s or PhD degree, there is something for everybody. Why not try one of our short-term internship or research programs? ( Or would you like to take a first step into the German language at our Winter School? While the sun is blazing in, it is winter time in Europe: the perfect weather to acquire your first knowledge of German - and go skiing as well! ( We are looking forward to welcoming you in Hanover!

6 team - Your BY THE WAY... Welt der Auswanderer im neuen Museum Ballinstadt Die Hoffnungen der fünf Millionen Auswanderer, die zwischen 1850 und 1939 von Hamburg aus ihr Glück in der neuen Welt suchten, werden in dem am 4. Juli eröffneten Museum lebendig. Drei der 30 historischen Hallen wurden am Original-Schauplatz wieder aufgebaut und vermitteln die Atmosphäre von damals - so gibt es etwa im Speisesaal Speisen und Getränke, die es auch in der Ballinstadt gab. Außerdem wurde ein Familienforschungsbereich mit Passagierlisten eingerichtet. Sugimoto-Retrospektive in Düsseldorf, Mit der bisher größten Retrospektive in Deutschland stellt die Kunstsammlung Nordrhein- Westfalen den eigenwilligen Künstler vor, der seine Bildserien - Meditationen in kargem Schwarz-Weiß - stets mit einer urtümlichen Plattenkamera festhält. Ob Meeres-Motive oder raffiniert ausgeleuchtete Fotos von Wachsfiguren historischer Personen: Die Frage nach dem Verhältnis von Realität und Abbild treibt den seit 1974 in New York lebenden Künstler deutlich um. Lost and Found? -Adressen ändern sich häufig und so gehen trotz unserer Bemühungen leider immer wieder Kontaktdaten verloren. Helfen Sie uns, unser Netzwerk am Leben zu erhalten! Bitte teilen Sie uns mit, wenn sich ihre -Adresse ändert. Oder kennen Sie jemanden, der unsere News nicht erhält? Ob Alumni, StipendiatInnen oder andere Interessierte: Vielleicht steht diese Person auf unserer 'Vermisstenliste' schreiben Sie uns! addresses tend to change, and we therefore lose contact details despite our best efforts. Your help in keeping our network alive and updated is greatly appreciated! Please let us know if your address changes. Or do you know someone who doesn't receive our newsletter but would love to? Whether they're alumni, current scholarship holders or simply interested in DAAD news - please us, maybe that person is on our "missing list"! Schöne und erholsame Frühlingsferien! Bis bald. For request of information, comments or if you from this newsletter, please Former issues can be downloaded at: newsletter.htm Yours