Welcome
Wiss-Nama Newsletter March 2023
News from Indo-German cooperation
German Chancellor’s first visit to India
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited India for the first time after his election from February 25-26. PM Modi received him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he was accorded a ceremonial welcome. He held wide ranging talks with PM Modi focusing on bilateral cooperation in the areas of clean energy, trade and new technologies, economic ties and ties in defence. Chancellor Scholz also called on President Murmu who said, “India and Germany can play an important role in addressing new and emerging global challenges. Both countries have shared aims in upholding democratic values, rules-based international order, multilateralism as well as the reform of multilateral institutions.” He had a successful town hall meeting with young minds of India, including students from O.P. Jindal University. On February 26 he continued his trip in Bangalore, where he visited the SUN Mobility facility, the leading provider of universal energy infrastructure and services for electric vehicles. He discussed India’s clean-tech aspirations and how the country is leading the electric mobility transition with cutting-edge innovations and solutions that are designed in India. The DST and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany have recently signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for a long-term collaboration focusing on hydrogen technologies, with Fraunhofer as technology partner. The agreement will pave the way for active engagements based on mutual needs to deepen the research and technological capabilities in the hydrogen and energy sector. The LoI intends to trigger development of higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for hydrogen energy clusters being set up by DST and identify existing technologies and potential interventions from Fraunhofer in green hydrogen, integrate them with indigenous technologies, and deploy and calibrate them for Indian conditions.
Click here to see pictures of the Delhi visit
Click here to see pictures of the Bangalore visit
Read more about the Fraunhofer Society in the ‘Institute of the month’ section.
Upcoming events and conferences
Indo-German Forum: Sustainable Urban Mobility
The German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New Delhi is organising its biennial conference, the Indo-German Forum on ‘Sustainable Urban Mobility, from March 22 - 23 in New Delhi and online. With an emphasis on governance, mobility solutions, and the production, supply, and efficiency of green energy, the forum intends to convene researchers, decision-makers, and professionals from India and Germany to present their research projects across disciplines and discuss the future mobility of cities. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss challenges, exchange ideas, and network with experts, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders from India and Germany. A few highlights of the conference are Indo-German perspectives on the energy transition and the role of sustainable urban mobility, discussions on research in energy management, modelling of integrated mobility and energy systems, the adaptation of technologies, and AI in integrated systems for urban mobility, insights on international governance for sustainable urban mobility and an outlook on future Indo-German cooperation in the field of integrated engineering for future mobility. Virtual B2B meetings will be offered from March 20-24.
Closed wokshop on ‘Integrated engineering for future mobility
The DWIH New Delhi is also organising a closed workshop on ‘Integrated engineering for future mobility’ along with TU9 – German Universities of Technology, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi from March 20 - 24. The workshop will address the topic of future mobility from an integrated perspective. The main aim is to connect researchers and enable an interdisciplinary discourse to generate ideas for future international research cooperation projects.
Participation is restricted to applicants from TU9 – German Universities of Technology, CSIR and IIT Delhi.
DAAD Events
Web Session: Masters in Germany
Join this web session and get to know all that you need to know about doing a Master degree in Germany.
March 14, 3:00 PM, Online
Bhopal: Research in Germany and DAAD Funding (CSIR-AMPRI)
Open for the faculty of CSIR-AMPRI
March 14, 3:00 PM, Bhopal
Bhopal: Higher Studies and Research in Germany (IISER Bhopal)
Open for staff/students of IISER Bhopal
March 14, 6:30 PM, Bhopal
Web Session: Studying at U Hildesheim
Join this Web Session to know more about studying in U Hildesheim.
March 15, 3:00 PM, Online
Indore: Higher Studies in Germany and German Research Landscape (IIT Indore)
Open for the faculty of IIT Indore
March 16, 4:00 PM, Indore
Chennai: Study in Germany Day - Bachelor & Master in Focus
Know more about studying in Germany in this event.
March 17, 2:30 PM, Chennai
Web Session: PhD in Germany
Join this web session and find out all that you need to know about doing a PhD in Germany.
March 21, 3:00 PM, Online
Web Session: Bachelors in Germany
Join this web session and find out all that you need to know about doing Bachelors in Germany.
March 28, 3:00 PM, Online
Read more and register: https://www.daad.in/en/event/web-session-bachelors-in-germany-4/
Web Session: Studying at HS Hof
Join this web session to know about studying in HS Hof
March 29, 3:00 PM, Online
Calls for proposal
DST’s Co-Funding Partnership under the EU Framework programme on R&I ‘Horizon Europe’
Department of Science and Technology (DST) and EU India invite applications from Central/State Government supported or recognised public or private academic or research institutions, National/state funded R&D labs, Central/State Government recognised organisations with research and innovation imperatives and public/private universities for a co-funding partnership under the EU Framework programme on R&I ‘Horizon Europe’. The proposal should contribute to increasing data efficiency and energy efficiency of AI, and rationalize the provision of data for AI. It should support appropriate AI paradigms (central, distributed, dynamic, hybrid), responding and adapting easily to the needs of the use situation, and to the changing characteristics, availability and use conditions for data.
Application deadline: March 29, 2023
IGSTC paired fellowship for early career researchers
The PECFAR (Paired Early Career Fellowship in Applied Research) programme supports a pair of early career researchers to have a short visit to India/Germany for networking and exploring new avenues for collaboration in applied research. It is an excellent opportunity to start a career in research & innovation in a bilateral setup. A dedicated matchmaking platform has been established for interested researchers. Covered topics include Waste to Wealth and Sustainable Packaging.
Application deadline: March 31, 2023
IGSTC industrial fellowships for young researchers
IGSTC Industrial Fellowships encourage young researchers towards applied research. This programme is aimed at encouraging PhD students/researchers in S&T, who have an aptitude for applied research and technology development, by offering attractive grants for research stays in R&D departments of German industrial companies. Fellowships are offered at PhD/Doctorate levels and at post-doctoral levels. Applicants need to identify the industry/industrial research organisation in Germany and have to submit consent letters from the host industry in Germany and their mentor from India.
Application deadline: March 31, 2023
Cooperation on Climate Change and Polar Research
The Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the European Union (EU) invite applications from researchers and innovators from Indian universities and research organisations to team up with European partners under the Research and Innovation programme ‘Horizon Europe’. Through participation in 'Horizon Europe', the partners can benefit from access to talent, knowledge, data and infrastructures, and connect to world-leading teams, networks, value chains and address jointly global challenges. The research actions should contribute to observing, modelling, and projecting the characteristics, volume, and dynamic of inland ice and permafrost in relevant regions, impacting regional and global climate, taking inter-seasonal, annual, decadal, as well as long-term changes into account.
Application deadline: April 12, 2023
Doctoral positions at International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) “Chemical Communication in Ecological Systems”
The International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) “Chemical Communication in Ecological Systems” invites applications from internationally trained applicants with an MSc degree in one of the fields of, bioinformatics, analytical chemistry, entomology, neurobiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, plant physiology, genetics, ecology or evolution for a 3-year PhD position. A structured training program and an excellent research environment will be offered with state-of-the-art equipment to conduct the research.
Application deadline: April 16, 2023
Job Vacancy
Max Weber Forum for South Asian Studies, Delhi invites applications for the position of a research assistant in the MWF's priority area “Knowledge Production, Circulation, and Medialization”. The applicant must have a PhD and a research project aim at creating a habilitation thesis or an equivalent academic achievement. The project deals with the society of South Asia from a historical, social scientific or Indological perspective (from a regionally specific or transnational perspective with a regional reference) in an epoch from the early modern period to the present. Interdisciplinary approaches in research are welcome. Very good knowledge of German, excellent knowledge of English language as well as very good knowledge of a modern South Asian language are required for the position.
Application deadline: March 31, 2023
Institute of the month
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the world’s leading applied research organisation. It plays a major role in the innovation process by prioritizing future-relevant technologies and commercializing its findings in business and industry. Founded in 1949, it currently operates 76 institutes and research units all over Germany. It has over 30,000 employees, mainly scientists and engineers and has an annual budget of 2.9 billion Euros. Fraunhofer has a representative office in India, which forms a bridge between the Indian market and the Fraunhofer Institutes. This office represents the entire range of consulting, research and development. With various MoUs with Indian institutes, the Fraunhofer India office plays an important role in the Indian research landscape.
Did you Know?
Germany spends over 107 billion Euros for research and development, making it one of the few countries to spend more than 3% of its GDP on research and development.