DWIH Excellence on Tour, Ahmedabad From renewable energy to medicine to research and innovation, DWIH mentors audience in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, November 22, 2013: DWIH Excellence on Tour started with a grand inaugural launch in the presence of the law minister of Gujarat, Pradeep C. Jadeja and other dignitaries followed by cultural programmes. The first day of the DWIH German House of Research and Innovation Excellence On Tour brought myriad activities to Science City for aspiring students, researchers and enthusiasts who wanted to know about Materials Challenges for Future and Renewable Energy. Dr. Lalit Mohan Manocha, Professor at the Department of Materials Science at Sardar Patel University chaired the very informative session on Materials Challenges for Future and Renewable Energy. Dr. P.K. Ghosh, Director, Central Salt, Marine and Chemical Research Institute of Bhavnagar, captivated the audience with his talk on Bio Fuels. He spoke upon the numerous initiatives and projects in creating bio-fuel and his motivation was apparent. The second day of the week long DWIH Roadshow, focused on medical research and workshop on basic techniques on cancer research. The workshop was followed by an interesting symposium on Affordable Housing and Energy Efficient Building Design. It covered topics ranging from Low Cost Building Designs, Housing and Mobility in India to Building Energy Efficient Research and Consuming Behaviour and Awareness in India. Prof. Reinhard Doleschal, Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences provided insights on Energy Consumption and Energy Saving. This symposium emphasized the successful long term scientific collaboration between Indian and German Universities, with the highlight of being the public survey conducted in various Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. Apart from researchers, students, and professional experts, visitors from varied fields like architects, structural engineers, clinical and life sciences from and around the city were seen attending various seminars of interest. The day ended with a Cultural Event and some games, leaving the attendees happy in the knowledge that they learnt something, and had a fun time as well. DWIH truly brought the German flavor to Ahmedabad.

The third day of DWIH, New Delhi Excellence on Tour was a very important day for the researchers as members from the European Research Council counseled the young scientists, eminent researchers and educated them with a session on funding opportunities of European Research Council (ERC). As a pan European funding organisation the ERC aims to simulate scientific excellence by competition between outstanding researchers of any nationality as well as to promote fundamental research. The ERC offers grants from 1.5 to 3.5 million Euros to an individual researcher for carrying on his research project over a period of 5 years of which minimum 50 % of the total working time should be devoted to the ERC funded project and the remaining 50% to the host institution in Europe. Of all the applications, 10-15% of the projects applied are funded by ERC. The ERC has funded more than 3,000 projects till date and are looking to fund many such scientific researches on domains like social sciences, humanities and interdisciplinary studies. Many highly international peer reviews and shortlist the applications received for grants. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Thomas Heine, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany who has won a research grant from ERC said, A platform like DWIH provides the mobility for exchange of ideas and techniques from and to India and Germany. India houses many eminent researchers but the brain drain erases the efforts made for Indian researchers. The Day 4 of DWIH - New Delhi, Excellence on Tour saw a combination of arts and science. On one hand was a Science Slam by six young slammers who presented their topic of research in ten minutes to an audience, who may not berelated to their field of research and on the other hand was a workshop on Photography conducted by renowned lensman Mr. Wolfgang Zurborn at NID, Gandhinagar. A Science Slam is a science communication format which was developed in Germany. The Science Slam provided the emerging researchers the opportunity to present their research topic in a manner so the audience is entertained while getting a better understanding of their respective field of research at the same time. The slammers were selected from all fields of science including humanities social sciences. The names of the young finalists who presented their research are MS. Jyothi S.C, Bangalore University, Medicine/Physiology, Ms. Maitri M., Bangalore University, Medicine/Physiology, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Jamia Milia Islamia University, Medicine/Physiology, Mr. Manish Sanghani, Sardar Patel University, Physics/Mathematics, Ms. Shivani Mehta, Humanities and Social Sciences and Ms. Ridhhi Dave from Gujarat University.

The photography workshop on the other hand was inaugurated by Mr. Cord Meier-Klodt, Deputy Chief of Mission, Germany Embassy. Mr . Meier-Klodt feels that it is important to nurture relations between two countries for the next generation not only in terms of already existing business and political relations but also in the cultural field. According to Mr. Meier-Klodt, What attracts an individual to go to another country is the cultural element and events like DWIH provides a platform to many aspiring students to know more about not only the educational aspect but also get an idea about the culture and arts in Germany.

For more information, please contact: Ruchika Christ Public Relations Deutsche pranay.panchal@adfactorspr.com German Research Foundation Ruchika.christ@dfg.de Pranay Panchal / Vishal Patel Adfactors PR Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) vishal.patel@adfactorspr.com