Highlights in German Science & Research

German High Tech Champions Award: Solutions for sustainable transportation in Mega-Cities

The German High Tech Champions (GHTC) Competition by Fraunhofer is off to a third round - this time, the soon-to-be winners of the Award 2012 in "Sustainable Transportation for Mega-Cities" are preparing for their business case presentations in front of invited industry executives in India.

The Helmholtz Association is offering 40 postdoc positions

The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving grand challenges which face society, science and industry by performing top-rate research in six research fields. With a total of 31,745 staff work in its 18 research centres the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific research organisation.

Support for attractive teaching at 102 German higher education institutions

Germany wants to further improve the study conditions and the quality of teaching at its higher education institutions. Progress towards this goal is receiving a renewed boost this year with the second round of the Quality in Teaching Pact: 102 universities, universities of applied sciences and colleges of art and music in Germany will receive roughly 400 million euros of funding from the Federal Government between 2012 and 2016.

Animal lesson: Can the state learn from ants?

An Anglo-German research team involving participation from the University of Wuerzburg has investigated an interesting phenomenon in ant colonies that in theory may bear a message for politics and business: namely, the fact that politicians and economists could learn lessons from studying how an ant colony allocates food resources.

Hannover Messe, 23 to 27 April 2012, Hannover

This year, Hannover Messe, the world's largest industrial fair, is spotlighting the theme of "Greentelligence". Several thousand international exhibitors will be presenting their latest technologies at a total of eight flagship fairs. China will be presenting itself as the partner country of the 2012 Hannover Messe.

Analytica, 17 to 20 April 2012, Munich

Analytica is the leading international fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology. For trade visitors, who largely come from the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, the fair is an important industry meeting place with some 1,000 international companies represented.

European Geophysical Union, 22 to 27 April 2012, Vienna

Germany's research opportunities will be presented at the European Geophysical Union General Assembly in Vienna. Invited speakers will highlight Germany's manifold and high quality geoscientific research landscape. Visitors will also be able to receive first-hand knowledge about funding and network options to develop their own scientific careers.