21. January 2011
University of Cologne Graduate Schools seek to recruit international applicants at well-established Career Fair in the US this week
Three Graduate Schools housed at the University of Cologne aspire to attract internationally mobile junior scientists and Post-Docs at the European Career Fair in Cambridge/Boston this weekend
Three research intensive fields of the University of Cologne will be represented at the 2011 European Career Fair in Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Now in its 15th year, the fair which will be held January 22 to 24 on MIT’s campus will serve several dozens of European research marketeers as recruiting platform. Germany will showcase its research initiatives with a separate cluster and in a workshop on how to apply and get in touch with universities and independent research institutes. The University of Cologne with its three delegates will be one of the best represented universities at the fair within the German cohort.
“It is the basic premise of our graduate school to accept students as early as after they receive their Bachelor’s degree. This is a great fit with the North American system of higher education but we do not enjoy the name recognition in the United States yet that we would like to enjoy,” says Dr. Neubauer-Guenther. She will market a current call for applications issued by her graduate school in physics and astronomy among young students enrolled in US institutions at the Bachelor’s level who would like to spend some time in Germany while advancing their academic training. The next deadline to apply will be March 1st, 2011. She adds: “Among PhD students the number of students willing to relocate is limited but there is quite some willingness to relocate among those who will soon earn their Bachelors and those soon to be Post-Docs.” Her colleague seconds her: “We anticipate a high demand among Post-Docs based upon a recent experience at a similar career fair in London,” tells Dr. Birker with the Cologne Cluster of Excellence on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD Cologne).
Dr. Majczak, representative of the International Graduate School in Development Health and Disease, quotes similar reasons for her participation in Boston: “Germany has become a very attractive country for young scientists - the recent global crisis did not affect it so badly and great funds are available. We could see already during the London Nature Jobs career fair that the number and diversity of research offers in Germany surprised visiting students. Clearly, we can be in the same league with the leading universities around the world and get excellent students, but we need to give them access to information about us. Last year we had applications from all over the world, but the USA. This is why we are in Boston.”
Going forward, the University of Cologne’s outreach efforts will be supported by the institution’s latest international opening in New York, coordinated by Stefanie Grupp-Clasby, Director of the university’s new office in the United States. The office will support marketing efforts on behalf of individual branches of the university from its New York office. The European Career Fair is among the most ambitious marketing campaigns rolled out by European universities in the United States so far. Almost forty German universities and universities of the applied science will be exhibiting at the fair’s 15th edition this year. The target audience are young researchers and scientists that are internationally mobile. Held on MIT’s campus, the fair’s geographical proximity to renowned institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University will enhance the likelihood of a high number of local participants.
www.euro-career.com
For a comprehensive list of all German participants and their respective research institutions please visit:
www.research-in-germany.de/ecf2011
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funds the program through which three Cologne delegates received travel grants this year. A newsletter available via the below link alerts interested parties about upcoming funding cycles. In past years, delegates from German institutions were invited to apply for travel funds via DAAD unit 523 (Research Marketing).
www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/en/a-newsletter/22862/newsletter.html
Contact information:
Dr. Christiane Wille
Universität zu Köln
International Office
Albertus-Magnus-Platz, D - 50923 Köln
Tel. +49 221 470-4382
E-Mail: C.Wille@verw.uni-koeln.de
www.uni-koeln.de/international
Stefanie Grupp-Clasby
University of Cologne New York, Director
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA
Tel.: +1 212 758-5893
E-Mail: S.Grupp-Clasby@uni-koeln.de
CECAD Cologne - Excellent in Aging Research
Dr. Doris Birker
coordinator for CECAD career development, education & gender issues
ZMMK, Raum EG.017
Robert-Koch-Str. 21
D-50931 Köln
Phone: +49 (0)221/478 89532
Email: dbirker@uni-koeln.de
cecad.uni-koeln.de/offene_stellen/index_ger.html
University of Cologne
Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy
Dr. Petra Neubauer-Guenther
Administrative Director
Zülpicher Strasse 77
D-50937 Köln
phone +49/(0)221-470 3554
www.gradschool.physics.uni-koeln.de
Dr. Joanna Majczak
International Graduate School
in Development Health and Disease
Institute for Genetics
Zuelpicher Str. 47
50674 Cologne, Germany
majczakj@uni-koeln.de
phone: 0049 221 470 7728
www.igsdhd.uni-koeln.de/contact.html
