11. September 2008 Helmholtz Head Office
Speech at the Annual General Assembly 2008 of the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Helmholtz International: German research – Ideas for the World.
Speech at the Annual General Assembly 2008 of the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft,
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association, Thursday, 11th September 2008.
Dear Minister, dear Dr. Schavan,
Your Magnificences, Your Excellencies,
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
As we speak, the International Space Station ISS is floating through space about 350 kilometres above our heads. On board are scientists from the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe. They are conducting zero-gravity experiments, examining new materials, biological cell processes and many other questions that would not be possible to investigate on Earth.
Modern research is a prime example of international cooperation. It has become a routine matter for countries all around the world to work together in developing and financing large-scale research facilities like the ISS. And I am proud to say that although it might not be written on the wrapper, a great deal of “Helmholtz Research” went into Europe’s Columbus space laboratory on board the ISS.
Forty years ago such cooperation across national and ideological borders would have been unthinkable. But as astronauts keep telling us, the view of the world from up there gives us quite a different perspective on earthly affairs. Our blue planet is home to so many different forms of life, from single cell creatures all the way to human beings, and seen from this perspective, national interests seem very insignificant indeed!
The message is clear − only by working together can we succeed in tackling the great global challenges that face us today. The dictum “my home is my castle” is yesterday’s cold potatoes. Today we have to think globally and see the connections. The prosperity we enjoy in Europe today can only be maintained if we continue to develop while also helping to ensure that other regions of the world remain inhabitable.
6.7 billion people live on the earth today, and the world population is still growing. Around the year 2050, approximately 9 billion people will be needing water, food and energy supplies. That is a tremendous challenge, as there is a limit to the Earth’s resources.
Let me give you an example. We are already debating the question of whether it is defensible to use fertile arable land for the production of biofuels. On the one hand, biofuels help reduce our dependency on oil and may cut back CO2 emissions; but on the other, the runoff from energy crops contaminates drinking water and has already pushed up prices for basic foodstuffs in some regions.
This example shows how difficult it is to find good, sustainable solutions. It also shows that science and technology alone will not suffice to reach our goals. Economic and political considerations are at least as important.
Research, however, will play a fundamental part in developing solutions to ensure a future worth living for. That goes for all the major, burning questions facing us today. One such question is how to meet our energy needs.
These questions will inevitably involve the thorny issue of radioactive waste disposal – a subject that has led to a great deal of political controversy given the planned closure of the Asse pit. The Helmholtz Centre in Munich has long maintained that this facility requires major renovations, a point of view that made us the butt of very unscientific criticism. So let me say it loudly and clearly here that we take our responsibility for nuclear safety and research into nuclear power very seriously, and as international surveys show, our work in this area is held in very high esteem.
The question of energy supplies is closely connected to that of global climate change. Can we stop or slow down global warming? And what measures should be taken to protect ourselves from the possible or even inevitable consequences?
Not only climate change but also social phenomena like demographic change affect us all. Life expectancy is on the rise throughout Europe, and an increasing number of people are suffering from typical age-related diseases like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. In Germany alone, almost one million elderly people have succumbed to a form of dementia, with profound consequences for themselves, their families and the national economy. In this area as well, we must look to research for solutions. I am very grateful, Dr. Schavan, that thanks to your initiative, the new Helmholtz Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases has been set up in Bonn. I give you my pledge that we will take up the fight against these plagues of old age with all our might. But let me add that we cannot promise quick results, as this is an area in which we are still very focused on basic research.
Tackling the pressing questions of our time is the challenge that the Helmholtz Association has taken on as the umbrella organisation of national research centres in Germany. Part of our mission is to use research to secure a better future for this country.
But we also know that in top-level research, cooperation and competition go hand in hand. This is why we have to do our very best to create optimum conditions for research in Germany. This will enable us to work together and do our part to solve the world’s problems, and it will ensure that Germany remains a sought-after partner and an internationally competitive location.
To do this, we will need a future-oriented infrastructure, optimal framework conditions, sufficient financial support and people with outstanding training. After all, international competition is getting much tougher. Many countries have made huge leaps forward. You, Dr. Schavan, have just returned from a visit to India. India is planning to found 30 new universities, and now has about 500,000 young engineers, technicians and IT specialists qualifying every year. That is 12 times as many as in Germany.
Of course, that is great news for India. But it also means we cannot afford to sit back and relax and rely on past accomplishments when the competition is quickly gaining on us. We in Germany have to push on with education and training on all levels, especially in the fields that are so vital to the future, such as mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences. In the long term, outstandingly qualified people are our only hope for succeeding in the global competition to develop the best ideas, products and services.
That is why we have chosen “Helmholtz International: German Research – Ideas for the World” as this year’s slogan. International cooperation, however, is a process that never has been and never will be organised from above. It occurs when individual scientists look for opportunities to collaborate in order to move forward. They are like scouts, hacking their way through the undergrowth, and from this rough path, they clear the way for exchanges and cooperation on a larger scale. These rough paths can develop into heavily travelled motorways. The upper levels of government can facilitate this process by creating the right economic and legal parameters to make collaboration easier, less bureaucratic and more flexible. We therefore welcome the internationalisation strategy that you have just helped pass, Dr. Schavan. You can rely on the Helmholtz Association as regards its implementation, for we are a highly sought-after research partner around the world.
What makes us so sought-after is the fact that we construct and operate large-scale facilities and research infrastructures to investigate the big questions of health, the earth and the environment and disaster prevention. The Tsunami Early Warning System, for example, and a global Earth Observation System that supplies a steady stream of data on complex questions of environmental and climate research. At this very moment, Helmholtz satellite researchers from the German Aerospace Center are mapping flood risk areas to help disaster aid planning in India and Nepal.
This infrastructure is not only at the disposal of researchers at German universities and other external institutes, but is open to guest researchers from all over the world. Every year, about 4,500 researchers come from abroad to work with us for extended periods of time. In this way, our research infrastructure contributes directly to strengthening Germany as a business location. Outstanding examples include the European XFEL X-ray electron laser in Hamburg or the FAIR ion accelerator in Darmstadt. These large-scale international projects make Germany a top location for research while also helping drive new technology. Our experience in the construction and management of large-scale instruments is acclaimed in Europe and all over the world.
This conclusion was also reached by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, or ESFRI for short. Of the total of 35 large-scale research projects that ESFRI is involved with to expand the European research landscape, almost half are directed or assisted by Helmholtz centres. In other words, the Helmholtz Association plays a central role in shaping European research. Just as our partners contribute to funding large facilities in Germany, so we also contribute to the construction of large-scale research infrastructure in other parts of the world. Examples of such collaborations include ITER, the first experimental fusion reactor that is now being built in Cadarache in southern France, or the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, the development and construction of which involved many Helmholtz researchers.
This picture is of ATLAS, one of the powerful particle detectors in the LHC. Just yesterday, the first proton beam was fired through the LHC tunnel. The ATLAS experiment alone is much bigger than your average house and weighs 7,000 tonnes! Owing to the enormous investment and operating costs, such huge projects can only be financed and carried out in international cooperation. CERN is a prime example of a highly successful large-scale scientific cooperation.
Maybe you are asking yourselves why such a lot of money and intelligence is being poured into a particle accelerator, when I have just been talking about the pressing problems challenging humanity. There are two sides to research: securing a foundation for life and prosperity, but also the quest for knowledge. Here at the LHC in Geneva, very urgent questions are waiting to be answered. What is mass? What does dark matter consist of? It is a sobering thought, but we really know very little about the world we live in, and if we want to gain a deeper insight, we have to build these huge particle accelerators. If you go on Youtube, you can watch the Large Hadron Rap, in which the young physicist Kate McAlpine gives the reason and the rhyme for why we need the LHC. It’s really worth seeing, including the closing credits which announce that the physicists dancing in the background prefer to remain anonymous!
I have talked at length about infrastructure. Facilities like these are of vital importance to our country and are the “unique selling point” of the Helmholtz Association. But what are large-scale facilities and infrastructures, on a major or minor scale, without the people that dream them up, build them and operate them? We always depend on people, on their talents, their ideas and their commitment.
And this is why we need an international exchange of the best minds. We want the world’s top scientists to come and work with us and we want to give them the space they need to develop their talents. But by the same token, we must also ensure that German people and more women in particular develop an enthusiasm for science and research, and provide them with the appropriate education and training. We are already meeting this aim, but only in terms of quality. We still have to work on getting the quantity right.
This explains why our post-doctoral students find jobs at the top research institutes in the USA. That is a great compliment for the Helmholtz centres as well, which train several thousand doctoral students every year. But we should take care not to lose such talent forever. It’s great to go abroad for a while. As we know, travel broadens the mind. But it would be much to our advantage if these bright minds decided to come back, and it would be even better if they brought their colleagues from abroad along with them! This is why the Helmholtz Association has been working closely with universities to create very attractive jobs for outstanding young scientists. As leaders of Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups, junior researchers have the very best environment in which to conduct their research and a tenure track that offers them the option of a permanent position. These jobs are hotly contested − currently, one third of applications for these positions are from German scientists wanting to return home or from foreign applicants. That is great news. For there is only one cure for the dreaded brain-drain phenomenon, and that is to create excellent opportunities to attract excellent people. Still, it must be said that mobility is an essential part of every researcher’s life, as they put new ideas into circulation wherever they go. It’s a give and take process, or as we say in nouveau Deutsch, “brain circulation”.
For those of us in the Helmholtz centres, this means that we must make sure that the working conditions we offer are attractive, that the researchers who join us will meet inspiring colleagues and that the Helmholtz brand stands for a large international network with ideal research conditions. That benefits both the Helmholtz Association and the rest of the research community in Germany. We have every chance of achieving this aim. The Excellence Initiative and the Pact for Research and Innovation have brought a breath of fresh air to the German research landscape. New strategic partnerships between university and non-university research institutes have emerged that have attracted much international acclaim. This is why we need a second pact. Only if the present Pact for Research and Innovation and the extra funding of at least three percent continues beyond 2011 will our present successes have the desired long-term effect.
We have achieved a lot as far as internationalisation is concerned in Germany, but there are still a few obstacles and barriers that need to be removed. One example is the recruitment of staff from abroad. Even on a European level, the question of access to the social security system and work permits for partners is inordinately complicated, and much more so for non-European candidates. The collective agreement for civil service workers, which determines the pay we can offer our scientists and our management, is rather low by international standards. This often prevents us from bringing highly-qualified foreigners to Germany.
What we ultimately need is more autonomy and more entrepreneurial freedom. Your Science Initiative and Five Point Plan, Dr. Schavan, is a sure step in the right direction. Now we have to follow that path and achieve the goal we are working towards – Germany as one of the best countries in the world for research, with the political and economic conditions to support that status. This is the only way we will retain our rank as one of the world’s most sought-after research partners. We must therefore increase investments in research and stand by the target that our government set itself in the Lisbon Declaration: A minimum of three percent of the GDP must be invested in research and development. Germany cannot afford to abandon this target, which has unfortunately still not been reached, despite the concerted efforts on the part of the federal government, and in particular by you, Dr. Schavan.
Serious, long-term investment in research and education is the only way we can defend our position against international competition. Only then can we do our part to provide for a better future for Germany and the world. It is not only our future which is at stake, but the future of our whole blue planet. It is an aim which I think the slogan we have chosen this year, and which has brought us here today, summaries most eloquently:
Helmholtz International: German research – Ideas for the World.
