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ePaper created 2014-12-22, 09:34:33 | version 1.34.00
08 22 June 2013 Helmholtz funds 15 Helmholtz International Research Groups 30 Sept 2013 Helmholtz supports five German Chinese research projects 7 Oct 2013 Helmholtz selects three research projects to be commercialised 22 Oct 2013 Successful evaluation of the planned Helmholtz Institute in Münster 11 Oct 2013 The Helmholtz office in Beijing celebrates its 10th anniversary 9 Dec 2013 Start-up assistance for marketable research: Helmholtz supports four spin-offs 9 Dec 2013 Second “Innova- tion Days” with Germany’s leading research organisations and industry Helmholtz Association’s capacity for strategic action against the backdrop of an ever-evolving research system. At the same time, the working group is addressing the question of the future role of the Helmholtz Association in the increasingly interconnected scientific community in Europe and across the world. In order to answer these questions, the Council of Science and Humanities is exam- ining the efficacy and efficiency of the method of pro- gramme-oriented funding, including its governance struc- tures, instruments and processes. In fall 2015, it will issue recommendations as to how the Helmholtz Association can improve its allocation of funds in view of the present conditions and requirements of the research system. Large-scale research infrastructure as a unique feature A unique feature of the Helmholtz Association is its com- mitment to developing and operating modern large-scale research facilities as well as to making these facilities – some of which are unparalleled in the world – available to the international scientific community. As part of the National Roadmap, a pilot project initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Associa- tion is developing a key-issues paper on the future processes of prioritising, planning, constructing and operating interna- tional research infrastructure. The paper’s central points include transparency and binding obligations with respect to the risks assumed by the Helmholtz centres; the assurance of an appropriate balance between the research conducted in programmes, on the one hand, and the construction and operation of major large-scale facilities, on the other; and the responsibility assumed by both the centres and the associa- tion when planning and managing such large-scale projects. In addition, the paper addresses the question of how all the major organisations in the German research system can be involved in developing a National Roadmap in the future. In early 2014, the German federal government and the federal state of Hesse entered into an agreement to establish the International Helmholtz Center for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (HIC for FAIR). For this purpose, the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research GmbH and FAIR GmbH will merge as quickly as possible to form a joint organisation. The association further expands its collaborations In its numerous collaborations, the Helmholtz Association works together in various ways with partners in the research system. These collaborations take place not only at the national but also the international level – the association’s research facilities are made available to scientists from around the world. In 2013, for example, more than 2,600 visiting scientists from outside Germany conducted research at the Helmholtz centres. After approval by the Helmholtz Senate and a positive evaluation of submitted plans, a new Helmholtz institute was inaugurated in Münster in June 2014. Called the Helmholtz Institute Münster – Ionics in Energy Storage, this facility is a collaboration between the Forschungszentrum Jülich, the University of Münster and RWTH Aachen University, and will devote itself to battery research. The Helmholtz Association has committed itself to providing 5.5 million euros in annual funding, while the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia will invest an addi- tional 11 million euros by 2018. Research at the new institute will centre on electrolytes and their ionic behaviour and will complement work at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm – Electro- chemical Energy Storage. With these focuses we intend to make a major contribution to the transition to a clean energy regime. In addition, in the period under review, three Helmholtz institutes held topping-out ceremonies to mark the construction of new buildings at the Helmholtz institutes in Ulm, Saarbrücken and Mainz, all of which involve cooperation with at least one university. In March 2014 the first three major research projects will be launched at the new Berlin Institute of Health, jointly operat- ed by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (a member of the Helmholtz Association) and Charité – Univer- sitätsmedizin Berlin. The Helmholtz Association will fund the institute with a total of 45 million euros during its initial years. The German Centres for Health Research, in which