Italian researchers are the first non-German national group at German Universities. The network of Italian researchers has been founded in Berlin at the Italian Embassy.
By our correspondent Isabella Bufacchi
Frankfurt
The cooperation between Italy and Germany in science and innovation is intense, extensive, and strategic. Italian researchers rank first in German universities. But more can and must be done to intensify the scientific relationship between the two countries in order to face together the great challenges of digitalization and climate change, to seize together the opportunities in biodiversity, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. For this reason, promoted by the Italian Ambassador to Berlin Armando Varricchio, the association SIGN-network (Italian Scientists in Germany Network) was born in these days in Germany to promote dialogue, exchange, and cooperation in science between Italy and Germany.
The SIGN network was launched with 47 founding members, all high-profile scientists: the director is nanotechnology scientist Gianaurelio Cuniberti professor at TU Dresden. SIGN also aims to be a think-tank to facilitate the transfer to the Italian scientific system of experiences and practices developed in Germany, thus stimulating "brain re-gain" in favor of the Italian system.
"Scientific cooperation is one of the pillars of the relationship between Italy and Germany," Ambassador Varricchio said at SIGN's charter signing ceremony. Now it is also important "to rebalance in the reverse direction, from Germany to Italy, the flow of knowledge and talent, thanks also to the investments provided for in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to make our country's scientific ecosystem more competitive and attractive." SIGN's establishment ceremony was also attended by National Research Council (NRC) President Maria Chiara Carrozza. Carrozza pointed out that the ongoing reform of the CNR aims, among many other objectives, to attract talent from abroad to Italy, internationalize scientific research by making the Council more agile, more dynamic, develop start-ups and innovation, and support projects and infrastructure under the PNRR where the CNR is a partner and coordinator of 31 and 23 research projects respectively.
Italy meanwhile ranks first place in the ranking of international researchers at German universities, followed by India and China. According to the latest report by DZHR (German Center for Research, Science Study and Education), there were 3,985 Italian scientists, scholars, and professors at German universities in 2020 (including about 300 professors) compared to 3,881 Indians and 3,706 Chinese out of a total of more than 55,000 non-Germans. The trend of the Italian scientific community in Germany has been growing for a decade: and this trend also affects Italians in Germany's leading institutes for scientific research belonging to the Fraunhofer Society, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the Helmholtz Association: in 2019, Italians in these four institutes numbered 1,225, second only to China. Many Italian scientists are in top positions, including the directors of the GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, the Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, the Peter-Gruenberg-Institut in Juelich, the XFEL in Hamburg, and until 2021 the director of flight operations at ESA in Darmstadt. All this is without mentioning that the number of Italian students enrolled in German universities in the 2020/2021 academic year was 8,576, surpassed in the EU only by Austria.
Italian researchers are the first non-German national group at German Universities. The network of Italian researchers has been founded in Berlin at the Italian Embassy.
By our correspondent Isabella Bufacchi
Frankfurt
The cooperation between Italy and Germany in science and innovation is intense, extensive, and strategic. Italian researchers rank first in German universities. But more can and must be done to intensify the scientific relationship between the two countries in order to face together the great challenges of digitalization and climate change, to seize together the opportunities in biodiversity, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. For this reason, promoted by the Italian Ambassador to Berlin Armando Varricchio, the association SIGN-network (Italian Scientists in Germany Network) was born in these days in Germany to promote dialogue, exchange, and cooperation in science between Italy and Germany.
The SIGN network was launched with 47 founding members, all high-profile scientists: the director is nanotechnology scientist Gianaurelio Cuniberti professor at TU Dresden. SIGN also aims to be a think-tank to facilitate the transfer to the Italian scientific system of experiences and practices developed in Germany, thus stimulating "brain re-gain" in favor of the Italian system.
"Scientific cooperation is one of the pillars of the relationship between Italy and Germany," Ambassador Varricchio said at SIGN's charter signing ceremony. Now it is also important "to rebalance in the reverse direction, from Germany to Italy, the flow of knowledge and talent, thanks also to the investments provided for in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to make our country's scientific ecosystem more competitive and attractive." SIGN's establishment ceremony was also attended by National Research Council (NRC) President Maria Chiara Carrozza. Carrozza pointed out that the ongoing reform of the CNR aims, among many other objectives, to attract talent from abroad to Italy, internationalize scientific research by making the Council more agile, more dynamic, develop start-ups and innovation, and support projects and infrastructure under the PNRR where the CNR is a partner and coordinator of 31 and 23 research projects respectively.
Italy meanwhile ranks first place in the ranking of international researchers at German universities, followed by India and China. According to the latest report by DZHR (German Center for Research, Science Study and Education), there were 3,985 Italian scientists, scholars, and professors at German universities in 2020 (including about 300 professors) compared to 3,881 Indians and 3,706 Chinese out of a total of more than 55,000 non-Germans. The trend of the Italian scientific community in Germany has been growing for a decade: and this trend also affects Italians in Germany's leading institutes for scientific research belonging to the Fraunhofer Society, the Leibniz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the Helmholtz Association: in 2019, Italians in these four institutes numbered 1,225, second only to China. Many Italian scientists are in top positions, including the directors of the GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, the Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, the Peter-Gruenberg-Institut in Juelich, the XFEL in Hamburg, and until 2021 the director of flight operations at ESA in Darmstadt. All this is without mentioning that the number of Italian students enrolled in German universities in the 2020/2021 academic year was 8,576, surpassed in the EU only by Austria.
