Internationalization, Innovation and Inclusion in Science

Under the motto "I3: Internationalization, Innovation and Inclusion in Scientific Work", the 7th Annual Meeting of the Red INVECA Network took place at KIT in mid-October.

More than 50 Chilean researchers in Germany gathered at KIT campus North to discuss the exchange and cooperation between the two countries. Impulses on these topics came from representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Baden-Württemberg International.

During the two-day meeting, young researchers presented the progress of their scientific work. They also participated in the panel discussion "Internationalization and Innovation in Chilean Research", where they met with representatives from KIT, the Cologne Technical University and the Concepción University in Chile. "Our challenge is to continue to strengthen the role of the network, which should give space to the interaction between Chilean researchers in Germany and be a place for creative discussion on issues of higher education, research, development, science and innovation," Edder Cifuentes, Director of Red INVECA, said.

KIT's Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, Professor Thomas Hirth, called the event a vivid example of how KIT ​​is focusing on strategic international cooperation: "In this sense, we are proud of our cooperation with Chile, which offers great opportunities for both sides." The Ambassador of Chile in Germany, Cecilia Mackenna, said: "I am very pleased to see the great commitment of our researchers, who volunteer for the science in Chile and the long-term exchange with German partners. I was also very impressed by the Chile Cluster of KIT. The fact that KIT works so closely with Chilean universities proves our standing and our enthusiasm for innovation. At the same time, the cluster is the perfect complement to our current government's strategy to strengthen the innovation power of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular."

KIT's Chile Cluster organized the 7th annual Red INVECA meeting with the network. "In this project, we work together with nine universities in Chile. Our partners and we mutually reinforce each other in generating knowledge and innovation," Dr. Fredy Ríos, scientific coordinator of the initiative, said.

At the meeting, a prize was awarded for the best presentation and the best poster. The awards went to Carla Contreras from the RWTH Aachen with the presentation "Cognitive Control in Language Change" and to Oscar Báez from the Technical University (TH) Cologne with the poster "Characterization of drought from satellite data on precipitation in La Araucanía, Chile".