International Cooperation

Successful research cannot be performed within a national scope only. Innovation can be achieved only by combining forces through international exchanges. International cooperation is therefore an important part of the Health Research Programme for expanding the national research measures.

What Does the BMBF Do?

European Union
The research policy of the European Union aims to create a shared European research area. This shall be achieved by closely linking the European and national programmes. The current and planned areas of research focus of the health research programme are and will be coordinated and networked with the relevant fields of action of the 6th and 7th Research Framework Programmes. The EU programme  "Health" which funds the activities in health research is of particular significance for the coordination.
Furthermore, the 6th as well as the 7th EU framework programme for research offered or offers funds for national (governmental) funding organisations (programme owners) of the member states to create thematically focussed networks within "European Research Area Networks". The aim of the networks is information exchange, benchmarking and coordination of the national programmes, and launching of common funding activities. In the area of health research the BMBF is involved in several ERA-Nets which deal with aging research (ERA-AGE), with research on rare diseases (E-RARE), and with neurological diseases (NEURON).

Bilateral Cooperation in Health Research
Within the different funding measures, the Health Research Programme offers a number of instruments for undertaking international research cooperation. In part, independent project funds are provided for the performance of joint projects. Stipends, travel funds and international workshops can be financed. The exchange of young researchers is of particular interest. Long-term cooperation exists in particular with the United States of America and Israel. In the last few years, cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been intensified. An agreement with Poland on a bilateral funding activity was concluded with Poland in 2002. France and Germany started a funding programme on cancer research in 2006.

Israel
In 1981, the cooperation in science and technology - in place since 1973 - was expanded to include health research. This cooperation is coordinated on the German side by the BMBF and on the Israeli side by the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport (MOST). Over 30 cooperation projects were supported in cardiovascular research up to 1998 with about seven million EURO. In the year 1998, the focus shifted to the neurosciences: since then joint projects were funded with 8,2 million EURO. Currently 9 research projects in the neurosciences are funded. The funding also includes travel grants for German and Israeli junior scientists.

Poland
Cooperation with the neighboring country of Poland began in 2002. The BMBF and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education published a funding programme for cooperation in the neurosciences. With a second call in June 2006 a second funding phase was started. The programme supports research projects on the development, degeneration, regeneration, regulation and protection of the brain and nervous system. The goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases (for example: dementia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, neuroimmunological diseases, stroke, schizophrenia, diseases of the sensory nervous system) and to the development of therapeutic strategies and rehabilitation measures for these diseases.

France
Germany and France started a funding programme on cancer research in June 2006 which supports scientists of both countries, especially young scientists. It aims at the efficient cooperation between research groups which find mutual synergies for their projects. In this bilateral funding scheme young scientists learn to work successfully in both systems; thus the cooperation between both countries can be established with a lasting effect. This initiative is also an important element within the European Research Area (ERA).
In Germany this funding programme is managed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), in France by the Institut National du Cancer (INCa). Within the programme all topics of cancer research can be applied for. It covers costs of the exchange of scientists, i. e. mutual visits, stipends for doctoral students or Postdocs, conference travel costs, consumables for the work in the guest laboratory. Projects can be funded for up to two years; funding can be provided for up to 50.000 Euros. The second call was launched in 2007. For 2008 a third call is planned.

USA
A bilateral agreement on health research was renewed in 1998 with the USA to continue the existing 20-year-old cooperation between the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the affiliated National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's largest health research institute. Cooperation in cardiovascular research, cancer research and lung research performed in the past has been particularly intensive and successful. An exchange is currently underway in the areas of addiction research, cardiovascular research, clinical research and molecular medicine.

 

Additional Information
http://www.internationale-kooperation.de/
This Internet site is a guide to international cooperation in education and research and a communication platform for people seeking information and cooperation in Germany and abroad.

The International Office (IB) supports the BMBF in the international cooperation. Information on bilateral and multilateral agreements between Germany and other countries as well as the current research focus areas and individual research projects can be found here.

The IB for Project Management Office in DLR manages the cooperation with Asia, Australia and New Zealand, North and South America as well as with Europe and countries of the CIS.

The  IB at research centre Jülich manages the cooperation with Africa and the Near East.