Press Informations No. 45
Changes at the Top of DFG Representations
Offices Abroad Serve as a Symbol of the DFG's International Commitment
On 30 September a change in leadership at the DFG's Washington Office will officially take place. The President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), Professor Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, will preside over the handover ceremony from the previous head, Dr. Walther Klofat, who has built up the office since its opening in May 2002 and officially retired on 1 September 2003. At the same time, Dr. Marina Koch-Krumrei, who has been in charge of the DFG's Berlin Office since September 1999, will assume her new duties. Trained as a jurist, Koch-Krumrei will particularly be responsible for continuing to provide information and guidance to German scientists and academics in the United States, not least to give them information about potential career openings in Germany. At the same time, the new DFG representative hopes to analyse what makes the American universities and the US research funding system so attractive, in order to use these findings to enable demand-oriented further development of the DFG's funding instruments.
Koch-Krumrei's successor in Berlin is Dr. Marion Müller, previously head of the Executive Office at the DFG's Head Office in Bonn.
There have been recent changes at the top of another international DFG representation as well: The new German Director of the Sino-German Center for Science Promotion in Beijing is Dr. Robert Paul Königs, who took over in May 2003. He was previously head of the Research Training Groups, Research Careers Division at the DFG in Bonn. His predecessor in Beijing, Dr. Jens-Egon Mosch, played a role in building up the Center, which was opened in October 2000 and is jointly funded by the DFG and its partner organisation the National Natural Science Foundation in China, and, like Klofat, retired after many years from the DFG on 31 August. One of the main responsibilities of the Beijing Center is the promotion of bilateral research projects. By organising symposiums on specific subjects, it forges contacts between Chinese and German scientists and academics, advises them on preparing initiatives and participates in discussions on science policy between the two countries.
The DFG's Moscow Office opened its doors on 1 July 2003. It is headed by Dr. Doris Schenk, who was previously responsible for scientific cooperation with the countries of the former USSR at the DFG in Bonn. The representation is due to be officially opened in early November. Scientific relationships with Russia have developed rapidly over the past few years. Schenk, who has studied the Slavic languages and has also worked for the German Embassy in Russia, sees herself as a point of contact for scientists and academics and scientific organisations in Russia. Over and above the existing cooperation, she will develop further contacts to Russian organisations, provide information on funding opportunities from the DFG, organise events to promote cooperation and bring scientists and academics in Germany and Russia closer together and support joint projects.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Marina Koch-Krumrei
Marina.Koch-Krumrei@dfg-usa.org
Tel.: +1-202-7854208
Fax: +1-202-7854410
Dr. Robert Paul Königs
koenigs@sinogermanscience.org.cn
Tel.: +86-10-62320088 2310
Fax: +86-10-8238 0042
Dr. Doris Schenk
Doris.schenk@moskau.dfg.de
Tel.: +7-95-9562690
Fax: +7-95-9562705