The award under the patronage of Federal Minister Professor Annette Schavan was presented for the second time in 2010 and now running its third application round. Talented young researchers (up to 35 years old) from around the world specialising in the area of sustainable development are invited to apply for “Green Talents – The International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development”. The competition will give 20 exceptional scientists the opportunity to meet and exchange views with today’s leading experts in the field of sustainability in Germany. A decisive selection criterion is the crucial contribution of the applicant’s research to mastering global challenges such as climate change, declining energy resources and massive environmental pollution.
The winners of the competition will participate in a ten-day international science forum taking place in autumn 2011. Touring through Germany, the “Green Talents” will visit leading universities, research institutions and companies active in the field of sustainable development. They will gather specific information about research activities on-site and learn about opportunities for cooperation with German partners. The forum will also include individual meetings with experts, as well as cultural events.
As part of the international forum, the guests will visit the following German institutions:
- Climate Service Center (CSC) Germany, Hamburg
- Desertec Industrial Initiative, Munich
- Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich
- Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, Stuttgart
- Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES, Kassel/Bremerhaven
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe
- Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, Munich
- Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Wuppertal
A prolonged research stay in Germany
During the year following their participation in the “Green Talents Forum”, the winners of the competition will be invited to return to Germany for an additional research stay (up to three months) at a German university, research institution or company of their own choice in order to carry out or further develop a research project. Both the Forum and the research stay will be financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Several of the 35 Award Winners of the competitions in 2009 and 2010 have already seized this opportunity. One of them is Dr. Samuel (Xingmao) Ma. During his research stay at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, the 2009 Green Talent Winner Ma established first collaborations with German colleagues to jointly explore the beneficial applications of nanotechnology in environmental protection practices.
Learn more about the “Green Talents” competition and its first 35 winners on www.greentalents.de.
Application documents should be submitted to greentalents(at)dlr.de by 29 July 2011.
