Promotion tour of New Zealand's Research Potential in Europe

Within the framework of the ACCESS4EU: NZ project - to support EU-Access to New Zealand research programmes - five researchers and research multipliers from New Zealand promoted research opportunities of New Zealand in Europe. The researchers were from Landcare Research, Massey University, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), while the multipliers came from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and from the Royal Society of New Zealand.

From 5th until 8th September the delegation participated in the international conference on Environmental (Bio)Technologies in Gdansk, Poland with posters and oral presentations. In the related EU FP7 Brockerage Event, the team had the opportunity to promote the research landscape in bilateral talks to colleagues in Europe (www.b2match.eu/envtechgdansk2011) and to find partners for future activities.

Following the event in Gdansk, the delegation visited 17 organizations including ministries, funding organizations and research laboratories in Poland, Germany, Austria and The Netherlands. There the team promoted the research landscape of New Zealand and discussed potentials for intensifying the cooperation in science and innovation.

The successful promotion tour was organized by the International Bureau of the Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).