Australian National University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation on a visit to the Alliance Berlin-Canberra

On August 13 2019 we had the pleasure and great honor to receive Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation from the Australian National University (ANU), Prof. Dr. Keith Nugent at the Integrative Research Institute for Life Sciences (IRI-LS). Prof. Nugent visited Humboldt University (HU) to inform about the strategic plans to foster a privileged partnership with our university and the Berlin University Alliance and to learn more about the Alliance Berlin-Canberra. This alliance already implemented the “International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2290: Crossing boundaries: Molecular interactions in malaria” in 2017 through long-term funding by the German Research Foundation and both partner universities (https://www.allianceberlincanberra.org/).

The ambition of Prof. Dr. Nugent was to further strengthen and expand the partnership between our University and ANU. The IRTG2290 is HU’s flagship project for the German-Australian partnership and serves as a pilot project for further joint research and education initiatives across all disciplines. One example is the recent launch of an international initiative to develop an innovative training curriculum on parasitology, which was jointly organized by ANU and HU faculty during a workshop in Berlin in spring (https://www.parcur.org/).

Prof. Dr. Nugent was particularly interested in the unique nature of the structured graduation program. The program offers students a complementary curriculum of customized courses and tutorials, a one-year training as fully integrated lab members at the partner university, and a graduation with a dual PhD awarded by ANU and HU.

Prof. Dr. Nugent and the participants of his reception, representatives of the IRTG2290, IRI-LS, the Faculty for Life Sciences, the Research Service Center and the International Department of the HU, agreed to work closely together to explore prospects to consolidate this privileged partnership. These include intra-mural and third-party funding, a path for a dual ANU-HU PhD award across disciplines, and joint education initiatives.