The German Presidency of the European Union has created a number of opportunities for journalists to visit this wonderful country. A couple of weeks ago it was my turn to visit the great capital city, Berlin for the launch of the much vaunted European Council, a two-day event which brought together some of the top powerhouses in the area of research from almost all countries in the EU.
My flight landed at Tegel Airport, the former air gateway of West Germany, on a cool but not untowardly cold Monday evening. Arriving in the city centre on the Friedrichstrasse and the legendary Unter der Linden was an emotional experience as the stunningly lit Brandenburg Gate appeared just a few metres before me.
But back to work, although on Tuesday morning I had a few hours of free time which were spent walking through the Tiergarten and 17 Mai Strasse right up to the famous eagle leading to Potsdam. There was time to look at the massive monument dedicated to the hundreds of thousands Soviet soldiers who fell in the famous Battle of Berlin.
The event began at around 12:30pm at the Wissenschafts Forum in the Jagerstrasse with a press conference bringing together EU Commissioner for Research, Dr Janez Potocnik, Federal Minister for Research, Dr Annette Schavan, Prof. Matthias Kleiner, and Head of the ERC, the distinguished biologist, Prof. Fotis C. Kafatos. This dealt with the importance of research in the future development of Europe especially through the creation of jobs and more conducive environments for young researchers to study in Europe.
After the opening remarks, the conference was well and truly off with an impassioned speech by one of Europe’s most distinguished scientists, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She emphasised the importance of the bottom up approach and urged the European Research Council to ensure it reaches its full potential and not get bogged down in bureaucratic niceties.
Dr Merkel said that although national boundaries are being crossed in research, there is still a lot to be done to create suitably viable opportunities for young researchers, which will be the chief task of the ERC. She stressed the importance of excellence and independence in this area adding that the political arena should not constrain science.
The Chancellor also tackled an area that is making the headlines at the moment (and which was agreed upon just a few days later at the European Council in Brussels) – climate change. Dr Merkel urged the ERC to work hard so that continuous research will eventually come up with real and viable solutions to this problem that is affecting the world we live in.
After the usual round of speeches, it was off on the first media trip to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in the heart of East Berlin. We spent an extremely interesting hour listening to presentations on the habitat of the indigenous wild deer, a programme on the artificial insemination of the rhino and some other studies on the bald eagle. There was also time to talk and mix socially with some of the young scientists who work at the institute and it was indeed instructive and exhilarating to see and hear these leaders of the future talk about their passion for science.
The second trip took us to the Ferdinand-Braun-Institute for Hochstfrequenztechnik, an institute specialising in microwave technology. This was another fascinating experience where one could view high-powered diode lasers and other similar high tech equipment in action. The institute has a staff of 175 employees and a budget of e14 million annually and is also a member of the Leibniz Association. Just to give you an idea of the precision equipment used here the diode single lasers can emit up to 20 Watts of power that is 5,000 times greater than a laser in a CD player.
Wednesday morning started early with a lavish Press Breakfast at the conference venue where there was time to talk to several of the conference participants who were keen to answer questions put to them by journalists. It was then time to travel to the Matheon Institute just outside the Tiergarten for an instructive and highly entertaining session on how mathematics can be applied to the latest innovations in cutting edge technology.
I could only marvel at the ease and the professionalism with which Prof. Volker Mehrmann and Prof. John Sullivan made their presentations, which were a model of clarity throughout. Unfortunately, due to my flight back home being rather early in the evening, I was unable to join the tour to Potsdam where the group visited two institutes, one dealing with climate impact research and the other with mineral research.
On a concluding note, I was rather mystified to note that not a single Maltese journalist or delegate was present at the conference. With the Prime Minister having launched our participation in the FP7 programme just a few weeks ago, I found it pretty strange that not one of our local representatives in the area of research had the time to attend this hugely important conference which provided a more than ideal opportunity for networking.