If you will draw a large circle around the University of Twente's campus, a substantial part of that line will be on German soil. The University of Twente has a long and rich history in collaborating with the German counterparts, and looks forward to build further upon these relations. That view was presented during the visit of the German ambassador in the Netherlands, Dirk Brengelmann, who enjoyed a joint working visit to the Euregio with his Dutch counterpart, Wepke Kingma.
Cross-border collaboration
During the three day visit, the ambassadors, accompanied by a large delegations of partners from the Euregio region, visited a number of exemplary projects that underline the strenght of the cross-border bond. On Wednesday, the visit to the campus of the University of Twente was scheduled. Mirjam Bult, vice-president of the University of Twente's Executive Board welcomed the Dutch and German guests in the Horst Tower.
Cross-border cooperation is multifaceted: there are many links in research, education and valorisation. Novel-T director Jaap Beernink provided insight into the cooperation between Dutch and German initiatives in the knowledge-intensive industry. Fred van Houten explained how the Fraunhofer Project Center, which established itself on the campus of the UT last year, has a driving force in connecting German and Dutch in the field of smart industry. Dominik Krug focused on the added value of international collaboration within the Max Planck research institute, also established on the UT campus last year.
Seize opportunities
The most important message during the visit was that there are opportunities for grasp if relations were to be strengthened and further developed: bilateral cooperation and incentive programs that break down barriers in administration and systems, further strengthening the role of knowledge institutes for economic development, such as the Max Planck research institute and Fraunhofer Project Center, for example, can make a valuable contribution to the future of the Dutch manufacturing industry, and the sustainability of mutual relationships.
Recently, the University of Twente and the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) in Münster decided on a joint Collaboration Grant, to encourage researchers from both universities to look even more emphatically at each other. This resulted in three research projects in the field of nanotechnology, photonics and energy storage.
For more photos of the working visit, go to our Facebook-page.