Representatives of different organizations of the Argentine and German scientific-technological systems met to evaluate the actions carried out
and strengthen future cooperation ties.
The director of IBioBA, Eduardo Arzt, gave a lecture at the Meeting of the Argentine-German Joint Commission on Science, Technology and Innovation. There, he presented “IBioBA – CONICET – Max Planck, a successful model of cooperation focused on experimental medicine”, where he explained some features of the Partner Institute of the Max Planck Society, its lines of work, the mechanisms of selection of researchers and the role of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) that evaluates the work carried out by the Institute.
“The success of basic research in order to generate knowledge and transform it into innovation is based on four principles, which the Max Planck Society carries out and which we apply in our Institute: the first is that the selection of researchers is based exclusively on scientific quality; the second is that the Institutes should be of an adequate size in order to have homogeneity; the third is that they should be interdisciplinary; and finally, that the young researchers who are part of the Institutes should have financial support and independence”, said Arzt.
He also referred to the work of the Max Planck Guest Laboratory; to the regional cooperation network Biomedicine FOCEM of Mercosur, which he coordinates and is part of; to the relationship with the University of Buenos Aires and several hospitals; to the agreement with the Pestalozzi School and other actions of linkage with other organizations and society. Finally, Dr. Arzt highlighted the work of the PhD fellows and said that “the young people, who work hard to achieve their results, are ultimately the basis for the success of our Institute”.
This bilateral meeting, organized on this occasion in a mixed face-to-face format and with the virtual participation of some speakers from Germany, by MINCyT and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is held every three years in Argentina and Germany alternately to ensure the development of scientific cooperation and different institutions and organizations of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation participate in it.
Also present were the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Nation, Daniel Filmus; the Deputy Minister of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Jens Brandenburg; the President of the Argentine Agency for International Cooperation, Sabina Frederic; the President of CONICET, Ana Franchi; and the Ambassador of Germany in our country, Ulrich Sante; among other authorities and representatives of scientific institutions.
In the afternoon, we received Jens Brandenburg, who together with Vivien Baganz, head of the North and South America Division, toured the Institute and talked about the lines of research and ongoing projects. They were accompanied by Matthias Trager, in charge of Scientific and University Affairs of the German Embassy.
Coincidentally with the visit of the German officials, three students from the Pestalozzi School, who are doing a research internship at IBioBA, were in the laboratory. In this way, they had the opportunity to meet and talk about their interests and their research project. The objective of the internship is to prepare them to participate in the Jugend Forscht (Young Researchers) competition, considered one of the most important competitions for students in Europe, and is part of the agreement that the school has with our Institute.