Enlarge image Leibniz Association President Karl Ulrich Mayer speaks at the German Science Evening (© Germany.info) The Leibniz Association, one of the four large research organizations in Germany funded by the German government and the federal states, is set to have a much more pronounced international character in the future. This was outlined by the president of the association, Karl Ulrich Mayer, recently in the American capital of Washington, D.C. 

“If things go as I hope, the number of international scientists in our institutes should at least double in the next few years and in the best case it will triple,” Mayer said at the German Science Evening on September 10, an event organized by the German Embassy, the German Center for Research and Innovation New York and the Leibniz Association. Mayer spoke about the attractive carreer opportunities offered by the institutes of the Leibniz Association.

Currently, around 16 percent of research staff at the 86 institutions belonging to the Leibniz Association are from outside Germany. “I am specifically here in the USA to find new staff,” said Mayer, who himself spent several years working at renowned universities in the United States. “The competition here among young scientists from all over the world is huge, and German research institutes should specifically aim for these people,” he added. 

Science, he said, is not particularly different from soccer. “Those who want to compete need to search all over the world for the best personnel.”

Enlarge image Karl Lenhard Rudolph, scientific director of the Fritz-Lipmann Institute (FLI) Jena, Germany - Leibniz Institute of Age Research speaking on "Delaying Decline: The Relationship between Stem Cells, Aging, and Cancer." (© Germany.info) Mayer also noted that for scientists, Germany’s appeal lies not only in its high standard of scientific research, but also in the family-friendly environment cultivated by the institutes in the Leibniz Association. Furthermore, a lack of German language proficiency would not represent an obstacle for new researchers in terms of their work at research facilities or in their everyday lives. “Communication in English has become possible in all walks of life,” said Mayer.

Also at the German Science Evening, Karl Lenhard Rudolph, scientific director of the Fritz-Lipmann Institute (FLI) Jena, Germany - Leibniz Institute of Age Research spoke on the topic “Delaying Decline: The Relationship between Stem Cells, Aging, and Cancer.” 

The Leibniz Association is not only a union of renowned research institutes, but it can also count research museums such as the German Museum in Munich and the Naturkundemuseum (Museum of Natural History) in Berlin among its facilities. Furthermore, several economic research institutes that regularly produce advisory reports for the German federal government are also members. In total, there are 17,000 people employed within the association, 8,200 of whom are scientists.