Australian Researchers Explore German Healthcare Sector on InnoTour
Sixteen Australian researchers and innovators spent five days touring German healthcare research institutions and companies as part of the InnoTour 2018 initiative.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft organized InnoTour 2018 in November 2018, a five-day tour that brought 16 Australian researchers and innovators to various institutions and companies within Germany's healthcare research sector. The tour, part of the "Research in Germany" initiative funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), aimed to strengthen networks between German and Australian stakeholders.
The Australian delegation visited several Fraunhofer Institutes, including IGB in Stuttgart and ITEM in Hannover, as well as other research centers like Medical Valley and Max Planck Institutes. Presentations covered new technologies, processes, and recent research activities in fields such as medical technology, neurosciences, and personalized medicine.
Participants expressed being "highly impressed" by the cooperation between science, economy, and politics in Germany. During the tour, initial joint project approaches were identified in basic and applied research, as well as in the industrial sector. The innovations and opportunities presented by Fraunhofer Institutes and other research entities garnered significant interest.
The delegation found InnoTour to have offered an "intensive insight into the German research landscape," providing opportunities for extensive networking with various stakeholders. The Australian experts concluded that they would "definitely come back to jointly realize ideas and projects," underscoring the tour's success in fostering international research collaboration.