Visible Research Strength: U Bremen Research Alliance Perpetuates Collaboration

From the deep sea to space – the U Bremen Research Alliance chose this slogan to describe their comprehensive research spectrum. There are also many staff members: More than 6,000 people work at the institutes belonging to the U Bremen Research Alliance. “We have an especially close cooperation in four interdisciplinary high-profile research areas that span across institutions,” explains Professor Iris Pigeot, acting alliance chairwoman and director of the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS. Said areas are Marine, Polar, and Climate Research; Material Sciences and Technologies; Health Sciences; and Minds, Media, Machines, which has everything to do with information, cognition, and robotics.

The alliance’s tasks are diverse. In this way the alliance strengthens research cooperations, plans these strategically, and makes them visible to the outside world. The heart of the alliance is not only comprised of the joint usage of infrastructures for collaborative research projects but rather the U Bremen Research Alliance also offers multifold services and consultations. One example is the U Bremen Research Alliance Welcome Center, which makes arriving and settling for visiting scientists and international guests easier. For example, said persons and their families receive support with all matters involving official authorities and the search for suitable accommodation.

“We want to offer scientists surroundings with the best possible working conditions, so that they can research freely, creatively, and highly cooperatively,” says Professor Bernd Scholz-Reiter, chairman of the U Bremen Research Alliance and president of the University of Bremen. “With over 50 cooperation and bridge professors, cooperative early career scientist groups, and thanks to numerous infrastructure and research projects, we are well connected within the alliance.” After all, a strong university promotes strong non-university research institutes. “And strong non-university research institutes promote the development of universities,” summarizes Scholz-Reiter with regards to the alliance’s dynamics.