Umbrella Cooperation
Israel Institute of Technology, RWTH Aachen University, and Forschungszentrum Jülich
The Umbrella Cooperation between RWTH Aachen University, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology – was established in 1983. The partners signed a cooperation agreement with the aim “to strengthen collaboration in science and technology.”
This strategic partnership is considered a major driver of high-impact cross-border research. The Technion in Haifa is Israel’s oldest university. Among its 610 faculty members, there are three Nobel laureates.
All three partners are considered to be excellent research institutions and therefore the exchange under the Umbrella collaboration has been highly fruitful on an academic and personal level. In order to promote the aims of the Umbrella partnership, different initiatives have been put in place, such as symposia and the Umbrella Award.
Symposia
The Umbrella Symposia with central topics from research have been an important element of cooperation between the institutions from the very beginning. Each year, a different partner holds the symposium and scientific coordinators are appointed for it depending on the topic area at hand.
Umbrella Symposium 2023 - 40 Years of Strategic Partnership
From May 30 to June 1, 2023, the three partnering institutions celebrated the Umbrella Cooperation’s 40th anniversary with a symposium at the Technion in Haifa focused on Life Science & Engineering: Data Analytics, Neuroscience & Multiscale Biomedical Engineering – a topic linking biomedical research with modern methods of data analysis and the development of new technologies.
“The Umbrella Cooperation broadens our horizons and allows us to work across borders and disciplines to address the grand challenges facing humanity,” emphasized Ute Habel, Prorector for International Affairs at RWTH Aachen University, in her opening speech on the importance of the collaboration between these three institutions.
Umbrella Awards 2023
One of the highlights of the symposium was the presentation of the Umbrella Awards to three outstanding young scientists: One of the awards this year went to Roger Molto Pallares, who has been a Junior Principal Investigator Fellow on the leadership team of the RWTH Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging since 2021, for his work on “Manipulating f-element chemistry for healthcare applications.”
The two other awards were presented to Dr. Arielle Fischer of the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering and Dr. Stefan Wiefels of the Jülich Peter Gruenberg Institute, Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Since the €5,000 Umbrella Award was first presented in 2018, the prize has now been offered at every Umbrella Symposium.
Looking Ahead to the 2024 Umbrella Symposium
The next Umbrella Symposium will take place at Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2024.
Overview of Past Topics
| Year | Location | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Haifa | Life Science and Engineering: Data Analytics, Neurosciences and Multiscale Biomedical Engineering |
| 2022 | Aachen | Life Science and Engineering: Data Analytics, Neurosciences and Multiscale Biomedical Engineering |
| 2021 |
Aachen |
Life Science and Engineering: Data Analytics, Neuroscience and Multiscale Biomedical Engineering (online conference) |
| 2019 | Jülich |
Energy Conversion and Energy Storage |
| 2018 |
Haifa |
Energy Conversion and Energy Storage |
| 2017 | Aachen |
Quantum Information and Technology |
| 2016 | Jülich | When Life Sciences and Engineering Converge |
| 2015 | Haifa | Biomaterials and Biohybrids from Basic Research to Medical Applications |
Research Exchange – Summer and Winter Schools
Since 2018 the symposia are accompanied by Summer or Winter Schools. Experts of the three partner institutions cover a wide range of methods in current research for master students, doctoral candidates and early-stage postdocs. The Schools take up the key topics of the annual symposia, and therefore participating researchers have the chance to stay in touch with their colleagues. One of the key objectives of the Umbrella Consortium is to foster international mobility of early career researchers. Both, the Umbrella Award as well as the Winter School will further enhance these objectives.
In addition to that, Umbrella supports scientific exchange travels between Israel and Germany. Through Umbrella research stays have been established and continue on an annual basis.
| Technion Haifa | Prof. J. Rubinstein, Executive Vice President for Research |
|---|---|
| Forschungszentrum Jülich | Prof. F. Melchior, Member of the Board of Directors |
| RWTH Aachen University | Prof. J. Mayer, Rector’s Delegate for Cooperation with the Technion |