RWTH Delegation Visits Canada
Between June 11 and 19, 2019, an RWTH delegation of twelve members visited various locations of the National Research Council, NRC for short, in Canada as well as RWTH's strategic partner, the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
The trip, organized by the of RWTH International Office, focused on joint research project, the establishment of new mobility programs, as well as the acquisition of joint third-party funding.
The visit to the National Research Council, the largest research organization in Canada, was the first return visit by a delegation of RWTH after the NRC visited Aachen in 2018 with a total of four delegations. The RWTH delegation consisted of researchers from the fields of robotics, battery technology/electromobility, mining, computer sciences, and civil engineering.
Since the National Research Council maintains institutes and research labs all over Canada, in their visit, the delegation focused on institutes in Ottawa, Montreal, London/Ontario and Vancouver. The individual visits opened up multiple opportunities for cooperation.
In particular, the delegation was impressed by the National Research Council's focus on industry-related research and technology transfer; as a result, joint projects with a Canadian-German industrial focus were discussed. The establishment of a bilateral exchange program was also a prominent part of these discussions. This program will allow RWTH students and scientists to conduct research stays at NRC institutes across Canada.
Welcoming the RWTH delegation in Edmonton, David Turpin, the president of the University of Alberta, emphasized the importance of RWTH as a partner institution, highlighting the value of the relationship between the universities. In recent years, numerous joint workshops and working meetings have been organized, and student exchanges, research internships and bilateral Master’s theses have increased significantly.
However, the potential for growth in the cooperation between the two institutions remains high at all levels. Especially so, as the University of Alberta pursues similar goals, and both approaches of the two universities complement each other in many areas.
A prominent role in the discussions played the establishment of an International Graduate School, thematically dealing with the energy supply of the future. Currently there are already five faculties of RWTH cooperating with the University of Alberta, and further research fields have already expressed a vivid interest in establishing cooperation as well.