Research and Transfer
Universities of applied sciences conduct research for practical
applications: this means that they are not trying to reinvent the wheel but work closely together
with business, industry and other scientific institutions.
Like at Lower Saxony’s Ostfalia University for Applied Sciences, research and development is
organised more on a regional basis. This should now be expanded. Through the EU Strategy FH
project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), universities of
applied sciences like Ostfalia should exploit their research potential and conquer the European
research area. To achieve this goal, Ostfalia has access to funding of €149,493 for the project
duration of two years. This amount includes funds for a central office.
The project is handled by Prof. Dr. Gert Bikker, Vice President of Research, Development and
Technology Transfer at Ostfalia. He is supported by academic employees Kai Hillebrecht and
Annekathrin Brode from the Knowledge and Technology Transfer.
In January, shortly before the project was launched, Kai Hillebrecht
travelled to Zurich and participated in a meeting of universities from Germany and Switzerland. The
main focus of the round table meeting was the development of common EU strategies. “At Ostfalia we
want to reduce existing deficits in the ‘internationalisation’ and ‘strategic placement’ of
research at the European level through targeted, supportive measures,” reported Kai Hillebrecht. In
order to achieve these objectives, we are creating consulting and support structures, and focusing
on building and maintaining networks, providing information, individual consulting and support,
public relations and resources.
Researchers should have attractive conditions in their fields of research in order to
increase in research in the European research area. The EU Strategy Ostfalia project is supported
by the EU university office at the TU Braunschweig, IHK Braunschweig, HWK
Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Stade, the Bureau for Regional State Development Braunschweig and the Lower
Saxony Chamber of Agriculture.
Please contact Katrin Schütrumpf for more information on this international activity.
