We wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2009!

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1 Meeting in November ein Rückblick Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies Dear DAAD friend, to the December 2008 edition of the DAAD newsletter! The focus of this edition of our newsletter is on the changes and events at the DAAD in. We've also attempted to add the latest relevant research news from Germany. Meeting in November ein Rückblick Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis (Right Livelihood Award - RLA) geehrt Höchstdotierte deutsche Förderpreise verliehen: Helmholtz International Research School Molecular Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Presenting German Universities: Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies In correlation with our cultural mission, we ve attempted to make this newsletter a mix of German and English, which we hope works for everyone. We value your feedback and comments on all aspects of the newsletter are more than welcome! Enjoy reading! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2009! Andreas & Ahil DAAD Information Centre Sydney For comments or if you would like

2 Meeting in November ein Rückblick Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt After 5 years in Melbourne it was time for our dear colleague Gert Reifarth to say farewell. Gert is now back in Berlin. His successor as the DAAD-Lecturer at the University of Melbourne is Katrin Titz. Katrin studied German as a Foreign Language (DaF), Intercultural Communications and Psycholinguistics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. She spent one year in Istanbul, where she worked for the DAAD at the Marmara University. She also worked several years as a teacher for German in Munich. Although Katrin only started her spell as a lecturer in July 2008, this is not her first time in Melbourne. In 1999 she spent one semester at the University of Melbourne as an intern and is glad to be back at her old Uni. Katrin can be contacted by (ktitz@unimelb.edu.au) and phone ( ). For all DAAD scholarship-holders and alumni: After a first meeting last November we are planning an event for you in Melbourne next winter! You will hear from us with the details, soon. Meeting in November ein Rückblick Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies DAAD Information Centre Sydney For comments or if you would like On Thursday, Nov 20, the DAAD IC Sydney held its annual combined meeting of current German scholarship holders in and New Zealand as well as German and n DAAD and Humboldt alumni. The first group met at Sydney University in the morning, got acquainted over a light breakfast and was informed about Sydney University and its positioning as part of the Group of Eight. Afterwards the group enjoyed having a short tour over the beautiful campus. After lunch at a food court in the CBD, the scholarship holders were treated to a "Spurensuche" city walk ( and then visited the Goethe-Institut Sydney for coffee and discussions on the advantages and differences in studying and researching at German/n universities and research institutions. The evening event saw various DAAD and Humboldt alumni as well as our German scholarship holders and other guests coming together to discuss Climate Change. It was a very interesting evening which explored the topic from a range of diverse perspectives, from politics, academia and business, with insights from fields of study not typically associated with Climate Change. The following is a small overview of the topics discussed by our esteemed guests and alumni: Hans Gnodtke (German Consul General for NSW and QLD): Germany & Climate Control Germany has taken a lead in climate protection and that is widely supported in the German political arena. What is the basis for this consensus? Germans accept the analysis of the majority of international experts: Global warming must not exceed more then 2 degrees Celsius compared to the preindustrial age if we were to avoid severe consequences of global climate change for humans and ecosystems. Our national policy therefore pursues the objective to make Germany the country of highest standards in energy efficiency world wide. How are we going to do this? 1. There is a national climate protection program in place since 1990, when the Federal government for the very first time defined a CO 2 -reduction target. The latest policy decisions by cabinet included an integrated Energy and Climate Program which is now being

3 Meeting in November ein Rückblick Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies implemented through concrete legislation. The overall objective is to reduce CO 2 -emissions in Germany by 40% by More money is being made available to improve energy efficiency. 2,6 b have been allocated for climate protection, the share of renewable energies in electricity generation is to double by Electricity won from heat and power co-generation is to rise by 25% until m are being made available for the development of new power stations generating both heat and electricity. The climate protection program will create new jobs at the same time. For instance: We will also be able to double the number of jobs just by developing renewables. The Federal Government is fully committed to reaching a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol during the next round of talks scheduled for Copenhagen in December of Germany made climate protection a focal point of her recent concurrent presidencies within the EU and the G8. Chris Rizos: What Geodesy can tell us about Sea Level Rise Geodesy is the science of measuring and mapping the geometry, orientation and gravity field of the Earth including the associated variations with time. Modern Geodesy involves a range of space and terrestrial technologies that contribute to our knowledge of the solid earth, atmosphere and oceans. These technologies include: Global Positioning System/Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GPS/GNSS), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Satellite Altimetry, Gravity Mapping Missions such as GRACE, CHAMP & GOCE, satellite-borne Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR), Absolute and Relative Gravimetry, Precise Surveying (Levelling & Traversing). The Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) is an important component of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). GGOS aims to integrate all geodetic observations in order to generate a consistent high quality set of geodetic parameters for monitoring the phenomena and processes within the 'System Earth'. Integration implies the inclusion of all relevant information for parameter estimation, implying the combination of geometric and gravimetric data, and the common estimation of all the necessary parameters representing the solid Earth, the hydrosphere (including oceans, ice-caps, continental water), and the atmosphere. Chris presentation focused on the contribution geodetic space techniques are making to: (a) define the reference frame, (b) measure global sea level rise using Satellite Altimetry, (c) monitor the stability of tide gauges that measure the local differential change in sea-land level, (d) separating the sea level rise from thermal expansion from that of ice melt effects (which change the gravity field), and (e) making accurate determinations of coastal Digital Elevation Models for coastal zone vulnerability studies. Humboldt alumnus Professor Chris Rizos holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Satellite Geodesy and is Head of the School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems at UNSW as well as the Vice President of the above mentioned IAG. Henryk Dobslaw: Monitoring Earth System Dynamics from Space Addressing climate change and its potential impacts on human society requires sound knowledge about ongoing changes on the Earth including its atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere and continental hydrosphere, in order to develop numerical forecast models sufficiently rendering the relevant physical processes. Complementary to in-situ measurements, satellite based Earth observing sensors continuously provide data on such key processes with globally homogeneous coverage, and high precision as well as temporal and spatial resolution.

4 Alumni and Scholarship Holder Meeting in November Alumni Networks: Germany Alumni and AXAN News on German Elite Universities Go8 Co-operation Scholarship Applications and Outcomes 2007 DAAD Networking: Chilean Solar Car in Presenting German Universities The University of Erfurt Among the various kinds of sensors orbiting Earth, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission launched in 2002 allows for the first time the observation of regional mass transport processes from space. The mission is sensitive to tiny variations in the Earth's gravity field created by mass changes on monthly time-scales extending over areas of more than 500km across. GRACE has been proven to be able to detect signals from such diverse processes as seasonal soil moisture and runoff variations in the Amazon basin, secular ice-mass losses in Greenland, gravity changes due to the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in 2004, and even variations in strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Being a core element of the Global Geodetic Observing System, GRACE therefore provides quantitative estimates of geophysical aspects of global change to a broad range of subdisciplines of the Geosciences. Dr Henryk Dobslaw had been at the Hobart CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Institute with a DAAD research scholarship. Back in Germany he is employed by the Helmholtz GeoForschungsZentrum in Potsdam (GFZ). Adam Morgan: n climate and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) The climate of southeast is highly variable, and is impacted greatly on a year-to-year basis by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - the anomalous warming or cooling of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. El Niño events (warm SSTs) bring warm and dry conditions, while La Niña events (cool SSTs) bring cool and wet conditions. However distinct trends towards generally higher temperatures and lower rainfall over southeast have also been observed independent of ENSO effects, consistent with the internationally accepted research and projections into climate change. The most rapid changes have taken place since the middle of last century, and although southeast has experienced dry periods well into the past, the higher temperatures of the present day tend to exacerbate the severity of droughts such as those currently affecting the Murray-Darling Basin. Further significant decreases in southeast n winter/spring rainfall and increases in winter/spring mean temperature are projected over the course of the 21st Century in a consensus of climate models assembled for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The question is, will the independent effects of continued global warming alter the relationship between southeast n climate and ENSO? Analysis of data from these same models suggests that the response of the southeast n climate system in winter/spring to ENSO events will become more extreme throughout the 21 st century under the influence of climate change. That is, El Niño events may produce even hotter and drier conditions through southeast, while during La Niña events conditions may become wetter. It is still unclear how the frequency and duration of ENSO events may be affected by climate change. DAAD alumnus Adam Morgan is holding a B.A./B.Sc. (Hons) degree from Monash University and is meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne. Kathryn Bowen: Climate change and health a global challenge It has been acknowledged that some level of climate change is inevitable regardless of the extent of emission reduction strategies that are employed (IPCC, 2001). There is now also recognition that global climate change affects human population health, long after the early recognition of its effect on economic activity, infrastructure and ecosystems. Adverse health effects occur as a result of multiple stresses; individuals and communities deal with stresses arising from multiple sources such as economic, social and political in addition to the environmental stresses due to climate change. These stresses can be acute/ sudden (e.g. extreme weather events such as floods or cyclones) or chronic/slow-creeping (e.g. drought and drying).

5 Alumni and Scholarship Holder Meeting in November Alumni Networks: Germany Alumni and AXAN News on German Elite Universities Go8 Co-operation Scholarship Applications and Outcomes 2007 DAAD Networking: Chilean Solar Car in Presenting German Universities The University of Erfurt The World Health Organization has identified five major health consequences of climate change food insecurity and malnutrition, extreme weather events, excess or insufficient water, heat waves, and altered geographical distribution of vectors that spread infectious diseases (WHO, 2008). The IPCC (2007) concluded that low-income countries and vulnerable subpopulations are much more likely to experience adverse health effects as a result of climate change. It is vital that we commence adaptation and mitigation efforts at all levels of society (individual, communities, and governmental), in order to strengthen community resilience in the face of global environmental change, such as climate change. DAAD alumna Kathryn Bowen graduated with Honours in Psychology (University of Newcastle) and has a MSc (in International Health) (from both, the Freie & Humboldt Universities in Berlin). She has experience in the Global Health field since 2000, currently undertaking her PhD in the field of Climate Change and Public Health at ANU. Gregor Urbas: Climate Change and the Law The prospect of man-made climate change has implications in a wide range of areas of law, from environmental protection regulation, planning and resources law, constitutional law, property and native title rights, through to administrative, corporations, commercial and trade practices law, and even potentially even national security and criminal law. The latter areas of influence are becoming increasingly of interest to law enforcement agencies as significant changes in climate may lead to large-scale unauthorised movements of people across national boundaries ("climate change refugees") and there are also some criminogenic factors (including behaviour linked to social and economic displacement or higher temperatures) that may pose new challenges. The proposed introduction of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) also involves complex allocations of new legal rights that will inevitably result in litigation, constitutional challenges (as are already occurring in relation to rural land use restrictions) and the potential for fraud. Dr Gregor Urbas, a former Humboldt Fellow is a Senior Lecturer in Law at ANU. Sandra Schuster: Risk Management & Natural Hazards: Insuring Climate Change Our special evening s guest talked on the challenge of insurance companies by the assessment of climate change and its impacts in addition to the risk management of natural hazards (typically tropical cyclones, hailstorms, bushfires and earthquakes). However, this not only bears risks but also provides business opportunities. These include initiatives that focus on climate risk reduction through adaptation and mitigation. While this bears many financial risks for customers as well as companies it also provides business opportunities. Insurance companies have begun initiatives that focus on climate risk reduction through adaptation and alleviation. Dr Sandra Schuster is meteorologist, sea ice scientist and currently research analyst at Munich Re-insurance. Betim Berjani: Green IT Information Technology, in the form of computers, servers and data centres, has become essential to businesses. IT makes up a large portion of business enterprises energy use. Consequently business IT contributes heavily to global CO 2 -emissions. IT from businesses also damages the environment in another way: in the production of computer hardware, many resources are expended. And likewise ill effects emerge. E-Waste is a further problem: statistics show that the life-cycle of computers is constantly getting shorter.

6 Alumni and Scholarship Holder Meeting in November Alumni Networks: Germany Alumni and AXAN News on German Elite Universities Go8 Co-operation Scholarship Applications and Outcomes 2007 DAAD Networking: Chilean Solar Car in Presenting German Universities The University of Erfurt Green IT addresses options for producing environmentally friendly products, both in terms of use and disposal. A much talked about new trend is Cloud Computing, the usage of software on servers instead of the own hard disc (as many of us already do with ing programs such as g-mail). Through the use of server storage, cloud computing increases computer user capacity and reduces the necessity for energy consuming hardware. Further to the point, the requirements on client computers are reduced, as computer operations occur in the cloud, which eliminates the problem of short computer life-cycles. Cloud computing however is a new technology and is still associated with some risks. Data privacy and security is one of the most critical themes. Green IT also offers other creative ideas in reducing environmental impact. Paperless offices, digital signatures and even business meetings in virtual offices (reducing travel costs significantly) are all interesting options. Betim Berjani, an IT student from Darmstadt University, was studying at QUT on base of a DAAD scholarship. After this diverse series of talks, we moved on to discuss the topics whilst socialising and enjoying a tasty Bavarian Löwenbräu buffet along with good beer and wine. For some of the guests the evening went on until 3am on the terrace of the Goethe-Institut. In order to deepen relationships the scholarship holder meeting continued the next morning in Manly for a two-hour kayak tour being a load of fun for everyone involved. I hope this was another step towards our aim, namely that our students and academics stay in contact so that they later could rely on a functioning academic network. Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau From April 3rd to 5th (Friday till Sunday) we, the DAAD headquarters in cooperation with DAAD Information Centre Sydney, will hold a large DAAD alumni meeting, an event that only takes place every few years in chosen countries (the last one in this corner of the globe was in Canberra in 1998, with DAAD Secretary General Bode). Therefore a high-rank delegation from the DAAD and from German universities is due to arrive. Alongside welcoming speeches from Dr Michael Spence, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dr Michael Witter, the German ambassador for, and Dr Christian Bode, Secretary General of the DAAD, late Friday afternoon will be reserved for a generally interesting key note speech. On the Saturday and Sunday mornings we will probably divide ourselves amongst four interdisciplinary panels, parallel in principle, but with common key notes. We also will have excursions on Saturday afternoon and time for good eat and drink as well as networking. Up until now, there was interest in following themes: Climate Politics and Environmental Law, Ethics in Science/ Health Research in Medicine and Natural Science, Language in, Agricultural Technology and Ecology and Farming, Arts and Music in the 21 st century. However, we would like to ask our DAAD alumni for your personal opinion and would like to remind you to please send back the questionnaire, which you have received with the last , by 15 January, so that we can work to improve the outcome of this event. We very much appreciate your help and thank you for the already sent back and all forms to come!

7 Alumni and Scholarship Holder Meeting in November Alumni Networks: Germany Alumni and AXAN News on German Elite Universities Go8 Co-operation Scholarship Applications and Outcomes 2007 DAAD Networking: Chilean Solar Car in Presenting German Universities The University of Erfurt Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt STOCKHOLM: Die Frauenärztin Monika Hauser, die unermüdlich sexuelle Gewalt in Kriegsgebieten als Form der Folter kritisiert, wurde mit dem Alternativen Nobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Anlässlich der Vergabe der Auszeichnung sagte Hauser in Stockholm, das zerstörerische Potenzial sexueller Gewalt werde in Kriegen noch vervielfacht. Die 49- jährige Ärztin aus Köln ist Gründerin der Organisation Medica Mondiale, die in Krisengebieten Opfer sexueller Gewalt betreut. Hauser wurde im schwedischen Parlament zusammen mit der Frauenrechtlerin Asha Hagi aus Somalia, der US- Journalistin Amy Goodman sowie den indischen Sozialaktivistinnen Krishnammal und Sankaralingam Jagannathan geehrt. Sie teilen sich das Preisgeld von Euro. Der Alternative Nobelpreis wurde 1980 von Jakob von Uexküll aus dem Verkaufserlös seiner wertvollen Briefmarkensammlung gestiftet, nachdem er vergeblich versucht hatte, einen weiteren Nobelpreis für Ökologie und Entwicklung durchzusetzen. Der Alternative Nobelpreis will jene Menschen, Initiativen und Organisationen ehren und fördern, die praktikable exemplarische Lösungen bieten zu den dringendsten Herausforderungen der Menschheit. Mehr Information unter: Höchstdotierte deutsche Förderpreise verliehen: Leibniz-Preis 2009 Der Hauptausschuss der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) benannte eine Wissenschaftlerin und zehn Wissenschaftler für die Auszeichnung mit dem bedeutendsten deutschen Forschungspreis. Er ist mit 2,5 Millionen Euro dotiert. Von den elf neuen Leibniz-Preisen gehen je drei an die Natur-, Lebens- und Ingenieurwissenschaften und zwei an die Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften. "Damit zeigt sich einmal mehr, dass in Deutschland über die ganze Breite des Fächerspektrums hinweg wissenschaftliche Spitzenleistungen erbracht werden", sagte DFG-Präsident Professor Matthias Kleiner nach der Entscheidung des Hauptausschusses. Zehn der elf Preisträger seien an Universitäten tätig, die sich damit erneut als der Ort exzellenter Forschungen erwiesen. Mehr Information unter: Helmholtz International Research School Molecular Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available The Helmholtz International Research School has issued a second call for applications for ten fully funded PhD positions in Molecular Neurobiology. The application deadline is 19 January For more information, please go to

8 Meeting in November ein Rückblick Deutsche Unis stellen sich vor: Advertisement Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies Funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies aims to supervise exceptional dissertation projects on European, American, Arabic and Asian Literatures within the doctoral degree programme Literary Studies. The programme offers intensive and individual supervision of the thesis as well as coursework which consists of seminars on methodology and literary theory as well as seminars that focus on transferable skills. Research conducted abroad will be part of the degree course. Applicants who want to take up their doctoral studies within the graduate programme Literary Studies must have a completed degree (Magister/ Staatsexamen/ M.A./ Maîtrise or equivalent) with above-average marks in arts, preferably literary studies. Successful projects must have a strong theoretical and methodological foundation and should develop a comparative perspective on language, literature, culture and/or media. The Graduate School will award 10 Scholarships per year. Scholarships are awarded for three years; however, continuation of the degree course as well as the extension of the scholarship is subject to a favourable evaluation of the student s progress by the team of supervisors at the end of each academic year. Applications should be submitted by January 31 st, The programme of study will begin in October For application guidelines students should head to: or contact the Executive Administrator: Dr. Susanne Scharnowski susanne.scharnowski@fu-berlin.de, Tel.: ( )

9 Meeting in November ein Rückblick Meeting in April 2009 eine Vorausschau Alternativem Nobelpreis geehrt Neurobiology: Ten PhD Positions Available Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies BY THE WAY... Große Kandinsky-Retrospektive im Lenbachhaus München, 25/10/08-22/02/09 Kandinsky - Absolut. Abstrakt Die Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus München, das Centre Georges Pompidou Paris und das Guggenheim Museum New York sind die drei Museen mit den weltweit größten Sammlungen an Werken Wassily Kandinskys. Gemeinsam zeigen nun diese Museen eine große Retrospektive über diesen herausragenden Vertreter der modernen Kunst. Wassily Kandinsky, 1866 in Moskau geboren und 1944 in Paris gestorben, ist einer der großen Erneuerer der Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts und gilt als Begründer der abstrakten Malerei. Die Ausstellung beginnt im Lenbachhaus München und umfasst rund 90 Gemälde. Sie deckt alle wichtigen Perioden des Gesamtwerks ab, wobei sich die Sammlungsschwerpunkte der drei Partnerinstitute in idealer Weise ergänzen. Das Lenbachhaus kann aus seiner hervorragenden Kollektion von Werken aus der Zeit des Blauen Reiter bis 1914 schöpfen, im Centre Pompidou liegt der Schwerpunkt auf Kandinskys Schaffen während der Russischen Revolution und seiner Zeit am Bauhaus in Weimar und Dessau bis Kandinskys Spätwerk aus den Pariser Jahren 1933 bis 1944 ist durch Werke aus dem Guggenheim Museum New York bestens vertreten. Lost and Found? addresses tend to change, and we therefore lose contact details despite our best efforts. Your help in keeping our network alive and updated is greatly appreciated! Please let us know if your address changes. Or do you know someone who doesn't receive our newsletter but would love to? Whether they're alumni, current scholarship holders or simply interested in DAAD news - please us, maybe that person is on our "missing list"! -Adressen ändern sich häufig und so gehen trotz unserer Bemühungen leider immer wieder Kontaktdaten verloren. Helfen Sie uns, unser Netzwerk am Leben zu erhalten! Bitte teilen Sie uns mit, wenn sich ihre -Adresse ändert. Oder kennen Sie jemanden, der unsere News nicht erhält? Ob Alumni, StipendiatInnen oder andere Interessierte: Vielleicht steht diese Person auf unserer 'Vermisstenliste' schreiben Sie uns! So, jetzt wird es Zeit, uns zu verabschieden für dieses Jahr Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! DAAD Information Centre Sydney For request of information, comments or if you would like Former issues can be downloaded at: newsletter.htm Yours For comments or if you would like