On Friday, February 19, 2010, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States, Dr. Klaus Scharioth, will open the German Center for Research and Innovation New York. The event will be hosted by the President of the German Research Foundation, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Kleiner and the Vice President of the German Academic Exchange Service, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Max Huber. The keynote speech “New Forms of Matter Near Absolute Zero Temperature“ will be given by Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle (MIT). Madeleine Jacobs, the Executive Director and CEO of the American Chemical Society will speak on “Accelerating the Pace of Innovation: Transatlantic Perspectives, Opportunities, and Pathways Forward.”

The German Center for Research and Innovation New York (GCRI) is one of five centers worldwide that have been established by the German government to bring together international scientists, innovators, and researchers from academic institutions, industry, and government to enhance communication on the critical challenges of the 21st century.

The GCRI’s primary goals are to:
· present Germany as a destination for research and innovation to the North American market,
· enhance the dialogue between science and industry,
· create a forum for the initiation of bilateral projects,
· provide an information platform for the German research and innovation landscape.

Under the joint leadership of the German Research Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service, the GCRI will focus on existing synergies, local expertise, and infrastructures to promote Germany as a location of research and excellence. The range of activities include convening scientific conferences and symposia to examine cutting-edge research and explore solutions to global problems that integrate understandings of science, the economy, and society, as well as organizing science policy dinners and exhibitions.

Its attractive location for both science and industry, and the presence of numerous German partners in New York and its surroundings, make New York an ideal location for the GCRI.

The GCRI is part of the Strategy of the Federal German Government for the Internationalization of Science and Research. Its initiation phase is financed by the German Federal Foreign Office’s Research and Academic Relations Initiative.

RSVP by February 16 to RSVP@GermanInnovation.org

For further information please contact:
Andrea Deierlein
Communications Officer
German Center for Research and Innovation
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017 – USA
Tel. 1.212.339.8606, ext. 302
Deierlein@GermanInnovation.org

A press meeting with the German Federal Minister of Research and Education is scheduled for 2:45 P.M. The opening event begins at 3:00 P.M. :
871 United Nations Plaza
First Avenue, btw. 48th & 49th Street
New York 10017