Building international research networks

PIER International

Research on Bahrenfeld campus has always been international in scope. Scientists from more than 40 different countries visit Bahrenfeld every year to conduct research at one of the research facilities available on campus.

PIER promotes international research collaboration between DESY and the University of Hamburg researchers and their international colleagues in the PIER research and competence fields. PIER activities on the international level focus on the support of research initiatives with selected partners abroad, for example by organizing joint workshops, granting seed funding for joint projects or providing administrative support for joint international training programs. In addition, PIER provides funding for short visits of international researchers in Hamburg. PhD students who are members of the PHGS can apply for travel grants.

»World-Class research goes hand in hand with international collaborations.«

Portrait of Franz Kärtner/ © Franz Kärtner

Prof. Franz Kärtner

Lead Scientst at DESY

Hamburg-MIT/Boston Network

For the years 2019 - 2022, PIER received funding from the Hamburg Ministry of Science, Research, Equality and Districts (BWFGB) to help establish and strengthen research collaboration between Hamburg researchers and their colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For this purpose, PIER organized a networking workshop of Hamburg and MIT researchers in Hamburg in January 2019. After the event, participants had the opportunity to apply for funding to develop their ideas in joint Hamburg-MIT seed projects. Follow-up meetings took place in June and October 2019.

In addition, PIER organized short-term research stays of MIT undergraduate students in Hamburg research groups in collaboration with the MIT-Germany Program. Between 2019 and 2022, eight highly-qualified MIT undergraduate students spent three- to six-months-long research stays in Universität Hamburg and DESY groups and had the chance to gain hands-on research experience in Germany.

MIT Interns 2024

In 2024, the successful collaboration with the MIT-Germany Program could be continued with the help of the two UHH Clusters of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" and "Quantum Universe". Seven MIT students came to Hamburg for summer internships in CUI/AIM or QU research groups.

Group of MIT students interning in Hamburg research group this summer

MIT students interning in Hamburg research group in 2024 / Copyright: UHH/Marion Stange

Since 2019, several MIT undergraduate students have had the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in Hamburg research groups. Some of the interns shared their impressions and experiences with us: