Exploring Opportunities and Navigating Challenges: ENTRANCE Regional Meeting spotlights German-Chinese Cooperation
The highly successful 2nd regional meeting of the ENTRANCE project at RWTH Aachen University , which lasted two days, proved to be an important step in fostering collaboration with Chinese partners. With a panoramic view of Aachen Cathedral and the entire city, the event took place in the SuperC of the RWTH Aachen University and attracted more than 60 participants.
Day one was dedicated to informative presentations by distinguished experts. Prof. Kai-Uwe Schröder, Rectorate representative for cooperation with China at RWTH Aachen University, opened the event with insightful research perspectives. He emphasized the importance of stronger partnerships with Chinese universities and research institutions as well as the need to position the country as an attractive destination for German students to spend a semester abroad.
The topic of Chinese law was highlighted by Prof. Georg Gesk from the University of Osnabrück, particularly with regard to data protection and data security. Mareike Seeßelberg, business lawyer at Deloitte, contributed her expertise in the area of compliance management and also stressed the importance of data security and cybersecurity.
Rebecca Arcesati from MERICS spoke about "Unwanted Technology and Knowledge transfer risks in research collaboration with Chinese partners: examples and best practices for mitigation" and advocated treating collaborations with Chinese partners as case-by-case decisions. Prof. Markus Taube from the University of Duisburg-Essen presented the Chinese innovation system, emphasizing the significance of the Chinese language for future cooperation.
The first day ended with Niels Kaffenberger from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR PT), who explained current legal issues in German-Chinese scientific collaboration, followed by a panel discussion with all speakers.
On the second day, following two engaging presentations by Ágota Révész (GFZ Potsdam) and Florian Hessel (Ruhr University Bochum) titled "Unsaid Matters" and "The German Perception of China", the attention shifted to three working groups discussing ethics, law, and strategy.In interactive sessions, the participants were able to develop ideas on what the ENTRANCE project should focus on in the future.
The regional meeting provided participants from across NRW, as well as from Darmstadt, Berlin, Jena, Constance, Erlangen, and Würzburg, among other places, with valuable insights and discussions, and gave the opportunity to exchange ideas and network with each other. The meeting was another important step towards promoting cooperation between Germany and China in the field of science and research.
