Science summit at Ringberg Castle

Presidents of the Research Councils of the G8 countries are assembling on Monday and Tuesday for their annual meeting.

Presidents of the Research Councils of the G8 countries are assembling on Monday and Tuesday for their annual meeting. Having previously met in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2010 and Warwick, England, in 2011, this year’s venue, on invitation of the Max Planck Society, is Ringberg Castle near Munich. The two-day conference of the Heads of Research Councils (HORCs) is an important platform for Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society.  “Successful research is inconceivable without international cooperation. What makes the G8HORCs meeting so special is that it provides an opportunity for us to meet personally and exchange ideas face to face about the trends and challenges facing international research policy in the international states,” emphasises Peter Gruss.

Among the items on the agenda for the meeting are the joint European Research Area as well as the global challenges facing science and the future dissemination of research results. The speakers are expected to include Sibylle Günter, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching, the long-standing Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF AG Jürgen Hambrecht, Cornelia Quennet-Thielen, Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General of the EU Commission’s Directorate-General for Research & Innovation.

BRO/JE