Virtual Science Café: Scientific exchange in the post-pandemic era

Born in the COVID pandemic, our Forschungscafés/Science Cafés are a place to meet, learn and network. In an informal setting and collaborative environment, we welcome different speakers and explore with them a specific research topic, as well as cooperation and funding schemes, research tools and infrastructures or technological trends.

Embedded in a long tradition of cooperation between the State of Bavaria and the Province of Québec, as well as between Canada and Germany, our Forschungscafés feature bilateral projects out of these regions in a broader international science perspective. Our audience consists of researchers, research and innovation administrators, business and governmental representatives.

In 2024, our Forschungscafés remain primarily in virtual mode. However, for some special editions, we are pleased to announce that we at WKS Bavaria-Québec/International, BayFOR will open our doors to our speakers and their invitees, or visit them on site and hold the Science Café in a hybrid format.

The research cafés welcome new guest speakers each time, who give a presentation outlining their research interests and experiences and then exchange ideas with the audience. The Science Cafés are short and recurrent by intention. They want to enable regular contact in a small format and support interpersonal, stimulating dialog – again and again.

 "Our friends at Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR) GmbH initiated the #Forschungscafé, a regular opportunity for small groups of scientists to meet virtually and discuss ideas, challenges and opportunities in an informal setting. […] I have been a guest myself 3 times and can attest that it is not only insightful and informative, but also great fun!"
(Jennifer E. Decker, Konsulin und Vertreterin des National Research Council Canada, Deutschland, on LinkedIn)

During the first Forschungscafés of 2024, we will approach the opportunities and challenges of fellowships abroad. We will meet with academic researchers of different scientific backgrounds who recently decided to work for a longer period of time abroad, becoming themselves important science diplomacy vectors in Bavaria and in Québec. We will review with them the value and prerequisites of an in-person immersion in another academic, linguistic and cultural context.

Digital technologies, especially artificial intelligence, have become integral elements of our professional environments and careers: the Science Cafés will reflect on how digitalization changes the way we work and impacts academic pathways.

Science Café "Funding opportunities for research projects with Québec / Canada" on April 25, 2024

For our next Forschungscafé, Dr. Florence Gauzy and M. Sc. Fiona Rumohr (WKS Bavaria-Québec/Alberta/International, BayFOR) are pleased to present funding opportunities for research projects with Québec / Canada. We will discuss current opportunities, goals and priorities.

Here you can find the Science Café program.

Event format

Videoconference, 30 minutes, Thursdays 2:00 – 2:30 pm (CET)

Event language

German and English

Date & Time of the next Science Café

Thursday, April 25, 2024, 2:00 – 2:30 pm (CEST)

Registration & Participation

To facilitate personal interaction, the number of participants in the individual research cafés is limited.
Please register for the next research café by April 23, 2024 by e-mail:bayern-quebec@bayfor.org

Upcoming Science Cafés

• June 6, 2024 (tbc), Centre d’Expertise Industrielle (Director Geneviève Bourgoing) in dialogue with Lab Network Industrie 4.0 (CEO Anja Simon) will present their step-by-step move towards a joint demonstrator in Industrie 4.0, in support of digitalization and linkage of the production processes along digitalized value chains

#WKSmeetsScience

Previous Science Cafés

• 07.03.2024, Science Café with Dr. Anne-Marie Pilote, Scientist in Residence, Québec Government Office in Munich, on the topic "Scientist in Residence for the Government of Québec: A Report"
• 08.02.2024, Science Café with Professor Dr. Martin A. Bader, Professor of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Applied Sciences Ingolstadt (THI), on the topic "Visiting Scholar at McGill University: A report out of 2022/23"