Science Café: Virtual scientific exchange between the continents

The WKS Bavaria-Québec/Alberta/International at BayFOR regularly invites guests to a virtual dialogue on current topics of international research cooperation between its partner regions.

During the COVID19 pandemic, scientific networking missions could hardly be carried out. The Scientific Coordination Office (WKS) Bavaria-Québec/Alberta/International at BayFOR therefore launched a new platform, the virtual “Science Café”, which maintained the dialogue on current topics of research cooperation between its partner regions. 

The virtual Science cafés will remain active throughout 2026. 

In the Science Cafés, researchers, research and innovation administrators, business and governmental representatives discuss their project work, challenges in international research cooperation, progress in the projects, thematic priorities, and new perspectives.

The Science 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 dialogue – 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, ehem. Konsulin und Vertreterin des National Research Council Canada, Deutschland, on LinkedIn)

Science Café "Bilateral Funding Opportunities Bavaria-Québec" on September 17th, 2026

The regular Bavaria-Québec bilateral working group call for project proposals between the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec (MRIF) and the Bavarian State Chancellery (StK) is open again for the 2026–2028 period. The WKS Bavaria-Québec/Alberta/International at BayFOR is contact point for research projects.To provide more information on this call for proposals, we are hosting a science café titled “Bilateral Funding Opportunities Bavaria-Québec.”

Event format

Videoconference, 45 minutes

Event language

German

Date & Time of the next Science Café

Thursday, September 17th, 2026, 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. (CEST) - 10:00 – 10:45 am (Eastern Daylight Time)

Registration & Participation

To participate in the Science Café, please use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89131554061?pwd=4fWU4G5DQk7pNCI1vIFzgbRZNVzQLj.1 

Upcoming Science Cafés

More information coming soon 

#WKSmeetsScience

Previous Science Cafés

• 26.03.2026, Forschungscafé with Dr.-Ing. Matthias Welzl, University of Bayreuth, on the topic “Building on Project HYER: German-Canadian Collaboration on Clean Energy”
• 12.03.2026, Forschungscafé with Professor Christoph Barmeyer, University Passau, and Tobi Rodrigue, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), on the topic of "Intercultural creativity in urban environments. How socio-cultural drivers contribute to the emergence of creative cities: The case of Montreal"