More than 100 researchers from 37 countries to attend network meeting in Bochum

One hundred and fourteen young researchers from 37 countries will gather at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s network meeting being held at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) from 9 to 11 April 2025. The attendees are currently in Germany as researchers sponsored by the Humboldt Foundation and are working with colleagues at research institutes throughout the country. The event has the aim of acquainting the new Humboldtians with one another and with Bochum, a city that is exemplary of Germany as a location for conducting research. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to talk with Foundation staff members and receive tips regarding living and conducting research in Germany.

Opening ceremony: Wednesday, 9 April 2025, 3 p.m.
Venue: RUB, Convention Centre, Room 2a, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum

Journalists are welcome to attend! We will be glad to arrange interviews.

The network meeting will be opened at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 April, by Martin Paul, Rector of RUB, and Thomas Hesse, Interim Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This will be followed by the keynote lecture “My (ultrafast) career in Germany as a Humboldtian” to be given by Clara Saraceno who heads the Chair for Photonics and Ultrafast Laser Science at the Faculty for Electrical Engineering at RUB. Her work there seeks to advance ultrafast laser technology, explore new areas of coherent light generation and employ ultrafast sources to gain a deeper understanding of chemical, biological and physical processes. Clara Saraceno was the 2015 recipient of the Humboldt Foundation’s Sofja Kovalevskaja Award. She received an ERC Starting Grant in 2018 for her research on ultrafast high-power sources and an ERC Consolidator Grant in 2024. 

On Thursday, 10 April, the attending Humboldtians will visit RUB research institutes where researchers will present the work being done by their institutes and brief lectures will be held in specialist groups. Attendees will also have the opportunity to establish contact with one another and with German colleagues. 
During the poster session that begins at 3 p.m., fellows will present the focus of their research (RUB, Convention Centre, Room 2b, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum).

At 3 p.m., the Humboldt Foundation will present itself and its programmes to all interested parties during an informational lecture (RUB, Convention Centre, Room 3, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum).

The line-up for Friday, 11 April, will feature a special programme for Feodor Lynen Research Fellows from Germany: Starting at 9 a.m., alumni will report on their experiences abroad. The discussions will additionally focus on opportunities and strategies for fellows returning to Germany.

The majority of participants at this year’s network meeting come from the natural and life sciences (64%), followed by the humanities and social sciences (21%) and engineering (15%). Most of the guests from abroad come from China (11), India (10), and the USA (6).

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 61 Nobel Prize winners.