For the sixth time, the DAAD Cairo invited numerous experts and scientists to the German Science Day – this year within the framework of Clusters of Scientific Innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (COSIMENA). The German Science Day acts as a platform for promising doctoral and postdoctoral candidates to engage with the German research landscape and for attendees to get meaningful insight and initial feedback for their planned research in Germany. The aim is to foster further interdisciplinary and binational research relationships and to intensify the already substantial exchange in scientific research between Egypt and Germany.

This year’s German Science Day opened with a panel discussion on “Doing Research at German Universities”. Throughout the day, more than 300 participants were invited to attend numerous lectures given by our German guests on the latest research and development ‘’made in Germany’’. Amongst others, Dr Angela Krewani of Philipps-Universität Marburg provided insight into the impact of TV sitcoms on their audiences. Dr Walid Azab of the Freie Universität Berlin presented advanced scientific findings showing viruses to be masters of co-evolution and a constant life threat. In her short lecture, Prof Dr Maike Petersen of Philipps-Universität Marburg focused on the genes and enzymes involved in plant specialised metabolism, specifically in plant in-vitro cultures. Prof Dr Rudolf Schäfer and Christoph Banhardt of the Technische Universität Berlin presented the university’s research in urban development and the efficiency of renewable energies in Egypt. Dr Ezzelin Metwali and Dr Murad Omar of the Technical University of Munich shared their latest research in the field of nanostructured materials for solid-state batteries and advances in optical biomedical imaging, respectively. Moreover, Dr Marc Milling offered workshops on “Project Management and third Party Funds”.

In addition, the participants had the opportunity for individual counselling with the Technische Universität Berlin, the Technical University of Munich, the Freie Universität Berlin, Philipps-Universität Marburg and the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. The counselling sessions were a unique opportunity for the PhD and postdoc candidates to establish initial contact with German professors, to present their proposals and to get valuable insights and feedback. Following the German Science Day, the attendees will be able to use these established connections to further develop their research proposals and possibly find a doctoral supervisor.

Other representatives of the universities and funding organisations, such as the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, used information booths and sessions to provide insights into scholarships, programmes, application procedures and financing models. In addition, a panel consisting of representatives of the Research, Development and Innovation Programme (RDI), the Science and Technology Development Fund in Egypt (STDF) and Erasmus+ elaborated on “Best Practices on Utilizing Project Funding”.

The big rush and high number of applicants demonstrated once again Egyptians’ interest in the German higher education sector and the importance of the DAAD’s work in providing outstanding Egyptian scholars with direct contacts to German research institutions.