Sino-German Center for Science Promotion
The Sino-German Center for Science Promotion (CDZ) is a joint venture between the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) based in Beijing.
The NSFC is the main institution for the promotion of basic research in the natural , life , engineering and management sciences in your country. The DFG is the central self-governing organization of science in Germany. It serves science in all its branches by promoting research projects at universities and other public research institutions without subject-specific restrictions. Both organizations strive to deepen and expand mutual scientific relationships. A first cooperation agreement was signed back in 1988.
The task of the CDZ is to promote scientific cooperation between Germany and China with a focus on funding in the natural , life , engineering and management sciences . The CDZ has its own budget for this (45.2 million RMB or around 6.1 million euros in 2016) with which it maintains various funding programs. In addition to its function as an information platform, other tasks of the center are the improvement of the infrastructural framework for scientific cooperation between the two countries, the exchange of information about the scientific system of the other country and the bilateral promotion of young researchers. It thus makes a substantial contribution to long-term cooperation between universities, research institutions and scientists from both countries.
history
The initiative of the NSFC and the DFG to found a jointly operated center goes back to a proposal made by the Chinese side in 1994. The idea was to create a facility that would intensify the German-Chinese exchange of science.
The decision for this cooperation project was formalized as early as 1995 when the founding agreement for the CDZ was signed in the presence of Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng . In 1998 the two funding organizations DFG and NSFC signed the CDZ together. The foundation stone for the CDZ was laid in the same year; on October 19, 2000 the new building was opened and the CDZ started its work.
organization
The CDZ is an independent legal entity under Chinese law. The legal representative is the Vice President of the NSFC responsible for foreign affairs. The guidelines for the work of the CDZ are set by a joint commission. It has four Chinese and four German members each, nominated by the DFG and the NSFC. The Joint Commission meets annually. It appoints the directors and deputy directors of the center, advises and approves its work program and receives the annual report and financial statements.
A joint board of directors manages the work of the center and the CDZ processes the application in cooperation with its sponsoring organizations. In addition, the German side of the CDZ represents the DFG as a local contact in China for individual scientists and the various partner organizations. The board of directors is supported by an office with currently ten employees.
Funding programs
To achieve its goals, the CDZ currently offers the following funding instruments:
- Scientific workshops / symposia by Chinese and German scientists in a defined work area
- German-Chinese research projects over a period of up to three years. In order to be able to fund a higher number of excellent joint projects in the future, project funding will be transferred to the DFG and NSFC offices from 2017. In the future, the CDZ will concentrate even more on the promotion of young talent and young people. The aim is to create a funding continuum so that funding processes that build on each other are available at the CDZ as well as at the DFG and NSFC for all career levels.
- Cooperation groups to promote mobility and the exchange of German and Chinese scientists over a period of up to three years
- Summer schools
- Lindau program for participation in the Nobel Laureate Conference
- Stays in China for German junior group leaders
- Young talent forums
- Publication grant
- Preparatory trips
location
The CDZ building is located in the immediate vicinity of the NSFC in the Haidian District in the north-west of the city. In the immediate vicinity are u. a. the Tsinghua University and Peking University .
Located between the fourth and fifth ring roads, the CDZ is also connected to the metro (line 15; Qinghuadongluxikou station).
Other German research funding institutions in Beijing
- German Academic Exchange Service
- Fraunhofer Society
- Goethe Institute
- Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers