Press release: Together into the digital future

Nr. 201/2015 - 09.09.2015

Universities of Göttingen and Edinburgh intensify cooperation

(pug) The University of Göttingen and the University of Edinburgh have agreed to collaborate more closely in the humanities, social and natural sciences. Early this week in Göttingen, Professor Ulrike Beisiegel, President of the Georgia Augusta, and Mr Gavin McLachlan, Chief Information Officer and Librarian to the Scottish university, signed a cooperation agreement with this scope. "The University of Edinburgh ranks among the top 20 universities in the world and is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Great Britain. We are therefore extremely proud that the joint activities of the two universities shall now be further expanded institutionally," states Professor Beisiegel, expressing her delight. This year she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Edinburgh for her services in university management. "Expanding this cooperation will sustainably and appreciably strengthen research and teaching at Göttingen University," adds Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Göttingen University's Vice President of International Affairs.

One main objective of the two-day visit by the delegation from Edinburgh was their participation in the interdisciplinary workshop "The Digital University – The Future of Digital Research Infrastructures," designed and organised by Dr Wolfram Horstmann, Director of the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB). The workshop aimed at intensifying the way the two universities shape the bilateral exchange of staff and joint projects in the future by illuminating aspects of academic policy.

"These are two universities that each holds a special rank in their respective countries: On the one hand, they live out a tradition embodying long-established principles and maintain significant historical collections. On the other hand, innovative topics relating to the digital transformation of science and society are held in high esteem at both universities," says Professor Casper-Hehne. This common ground shall be strongly reflected in their collaborative work. There are plans to intensify student exchange programmes as well.

The Universities of Göttingen and Edinburgh are united by a long history of joint ventures: Since 1998, cooperation projects have been forged not only in the fields of geology, wood biology, physics and medicine, but in East Asian history and English studies as well. Together with Göttingen, Edinburgh is a member of the Coimbra Group, an association of 38 pre-eminent European universities. Moreover, both universities participate in the Erasmus Mundus Project "EXPERTS – SUSTAIN", a programme that has been successfully funding exchanges between students, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers from Europe and Southeast Asia for several years now.

Contact:
Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Vice-President of International Affairs
Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Phone +49 551 39-13110
E-mail: hiltraud.casper-hehne@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Internet: www.uni-goettingen.de/de/vizepr%C3%A4sidentin-prof-dr-hiltraud-casper-hehne-/110984.html