University of Bayreuth, Press Release No 091/2024 v- 27 August 2024
Bavaria-Queensland Research Alliance awards seed grants for the first time
A research alliance between the Free State of Bavaria and the Australian state of Queensland was launched in April 2024. It is coordinated by the University of Bayreuth. Start-up funding has now been awarded to research projects for the first time.
Bavaria's Science Minister Markus Blume emphasizes: “We are separated by around 15,000 kilometers, but we are bringing together excellent research teams from Bavaria and Queensland directly to ensure prosperity and stability: With the first 'Seed Grants' as part of the research alliance with our Australian partner state, we are making the ground fertile for groundbreaking innovations on two continents. In ten projects on key topics such as AI or energy storage, we are providing excellent Bavarian research teams with up to 10,000 euros to collaborate personally with local scientists in Queensland. This will turn initial ideas into long-term international collaborations and ultimately market-ready innovations in line with our values - fully in line with our 5.5 billion High-Tech Agenda Bavaria!”
Seed grants have now been awarded for the first time since the research alliance was founded. They amount to up to €10,000 and run for 12 months. The focus is on supporting trips by Bavarian researchers to Queensland in order to promote the establishment of long-term collaborations.
In April 2024, Science Minister Blume gave the go-ahead for a research alliance to promote research projects between Bavaria and Queensland. Funding programs will support collaborations between researchers from different disciplines in both states.
Together with partners from industry and business, Blume and Queensland Science Minister Leanne Linard are driving forward joint research at university level on topics such as greener fuels, energy storage and emission reduction technologies and the bioeconomy. She said: „The Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Program is an important component in our ongoing collaboration some of the world’s finest research institutions as we work towards sustainable solutions to the challenges faced around the globe. […] It is very pleasing to move into the next phase of this program – seeing real world projects coming to fruition.”
The funding programs are organized and coordinated by a new Bavaria-Australia Coordination Office. It has been established at the University of Bayreuth, as it has many years of experience in research cooperation with scientific institutions in Queensland and has already had a Gateway Office in Australia since 2018. (https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/uni-in-australien)
These projects are funded:
1. Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and Queensland University of Technology: Research into the prenatal morphogenesis of joints
2. Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, University Hospital Erlangen and Queensland University of Technology: Prevention of disease-related osteoporosis
3. Landshut University of Applied Sciences and University of Queensland: Demonstration of high time-resolved heat flux measurements in high-speed flows
4. Kempten University of Applied Sciences and Queensland University of Technology: How sports fans influence sustainability
5. Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences and University of Queensland: AI design of enzymes for the bioeconomy
6. Technical University of Munich and Queensland University of Technology: Additively manufactured carbon materials for energy storage
7. Technical University of Munich and Queensland University of Technology: Metabolic insights into new biofilm treatments using mass spectrometry
8. Technical University of Munich, University of Bayreuth and Griffith University: Catalyst for sustainable chemical production
9. University of Bayreuth and University of Queensland: Comparison of legal frameworks for climate change
10. University of Bayreuth and Queensland University of Technology: Managing the use of generative AI - Deriving an approach to regulate the use of generative artificial intelligence in Bavarian and Queensland industry
Lisa Stemmler Coordinator Bayern-Quensland
Phone: +49 (0)921 / 55-5267
E-mail: BACU@uni-bayreuth.de