From 21 June to 4 July our summer program once again brings international early career researchers from various disciplines to the Ruhr Area. The format offers prospective and early postdocs the opportunity to get to know the research landscape of the University Alliance Ruhr - as well as the Ruhr region as an attractive place to live and work. This time, we welcome 37 bright minds from 18 countries to the Ruhr Area.

During the Research Explorer Ruhr, international early career researchers work closely for two weeks with host professors and their research groups at TU Dortmund University, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), and the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). This creates the best possible conditions for long-term collaborations. In addition, the (prospective) postdocs spend two weeks immersing themselves in the German academic system, exploring funding opportunities and career paths. Ideally, the program leads to a longer research stay at the University Alliance Ruhr, facilitated by a successful third-party funding application.

"The high level of interest in the Research Explorer Ruhr shows how attractive the University Alliance Ruhr is for international early career researchers. With over 100 applications and 13 participants from all over the world, we are welcoming more than twice as many guests to TU Dortmund University this year as we did last year," says Dr. Verena Peters, Contact Person for Postdocs and Junior Faculty at the Graduate Center TU Dortmund. "This development underscores the growing international visibility of the program and the appeal of the Ruhr region as a place to conduct research and live."

"We at RUB are looking forward to welcoming 15 international guests from all research disciplines this year, who were selected from a total of 161 applications. Our return rate of around 25 percent over the past ten years demonstrates the program’s lasting impact and how well-established it has become at the UA Ruhr level," says Dr. Jörn Benzinger, Global Talent Acquisition, RUB Research School. "The fact that we can welcome researchers from Latin America, North America, Central Asia, and West Africa in particular this year also reflects the desired visibility we are striving to achieve through our marketing efforts in these regions."

"Interest in the Research Explorer Ruhr is continuously growing - both among international guests and among professors at the UA Ruhr," says Simon Kresmann, Head of Graduate Center Plus at the University of Duisburg-Essen. "At the UDE alone, more than 20 professors applied to be hosts in order to collaborate with international talents. With nine selected guests, the program once again offers excellent opportunities this year to initiate new scientific collaborations and to sustainably advance the internationalization goals of the UA Ruhr in the area of early career researchers. The Research Explorer Ruhr is therefore an important instrument for global scientific networking and cooperation."

The names of the guests and hosts can be found in the press release.

More about Reseach Explorer Ruhr