Transatlantic Exchange Program To Improve Chances for Young Scientists
The German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) together with the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) will launch a grant program for young scientists. The “DKFZ-NCI Fellowship Program in Cancer Research” will enable young researchers from both institutes to work at the partnering institute for up to four years and subsequently create their own junior research groups.
Signing the agreement: Dr. Joe Harford, director of the Office of International Affairs at National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH) and Professor Otmar D. Wiestler, director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Standing: German Ambassador to the United States Klaus Scharioth and German Research Minister Annette Schavan.
© dkfz.de
The agreement on the exchange program was signed by the director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Professor Otmar D. Wiestler, and Dr. Joe Harford, director of the Office of International Affairs at NCI, on Thursday, February 18, 2010, in the US capital Washington. The National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, coordinates the National Cancer Program of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and ranges among the world’s leading cancer research institutes.
“Cancer is a tremendously complex family of diseases and a global problem which we can only cope with by joining forces,” said Professor Otmar D. Wiestler, pointing out the relevance of international networks in cancer research. “Science needs exchange. Young researchers, in particular, often come up with new approaches that need to be implemented, further developed and discussed in order to obtain new knowledge. At the same time, this project is intended to deepen the cooperation between DKFZ and NCI as a whole.”
The first call for proposals for the “DKFZ-NCI Fellowship Program in Cancer Research” is to be issued in the next few months. A major scientific research area within this program is “Stem Cells and Cancer”.
The “DKFZ-NCI Fellowship Program in Cancer Research” was signed during a ceremony in which German Research Minister Annette Schavan, German Ambassador to the United States Klaus Scharioth and US Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg sealed a new framework agreement to expand research cooperation between the United States and Germany in the areas of energy, climate, the environment, and health. A joint committee, coordinated by the German Ministry of Education and Research and the US State Department, will be responsible for implementing the agreement.
„The signing of this agreement shows that we will make use of the possibilities of transatlantic cooperation even more consistently than before. German and American scientists can make joint contributions to solving the most important challenges of the present and future,” said Schavan.
A picture of the signing ceremony is available on the Internet at
http://www.dkfz.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2010/images/DKFZ_NCI.JPG
Figure caption:
Signing the agreement: Dr. Joe Harford, director of the Office of International Affairs at National Cancer Institute (NCI/NIH) and Professor Otmar D. Wiestler, director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Standing: German Ambassador to the United States Klaus Scharioth and German Research Minister Annette Schavan.
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
