The 1st Volkswagen Foundation’s Herrenhausen Conference „Downscaling Science“
will take place from December, 12 – 14, 2012 in Hanover, Germany.
At our first Herrenhausen Conference "Downscaling Science" we want to address the following questions: Which opportunities does nanoscience provide for tackling global challenges? Which are the limits and limitations of this rather new field of research? And which barriers need to be overcome in order to further develop nanoscience?
But as suggested by the title “Downscaling Science”, the conference also wants to consider new approaches to science and science policy. With keynote speeches by George M. Whitesides and Nobel Laureate Harold Kroto we want to address the current trend towards increasingly expensive research in times of alarmingly dwindling resources and discuss consequences. Do we need to downscale science? How can science - in times of ever-increasing specialisation and differentiation of research fields - become even more relevant to solving problems to be confronted in industrial as well as in transition and developing countries? We would be delighted if you joined us in this endeavor!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
2:00 p.m. Get-together / registration
4:00 p.m Words of Welcome
Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General, Volkswagen Foundation*
4:15 p.m Keynote speeches
Let's get practical (tbc)
George M. Whitesides, Harvard University
Lost in Translation
Harold Kroto, Florida State University
7:00 p.m. Conference dinner
with dinnerspeech
Scale-up and scale-down: chemists and engineers
Marcel Liauw, RWTH Aachen University
Thursday, December 13, 2012
09:00 a.m. Session 1
Nano+Energy+Sustainability
Chair: Markus Antonietti, Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam
Photon harvesting and charge carrier collection in mesoscopic solar energy conversion systems
Michael Grätzel, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
New Directions in Energy Materials Synthesis
Matthew Rosseinsky, University of Liverpool
Nanostructured catalysts in energy conversion
Ferdi Schüth, MPI for Coal Research, Mülheim an der Ruhr
Nanomaterials for electrochemical energy conversion devices
Angelika Heinzel, University of Duisburg-Essen
Plenary discussion
10:30 a.m. Workshops following the method of World-Café
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Session 2
Nano + Analytics + Assemblies
Chair: Jörg P. Kotthaus, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Statements
The manipulation of individual molecules
Nynke Dekker, Delft University of Technology
Nanomaterials assembly with DNA: what solutions to biology and materials science can this approach provide?
Hanadi Sleiman, McGill University, Montreal
Nanoscopy with focused light
Stefan Hell, MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
Temporal and spatial resolution in tracking ever smaller particles
Vahid Sandoghdar, MPI for the Science of Light, Erlangen
Plenary discussion
3:30 p.m. Workshops following the method of World-Café
5:30 p.m. Foyer presentations
Junior scientists ask questions
6:30 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. Public lecture
Wolfgang M. Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum
or Bavarian Curling
Friday, December 14, 2012
9:00 a.m. Session 3
Nano + Medicine: Risks and Opportunities
Chair: Petra Schwille, MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried
Statements
Biomaterials at the nano-scale
Peter Fratzl, MPI of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam
Nanotechnology – Position of Munich RE
Gerhard Schmid, Munich RE (Reinsurance)
Personalized Nanomedicine: A New frontier in Medicine
Moein Moghimi, University of Copenhagen
Looking through tissues with nano-light: merging of nanotechnology and imaging in the clinic
Kostas Kostarelos, University of London
Plenary discussion
10:30 a.m. Workshops following the method of World-Café
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Summary and results of sessions
4:00 p.m. End of conference
* All academic titles have been omitted.
Travel grants for young scientists
In order to assure that young scientists can participate in our event, the Volkswagen Foundation offers up to fifty Travel Grants that are available for young scientists who wish to attend the conference.
The travel grant will cover the registration fee (regular fee: 250 EURO, early-bird fee for registrations received by August, 31 2012: 150 EURO), your stay in Herrenhausen, accommodation, and your travel expenses. As a general rule, scientists eligible for the travel grant are junior scientists (Ph.D. students, Postdocs). Further information about the reimbursement process will be sent to you, once your application has been accepted.
Applicants are required to apply until July 5, 2012 by answering the three questions stated below. Please use the application form provided on this website (see Application down below). We are not able to consider applications after this deadline.
1) Short C.V. (max. 800 characters)
2) Your motivation to attend the conference (max. 800 characters)
3) Your five most important publications (max. 400 characters)
If your application has been accepted, the Volkswagen Foundation will book a room for you. We will accommodate you in the Hotel in Herrenhausen, which is directly located at the Herrenhausen Gardens and the Palace.
» Application
