Excellence in Agricultural Sciences:
Science Council judges the Universität Hohenheim to be forward-looking [02.12.07]
- Baden-Württemberg has directed its Agricultural Science departments to deal with current problems and is thus well ahead of the other states
- KWS SAAT AG announces the funding of an Endowed Chair
- All articles can be read at www.uni-hohenheim.de/presse
Research: “widest and best linked“. Teaching: “most comprehensive and completely accepted by business“. State funding: “welcomed and adequate“. The transfer of knowledge and expertise into business: “exemplary“. In the field of Agricultural Science, with its Universität Hohenheim Baden-Württemberg is best prepared for the future. This is the finding of a report published today by the Science Council, which has examined all the Agricultural faculties within Germany in terms of their performance, strategy and sustainability. The experts particularly praised the University’s international renown in the Tropical sector and the “cogent concept of working closely with Food Technology and Nutritional Science to deal with the issues of nutrition and health in terms of production, processing and their medical effects. The Universität Hohenheim also received a second recognition of its technical excellence from the world of business: “One of the first to congratulate the University was Germany’s most important plant breeder, KWS SAAT AG. It would like to intensify its collaboration with the Universität Hohenheim by creating an Endowed Chair,“ reports Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Liebig.
Congratulations from the State Minister
"This accolade by the Science Council for the Universität Hohenheim is proof that research into agriculture in Baden-Württemberg is first-class", is how the State Minister for Agriculture Peter Hauk MdL congratulated the University. Minister Hauk guaranteed the continued successful work between the Ministry and its associated state institutes and the Universität Hohenheim. "This intensive relationship is a guarantee for the transfer of knowledge and technology from the University into business, whilst maintaining an awareness of the problems met in practice and providing new impetus for research,“ emphasised Minister Peter Hauk.
The Minister for Science, Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, was overjoyed at the “exceptional testimony by the Science Council, which confirms the international renown of the Universität Hohenheim“. Of particular importance for the state is the interdisciplinary networking between nutrition and health, including human medicine. The contribution to the economy in the form of an Endowed Chair by the KWS SAAT AG is also viewed as being very positive. “All of these factors taken together produce a modern agricultural sector, aware of current issues and internationally competitive,“ emphasised the Minister.
Congratulations from business
The Universität Hohenheim received a second recognition of its technical excellence from business. “One of the first to congratulate the University was Germany’s most important plant breeder, KWS SAAT AG. It would like to intensify its collaboration with the Universität Hohenheim by setting up an Endowed Chair,“ reports Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Liebig. “With the planned Endowed Chair for Biodiversity and Breeding Informatcs we are going to be forging ahead into uncharted scientific territory worldwide and opening up agriculture to new methods that were developed for medicine only recently.“ Further details about the Endowed Chairs will be published when the agreement is signed on 24 November 2006.
The Recommendations
“Hunger is no longer an issue in our society. In its place we now have social problems: disease caused by incorrect and poor nutrition, food allergies, food scandals and the necessity to produce food in a more environmentally-friendly way. These are new challenges for research, which can only be met if agricultural researchers go down new routes and work together with colleagues from Food Technology and Nutritional Medicine to deal with the whole breath of the issues right along the food chain. In Baden-Württemberg we have concentrated these disciplines at the Universität Hohenheim and linked them within the Life Science Centre at the University,“ explains the Rector of the Universität Hohenheim, Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Liebig.
From the standpoint of the Science Council this strategy has now been highly praised. In their paper „Recommendations for the Development of Agricultural Science“, published today, the experts recommend that this so-called Food Chain Concept is ”consistently continued“ in order to increase collaboration with Nutritional Sciences. “These are important research fields, which can be dealt with by Agricultural Science and Nutritional Science working together,“ states the report. However at the present time there are no examples of this sort of interdisciplinary collaborative work, apart from at the Life Science Centre at the Universität Hohenheim and a post-graduate college in Kiel.
The experts have lavished further superlatives on the Universität Hohenheim. As the largest Agricultural faculty in Germany, the University is providing the “most comprehensive curriculum that is welcomed by the world of business“. Its research is “exceptionally well-linked“ and deals with the “widest range of issues“. The experts also describe the Tropical and Subtropical sector as “excellent“ and recommend expanding it further.
“In this way Baden-Württemberg and the Universität Hohenheim is at the forefront in all key evaluation indicators“, states Rector Prof. Dr. Liebig. Even the German Research Foundation (DFG) has given the Faculty of Agriculture at the Universität Hohenheim a glittering accolade in its 206 Funding Ranking. According to the DFG, it is undertaking the most DFG research projects in Agricultural Science, attracts the highest number of international top academics and scientists and, in terms of funding, is in joint first place in Germany with Gießen.
The Science Council also paid tribute to the State government. “The Science Council welcomes the fact that the state is firmly behind the Faculty of Agricultural Science and adequately funds its development plans,“ state the recommendations. The networking between the Universität Hohenheim and the four state research institutes, which are operated jointly by the state and the University on the University campus, is described as “exemplary“ and “bearing fruit“. “The state is promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology from the University into practice and thus is also promoting business by means of its state research institutes.“