Postdoc Workshop 2024 connects researchers from RJ and SP with German universities

The two phases of the Postdoc Workshop 2024, which took place on 16 April in Rio de Janeiro and 20 April in São Paulo, brought together people interested in a postdoc in Germany with German universities and institutions and underlined the growth of the event, which is now part of the annual programme of the German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) São Paulo.

A total of around 75 researchers took part in the two events in Brazil - another one was held a few days earlier in Buenos Aires. In Rio de Janeiro, those who wanted to find out about the path to a postdoc in Germany and those who wanted to explore funding opportunities were both represented.

“I came to get an idea of postdocs in Germany,” says Alef Lima, whose research at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) focuses on medicinal chemistry. The scientist from Alagoas has been in Rio since 2019 and saw the workshop as an opportunity to deepen a “passion” from his childhood for the country. “I had no idea that there were so many opportunities for postdocs, and I’ve learnt a lot about the system there. It's even possible to do a postdoc there, even if you don't speak German,” he said.

Patrícia Farias, a food engineer in the field of intelligent packaging and currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) and the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Unirio), was exploring new sources of funding in Rio. “I had already applied for the Capes-Humboldt Research Fellowship Programme and wanted to see what further options were available. I reached out to the German Research Foundation (DFG), EURAXESS and others. Within my field, Germany stands out as the country with the highest investment and is most interested in product development. It's a very broad field and I want to specialise,” she said.

For Laura Redondo, Head of the Brazil Centre at the University of Münster, the growth of the postdoc workshop is a sign of how important it is to promote Germany as a destination for those seeking to internationalize their academic profile. “The year 2024 marks a decade since the introduction of the information event for postdocs in Germany. What initially started as a small consortium of German universities is now part of the DWIH's annual programme. This year's events brought together, as always, highly motivated and qualified participants who made good use of the opportunity to engage in dialogue with university representatives and funding bodies, which certainly facilitates access to the institutions,” she said.

The Brazil Centre was one of the organizers of the meeting in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin), Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). The postdoc workshop in Rio took place at the Brazilian Centre for Physical Research (CBPF), while the one in São Paulo was held at the Goethe-Institut, as in previous years. In addition to the DWIH São Paulo participated also in the Event: DFG, TUM, FU Berlin, RUB, the University of Münster, EURAXESS, the University of Potsdam, the University of Heidelberg, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In São Paulo, the Brazil and Latin America Centre Baden-Württemberg and the Technical University of Darmstadt joined the team.