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A Conversation Between Nadine Strossen and Erwin Chemerinsky
Free Speech at American Universities 60 Years After the Free Speech Movement
On a recent evening at the University of California, Berkeley, a panel gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the historic Free Speech Movement. The event featured legal scholars Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. The discussion, moderated by Julia Schaletzky, co-chair of Heterodox Academy in Berkeley, addressed the current state of free speech on campuses, the legal environment, and the tensions between free speech and inclusion.
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Bay Area Innovation Program
GUILD Women in Entrepreneurship Program
DWIH San Francisco welcomed an inaugural cohort of 100 women who took part in an eight-week hybrid program (April 1, 2024 – May 24, 2024) for entrepreneurship that focused on German researchers. The ten finalists were invited to San Francisco in September for an in-person summit.
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Policy Report
Fostering Entrepreneurship in Higher Education
DWIH San Francisco commissioned a report for senior policymakers working in German higher-education institutions and relevant legislative bodies. This report provides a detailed analysis of both the Silicon Valley and German ecosystems, current practices, and policy recommendations for fostering innovation transfer and entrepreneurship at German universities and research institutions. The goal of the report is to identify solutions to strengthen Germany’s competitiveness in fostering entrepreneurship, enhancing research-to-industry pipelines, and attracting top-level talent from all over the world.
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Science Slam
Falling Walls Lab Seattle
Our first Falling Walls Lab in Seattle was a success! DWIH San Francisco was delighted to host the Falling Walls Lab, a world-class pitch competition and networking forum for students, researchers, and early-career scientists of all disciplines. This year, we received twenty applications from participants around the country, and invited fourteen finalists to pitch their innovative ideas. Finalists were judged based on three categories demonstrating a breakthrough that has a positive impact on science and society. Congratulations to all the finalists who came out to pitch their ideas! Our Lab took place at CoMotion, University of Washington. We invited five jury members to assess the pitches and select the winners. The first-place winner received an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the Berlin Science Week in November 2024. The 2nd prize winner received a complimentary one-month membership to CoMotion Labs. Finally, the 3rd prize and audience award winners received gift certificates.
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Science Slam
Falling Walls Lab San Francisco 2024
Three minutes was all it took! DWIH San Francisco was delighted, for the third iteration, to host the Falling Walls Lab, a world-class pitch competition and networking forum for students, researchers, and early-career scientists of all disciplines. This year, we received twenty applications from participants around the country, and invited fourteen finalists to pitch their innovative ideas. Finalists were judged based on three categories demonstrating a breakthrough that has a positive impact on science and society.
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Special to the Newsletter
Four Questions for Mostafa Elgayar
We had the pleasure of interviewing Mostafa Elgayar, a computer scientist living in Berlin, who took part in the inaugural cohort of the CITRIS and the Banatao Institute‘s Health Innovation Intensive. He spent a week in the Bay Area and visited UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Merced, and UC Davis to learn all about cutting-edge health, tech and innovation.
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Delegation Visit
Information Trip for Senior Administrators of German Institutions of Higher Education
DWIH San Francisco welcomed a group of twenty-one top representatives from German higher education institutions — comprising of presidents, chancellors, and vice presidents for international affairs of German universities — to participate in a university policy information trip in the San Francisco Bay Area from March 10th to March 16th, 2024. This visit aimed to expand knowledge of the West Coast higher education systems to discuss the possibilities for cooperation between the US and German higher education institutes. Participants visited important institutions and actors in the higher education realm, as well as non-profits promoting innovation in the Greater Bay Area.
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Inaugural Innovation Program
CITRIS Health Innovation Intensive 2024
Our inaugural cohort of eight German participants attended the CITRIS and the Banatao Institute‘s Health Innovation Intensive in the Bay Area to learn all about cutting-edge health, tech and innovation. From Monday, March 4 to Friday, March 8, they visited the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of California, Merced, and University of California, Davis to take part in discussions and panels on topics ranging from assistive tech, nutrition, AI, robotics, and community health.
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Research Security
National Academies Roundtable
DWIH San Francisco was delighted to attend the twelfth meeting of the National Academies’ National Science, Technology, and Security Roundtable on January 23, 2024 at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. This Roundtable featured an opportunity to engage with members of government and the academic, law enforcement, and national security communities.
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Transatlantic Science Partnerships
Meet-and-Greet with the German Research Foundation
DWIH San Francisco was delighted to support the German Reseach Foundation (DFG) at a lunch roundtable at UC Berkeley on December 5th, 2023. Diego Rivas, program manager of the San Francisco office, introduced the DFG to professors, administrators and postdocs and discussed funding opportunities for research in Germany.