Leibniz Association: International presence and collaborations

Leibniz Institutes, Leibniz Research Alliances and Leibniz ScienceCampi work with partners in more than 140 countries. The Leibniz Association’s international presence and collaborations are as diverse as its institutes.

Leibniz Institutes maintain numerous partner locations and research stations abroad, including in the Antarctic, the USA, Senegal, Peru, Bolivia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Ghana.

The Leibniz Association engages in important discourse and science policy contexts, sparks ideas and also acts as an interface between its own member institutes, government ministries and research and funding organisations. It does this through government consultations, delegation visits, international round tables, scientific and technological cooperation meetings, and other platforms. It also plays an active role in the German Centres for Research and Innovation (DWIH).

Leibniz Institutes can apply to award a Leibniz Chair to an academic. The aim is to recruit excellent international researchers to collaborate more closely with the Leibniz Association and to strengthen scientific exchange and the visibility of the Leibniz Institutes in the international research arena.

Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research (ALOMAR), Norway
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University (IAP)
The Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research (ALOMAR) on the Norwegian island of Andøya is jointly run by the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University and Service d’Aéronomie, part of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Guyancourt. With all its instruments, the ALOMAR Observatory is a fully equipped atmosphere laboratory in the Arctic.
WEBSITE
Centre de Recherche de Primatologie Simenti (CRP), Senegal
German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, (DPZ) Göttingen
The Centre de Recherche de Primatologie Simenti is a field station in the Niokolo-Koba National Park, which is home to 300 Guinea baboons. In order to characterise the communicative behaviour of the baboons, the researchers analyse their social organisation, mating patterns and social relationships.
Website
Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco (EBQB), Peru
German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, (DPZ) Göttingen
The Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco was set up in the rainforests of north-eastern Peru in 1984. This region is home to 12 different species of primate, including tamarins. Researchers here observe the primates’ behaviour and life in their natural habitat.
Website
Kirindy Field Station, Madagascar
German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, (DPZ) Göttingen
The German Primate Centre has been conducting research at the Kirindy Field Station in western Madagascar since 1993, studying the behaviour, ecology and demography of the lemurs living in Kirindy Forest. The field station’s long-term presence also helps protect the area against forest clearances.
Website
Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Ghana
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg
The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine is a biomedical research centre in the rainforests of Ghana. Working with Ghanaian researchers, the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine is looking for ways of bringing tropical diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and Buruli ulcer disease under control.
Website
Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) – Observatory, Netherlands
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)
LOFAR is a new type of radio interferometric array in the 30–240 MHz frequency range. It was developed by ASTRON in the Netherlands. A highly sensitive, very flexible instrument, LOFAR can be used to research a wide range of subjects, from the early universe to near space.
Website
Mount Graham International Observatory, USA
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) (in cooperation)
On Mount Graham in Arizona, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam is part of an international partnership operating the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The research telescope has a novel design – it simultaneously collects the light from the universe with two circular mirrors. The LBT is a unique facility, particularly because it will eventually be able to achieve images with a resolution about ten times higher than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Website
Observatorio del Teide, Spanien
Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP)
The Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands is used for solar research. The astronomical conditions are ideal here for training telescopes on the sky. 2,390 metres above sea level, researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, the Leibniz-Institut für Sonnenphysik and the Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research conduct solar research, including studies of zodiacal light – dust particles that appear as cones of light as a result of scattered sunlight. The Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam operates the robot-controlled STELLA telescope.
Website
Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary (PKWS), Thailand
German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, (DPZ) Göttingen.
The Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary research station is located in the centre of the wildlife sanctuary in Thung Ka Mung. Here, Julia Ostner and Oliver Schülke head the Social Evolution in Primates research group. In close collaboration with partners from Kasetsart University in Bangkok and from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), the research group uses an integrative socio-ecological approach to illuminate the causes and consequences of social relationships within and between primate species.
Website
The Leibniz Association is involved in the German Centres for Research and Innovation (DWIH) around the world. With locations in New York, São Paulo, Delhi and Tokyo, the DWIH centres enhance the presence of the German research community and forge contacts in the local research and innovation landscape. Leibniz Institutes and Research Alliances take part in the DWIH programmes around the world and use them to attract new partners and to present their research findings.
Leibniz Headquarters supports the international work of the Leibniz Association members with strategic instruments to help internationalise research, promote academic excellence and support foreign-policy goals.
Leibniz workshops with global partners aim to identify new opportunities for international collaboration. Organised or supported by Leibniz Headquarters, specialist workshops not only provide a platform for sharing experience and knowledge, but also generate new ideas and pave the way for collaborations.
Leibniz delegation visits bring Leibniz Institutes from different subject areas together to expand strategic collaborations abroad. They offer the opportunity to intensify existing research collaborations and to build new partnerships. Delegation visits give Leibniz Association researchers the chance to present their research and institutes in an international context. This helps strengthen Germany’s visibility as a global centre for science and research, and supports Germany’s strategic international science policy.