February 15, 2024

Once collaborators have a strong foundation in place, there’s no stopping the forward momentum. Such is the case with the blossoming relationship between UBC and its German partners. UBC is one of only a few Canadian academic institutions that has research partnerships with three major research organizations in Germany: the Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, which includes the German Aerospace Centre (DLR,) and the Max Planck Society. In 2010, the Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials became only the third such centre to be established outside Germany—and in 2021, when the expanded Centre was renewed for a third term, it was the first time an international Max Planck Centre had been extended beyond a 10-year period.

While the two countries have enjoyed a strong alliance dating back to the 1970s, 2023 proved pivotal to the growing UBC connection—particularly in the area of research, and especially with the Faculty of Applied Science.

Last spring, there was the high-profile Vancouver campus visit from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as part of his first official visit to Canada, including a tour of the new city-scale Smart Hydrogen Energy District. The group also met researchers and students working on clean energy and climate change solutions, including UBC experts working closely with German counterparts.

University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science hosted Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of Germany, as part of his first official visit to Canada (Video: UBC Applied Science)

In May 2023, the UBC Symphony Orchestra reunited with the Stuttgart Academic Orchestra in Germany on a four-city tour. (The Stuttgart musicians had performed with UBC in September 2022 on the Vancouver campus as part of their North American tour.)

In August 2023, following productive meetings in Ottawa, Ontario attended by UBC’s Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah Buszard, the German and Canadian U15—each representing 15 renowned research universities—inked an agreement. The focus was sharing best practices, creating policy and consulting on relevant issues, with an emphasis on the role of universities in tackling climate change. Then in September, UBC signed a Memorandum of Understanding greenlighting future research partnerships with German tech giant Siemens. In addition, UBC and the Consulate General of Germany in Vancouver co-hosted a delegation from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to establish new connections and collaborative projects. Also in September, UBC welcomed the President of DLR to DLR@UBC to discuss the long-term vision for the strategic partnership.

Another well-established and impactful partnership between UBC and German institutions is the Max-Planck-UBC-UTokyo Centre for Quantum Materials, which was renewed for a third term in 2021—the first time an international Max Planck Centre has been extended beyond a 10-year period.

Says President Steinmeier: “What we saw here during our visit to British Columbia is the close cooperation between science institutions at UBC, and in Germany and Canada, and this is encouraging for the future. Germany and Canada are working together to make the world a better place, and that means changing our daily behaviour and developing innovative technology.”

Here’s a look at the burgeoning Germany-UBC partnership.

Why now? “UBC has longstanding and important ties with Germany,” says Cheryl Dumaresq, Executive Director, Global Engagement, in the UBC Office of Global Engagement. “And the number of interactions in 2023 demonstrates our growing relationship. Our partnerships with German institutions are incredibly valuable and wide-ranging, involving scholars and students from many different faculties.”

Current focus: Recent collaborations underscore UBC faculty researchers’ priorities and align with shared interests of the German and Canadian governments, including the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance, signed in 2022 by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. One example is the Faculty of Applied Science’s focus on climate change and aerospace, the transformation to a clean energy sector and “smart cities.” The Smart Hydrogen Energy District “living laboratory” on the Vancouver campus represents “a new way of thinking about integrated energy services for cities and communities,” says Dr. Walter Mérida, Applied Science Associate Dean, Research and Industrial Partnerships. In this post-combustion era, as he calls it, Dr. Mérida asserts that instead of burning things, scientists must “create energy services in elegant and gentle ways”—such as the District’s electrochemical energy conversion approach.

Why is this such a great fit? Says Dr. Mérida: “UBC Applied Science researchers excel at collaborating across large, multidisciplinary projects that lead to relevant, practical solutions to the complex challenges of climate change and clean energy.”

Says Dr. Klaus Schindel, Counselor, Head of Science at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany: “UBC is at the cutting edge in research with Germany for a more sustainable future, and UBC and German scientists are together developing solutions that matter.”

What’s a good example of a UBC-Germany partner project? In an R&D project led by Dr. Zheng Liu, UBC researchers and students are working with top research institutions and industry partners from Canada and Germany on a digital twin ecosystem with sensing technologies and artificial intelligence. “It could be used more accurately and at a lower cost to monitor Canadian pipeline networks that could be repurposed to carry hydrogen, enabling the clean energy transition,” says Dr. Liu, professor at the UBC Okanagan School of Engineering.

A second-use case focused on infrastructure management; for instance, using a bridge’s digital twin to improve infrastructure resiliency in the face of climate change-caused natural disasters.

UBC partners on the project include VEERUM, NRC Digital Technologies Research Centre and Aerospace Research Centre, Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, and Marx Krontal Partner.

“This collaboration allows UBC to conduct cutting-edge research with sufficient resources unavailable at the university,” says Dr. Liu. “It becomes possible to advance the research in critical areas that significantly impact the industry.” 

What is upcoming? A DFG delegation is coming to UBC in May to form new collaborations, visiting both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

Closing thought: “It is a great pleasure and privilege to work together with representatives of such a renowned institution as UBC and to support the work of so many brilliant people from Canada, Germany and all over the world," says Marc Eichhorn, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Vancouver. "Fostering the mutual academic and scientific exchange, and strengthening ties between UBC and Germany, is one of the most rewarding tasks as German Consul General in Vancouver."

Says Dumaresq: “UBC is grateful for the support of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Vancouver.”

Read about the work of UBC Global Partnerships.

Find out more about UBC’s efforts to create a fossil-free future.