Research and innovation are the keys to more growth and employment – for North Rhine-Westphalia as well as for the whole of Europe. The research institutions, knowledge-based companies and, last but not least, the universities are the crucial drivers of innovation in our state. With their help, we can face up to national and European competition in a globalized world with ever shorter innovation cycles.

The Ruhr-Universität Bochum demonstrated its potential for contributing to progress in knowledge and taking the lead in innovation on several occasions in the recent past. One prime example of this is the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Materials Simulation, emerging from a cooperation with ThyssenKrupp. But Bochum University has also created an impression with its remarkable performance in the internationally highly regarded Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. It should also be pointed out that the university participated strongly in the EU’s 6th Research Framework Programme.

With its 7th Research Framework Programme, the EU has set the right priorities for ambitious universities such as the Ruhr-Universität Bochum to continue expanding their international projects in research and development and the transfer of the results into marketable products.

The Ruhr-Universität Bochum wants to play an active part in this programme. A good decision, because participation in the EU Research Programmes is being increasingly used as an indicator for European and international competitiveness. North Rhine-Westphalia’s state government, the national contact agencies and the advice and consulting facilities in the state are working together closely to prepare every potential applicant as well as possible by providing comprehensive information and specific advice from experts.

Our aim in North Rhine-Westphalia is for the actors in industry and science to take an even greater part in the competition for EU funds. After all, playing a committed role in European research projects is an important step towards our objective of becoming Germany’s No. 1 state of innovation by 2015.

I am convinced that the Ruhr-Universität Bochum will have a large contribution to make to that goal.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart
Minister for Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia