Tutzinger Wissenschaftsgespräche

Can Science Do Diplomacy? Perspectives on Science Diplomacy in focus

On 9 and 10 June, the Akademie für Politische Bildung Tutzingen hostet the Tutzinger Science Talks. In her role as Chair of the German Commission for UNESCO Board on Science as well as Director of IDOS, Prof. Anna-Katharina Hornidge was invited to join a panel discussion on science diplomacy for a multipolar future. Together with Dr Marco Müller (European Commission), Matthias Oel (Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space), Prof. Wolfgang Wick (German Science and Humanities Council), and moderator Prof. Ursula Münch, she assessed the crucial role for science and science cooperation in times in which state cooperation has become more difficult, yet how science must be protected as independent to fulfil this role. Anna-Katharina Hornidge focused on Germany’s High-Tech Strategy and its focus on cooperation with globally competitive science and innovation systems. She criticised that the strategy does not pay enough attention to highly dynamic innovation and science systems in demographically young and strong countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which are likely to be the innovation and science systems of the future. Here she suggests to put a lot more emphasis on science cooperation with Southern Middle Powers. Further she pointed to the highly problematic budget cuts in the external education and cultural policy-making, leading to budget cuts to actors such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humbolldt-Foundation. In consequence of these cuts, PhD-level education and research with young high-potentials from middle and low income country contexts at German Universities are being dismantled. With reference to systematic assessments of where these German educated PhD-holders later on work (in which sectors, positions and countries) Prof. Hornidge pointed to the important role that these ambassadors for Germany play in their own countries. Dismantling these postgraduate education programmes has substantial negative effects on Germany’s networks and partnerships around the world.