Sometimes, a little momentum is all it takes. For Kerstin Avila Canellas, professor of the fundamentals of turbulence and complex systems at the University of Oldenburg, and Professor Andreas Fischer, director of the Bremen Institute for Metrology, Automation and Quality Science (BIMAQ), that momentum came from the Northwest Alliance. “Our collaboration was sparked by the NWA,” says Avila Canellas. What had previously been only a remote possibility became a joint project. “That was the moment when everything fell into place and we said ‘Let’s get to work’.” Expertise in fluid dynamics from Oldenburg and engineering skills from Bremen are now converging. “We firmly believe there is still significant potential for improvement in wind energy research. There are so many questions left to answer,” Fischer says.

Medievalist Becker: “This would not have been possible on my own”

The ten videos in the We Are Connected video series demonstrate the productivity of collaboration. Dr. Britta Bußmann, a lecturer in medieval German studies with a teaching focus in historical linguistics at the University of Oldenburg, describes how this relates to her research on female resistance in medieval literature, “This project is so large that we can only make progress by working together.” Anja Becker, a professor of German medieval and early modern studies through the sixteenth century at the University of Bremen, adds, “This would not have been possible on my own – establishing an entirely new field of research, developing new ideas, and considering whether it’s even viable.”

In marine research, collaborations broaden horizons as well. Geochemist Dr. Florence Schubotz from the University of Bremen says, “If I were to consider research questions solely from the perspective of my own expertise, that would give me a limited view of how these processes occur in the environment.” Together with Dr. Michael Seidel, a geochemist at the University of Oldenburg, she is examining the influence of petroleum and hydrothermal systems on the marine carbon cycle. Schubotz explains, “I tend to look at the particulate – or solid – phase, whereas he examines the dissolved organic material.”

This is precisely the strength of the connection – their diverse skills complement each other. Professor David May, director of the FIBRE Institute in Bremen, describes how this relates to the development of bioplastics, “We are now able to go from chemistry to the final product, which we wouldn’t be able to do alone.” Through our collaboration with Dr. Melanie Walther, head of the EcoPBS junior research group funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), “we are closing the production chain,” May says. “With Melanie’s work, we can create bioplastics from waste. In my research group, we can then turn those plastics into fibers.”

New Possibilities Through Collaboration Between Computer Science and Clinical Medicine

In medicine, collaborations between computer science and clinical practice are opening new doors. Professor Gabriel Zachmann, a computer scientist at the University of Bremen, speaks of a “completely different perspective” and a resulting “very productive collaboration.” Instruments developed at the University of Bremen, including a projector-based gesture control system for medical devices directly from the operating table, are now being put to the test by Professor Dirk Weyhe in the University of Oldenburg’s clinic for visceral surgery. The goal is to reduce the workload on surgical staff at the hospital and ensure greater patient safety.

The success of such collaborations has a personal side as well. Christoph Büskens, a professor of optimization and optimal control at the Center for Industrial Mathematics at the University of Bremen, aptly describes his collaboration with Sebastian Lehnhoff, a professor of energy computer science at the University of Oldenburg, as “a perfect match – like two pieces of a puzzle.”

That is exactly what We Are Connected is all about. The Northwest Alliance brings together skills and infrastructure, but most importantly, people. Together, they make possible what no single location could achieve on its own.

Further Information

View the We Are Connected video series on the Northwest Alliance website.