On May 14th, 2024, the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) and RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau jointly hosted the 2nd Scotland – Rheinland-Pfalz Life Sciences and Biotechnology Conference online. Our plenary speaker was Dr Eva Wilke, an RPTU Kaiserslautern alumnus who is now Vice President of White Biotechnology Research at BASF. The event was attended by 139 researchers, 57% of those were PhD students and Early Career Researchers. We had exciting talks from both established professors and Early Career Researchers across five key themes:
- Sustainability in Biotechnology
- Biotechnology for Advanced Therapies
- Neurodegeneration and Healthy Ageing
- Engineering Biology
- AI and Data in Healthcare
We also held a panel discussion including representatives from DFG, DAAD, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and SULSA. 60% of attendees said they would look for collaborative funding opportunities because of the conference and 30% reported that they would look for future opportunities to present their research to a wider audience. This conference is held biennially as an opportunity for researchers in Scotland and Rheinland-Pfalz to connect and network and we are delighted that 86% of attendees said they would come to similar events, the next conference will be in spring 2026.
“I was impressed by the breadth of research presented at the event, and almost immediately after have made new research connections. Great experience!” – Attendee testimonial