Science sails home
The third and last leg of Science Sets Sail has now arrived at its final port, Rostock. After two days of heavy weather, the teams have had the chance to form a very close bond which is a great basis for building long-term collaboration projects, life-long friendships, not to mention a bit of fun in the summer sunshine! Over the last few days travelling south, they’ve ‘island hopped’ together, cooked and ate together, learned new things, and enjoyed some ‘real sailing’ as they headed back into German waters.
We first described Science Sets Sail as “exploring new research horizons with a voyage of scientific discovery on the Baltic Sea.” Perhaps that sounded like a lofty goal. However, re-capturing a ‘spirit of adventure’ was particularly important to Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) President, Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger. We believe that with this first Science Sets Sail voyage we have achieved our objective: to support the university in building strong and committed teams of international researchers around the important Scandinavian and Baltic region, enabling both FAU and guest academic institutions to push the boundaries of interdisciplinary research. The longer-term outcomes of this experience are perhaps a story for another day …
Thanks to all our guests and teams from around FAU who joined us on Science Sets Sail this year. We’d love to hear from all participants what you gained from your experience. We will keep this blog open for another month or so – please continue to share your stories with us!
