International DAAD-Alumni Autumn School 2009 “Post-harvest technology and renewable energy” within the German Alumni Food Network (GAFooN)

The DAAD-Alumni Autumn School “Post-harvest technology and renewable energy” will take place in Goettingen and Hannover from Sunday, November, 01 until Thursday, November, 12, 2009. The visit of the Agritechnica in Hannover, the worldwide biggest fair for the agricultural machinery sector, will be a central component of the program. The Autumn School is jointly organized by the Department of Crop Sciences (Sections Quality of Plant Products and Agricultural Engineering) of the University of Goettingen and the Institute of Biological Production Systems of the University of Hannover.

Main Objective

The main objective of the Autumn School in Goettingen and Hannover is the discussion of challenges for post-harvest technology and renewable energy under different regional conditions. The visit of the Agritechnica, the papers presented by the alumni, excursions, as well as laboratory experiments and practices will give all participants the opportunity to learn about the current state of machinery development with special focus to post-harvest technology and the use of renewable energy. Furthermore, the participants will demonstrate and discuss about effective and modern post/harvest methods from the perspective of science and practical experience.

Program

Lectures, experiments and demonstrations with advanced post/harvest techniques for agricultural crops at the University of Goettingen and for horticultural crops at the University of Hannover

Excursions (renewable energy, bioenergy village, related research institutions)
Visit of the Agritechnica
Presentations of the alumni about their research in postharvest technology and renewable energy
Group discussions on research demand in the topics of the Autumn School

Participants

The participants of the Autumn School should be

Alumni of German universities
Working in the field of postharvest technology, agricultural engineering, renewable energy, agricultural economics
“Multipliers”, e.g. people who are in a position to spread the acquired knowledge and experience and/or
Decision makers, able to take decisions in the agricultural and food sector

Contributions from the alumni are expected. For detailed information see the attachment of this announcement.

Date of arrival in Goettingen will be Sunday, November, 01 and departure from Goettingen will be November, 12, 2009. Venues are Goettingen and Hannover. The accommodation will be in Goettingen.

Cost Coverage

The following costs will be covered by the DAAD:

railway ticket from Frankfurt Airport to Goettingen
railway ticket from Goettingen to Frankfurt Airport
entrance fee for Agritechnica
hotel costs, catering, health insurance and visa costs

We ask also all participants to cover the transport costs from their home town to the home airport.

Application

If you are interested in participation, please send your application via e-mail to Ms. Dr. Silke Stracke, Email: silke.stracke@agr.uni-goettingen.de.

The e-mail attachment has to include:

A short C.V. of yours, giving information on personal data, studies at home and in Germany, professional development
A short description of your present duties / position and your personal professional goals, indicating your envisaged field of activities and duty level
An overview over seminars, workshops or conferences visited in Germany after finishing your studies in Germany
A short description of your special interest in the topic of the Autumn School
The abstract of your contribution (instructions for preparing see attachment of this announcement)

The Autumn School will be held in English, sufficient knowledge is required to participate in the Autumn School, enabling you to follow the presentations and discussion rounds. The Autumn School is limited to 23 participants. Successful applicants will be informed by email.

Deadline for application is August, 18, 2009.

More information about the Agritechnica you will find under http://www.agritechnica.com.
For further questions please contact Ms. Dr. Silke Stracke.

Additional information about the requirements for contribution from the alumni and style of the abstract:

The contribution should give information about research findings in the field of the Autumn School. It is planned to publish the paper later in a conference book. For that purposes a high scientific level is expected.

Style of the abstract
The abstract will be included into the program and therefore, a uniform style of all abstracts is necessary. The length of the abstract should be one page and should be written with font type Arial and be designed as follows:

Title (font size 14, bold)
Name and institution of the author(s) (font size 12)
Text single-spaced
Background following text (font size 12)
Results following text (font size 12)
Conclusion following text (font size 12)