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Interdisciplinary Workshop 2023 for Young Scientists in Mahdia, Tunisia
Supported by the GDCh, young scientists met for the tenth time in an Arab country at an Interdisciplinary Workshop on October 4th, 2023. The event took place in advance of the Humboldt Kolleg "Functional Material Development for New World" in Mahdia, Tunisia (October 5-7, 2023). These workshop series had been initiated in 2009 by Helmut Ringsdorf, Henning Hopf and Hans-Heinrich Limbach.
While most scientific congresses are dedicated to special topics, interdisciplinary congresses such as the Humboldt Kollegs of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation are rare. In order to promote the interest and ability for interdisciplinary communication of young scientists in particular in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this interdisciplinary workshop series was launched in 2009 in Amman (Jordan) with the support of the GDCH in front of the congress Malta IV. The first organizers were Helmut Ringsdorf (Mainz), Henning Hopf (Braunschweig), Hans-Heinrich Limbach (Berlin) and Marwan Mousa (Amman, Jordan). Since that time the workshops were scheduled mostly before interdisciplinary Humboldt Kollegs sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The workshop participants come from different countries and scientific disciplines. They have around 10 minutes to present their work which is then discussed slide by slide for 30-50 minutes. During the discussion it often becomes clear how some few changes can arouse the interest and understanding of an audience which not familiar in its majority not familiar with the topic presented. The young scientists can then take into account all suggestions and present their improved presentations at the following congress.
From the beginning, the participants received the workshops very positively and convinced their initially sceptical supervisors to support the continuation of this series. That was achieved with the support of the GDCh as has been reported several times in this magazine "Nachrichten aus der Chemie".
After 2009, Helmut Ringsdorf was no longer able to take part, and the series was continued by Henning Hopf, Hans-Heinrich Limbach and Beate Paulus (Berlin) in collaboration with the corresponding conference organizer, i.e. Mohammad El-Khateeb (Irbid, Jordan), Mohamed Ellouze (Sfax, Tunisia), Henning Hopf (Braunschweig), Hans-Heinrich Limbach (Berlin), Marwan Mousa (Al-Karak, Jordan), Beate Paulus (Berlin), Majda Sekkal-Rahal (Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria).
Helmut Ringsdorf, with his excellent relationships with the Humboldtians in the MENA countries, who passed away this year, has particularly been missed. With his humanity, openness, and wealth of ideas, he had a particularly encouraging influence on young people (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Helmut Ringsdorf in conversation with young scientists during the 2009 workshop in Amman.
Fig. 2. Interdisciplinary workshop in advance of the Humboldt Kolleg Mahdia, Tunisia, 2023 on October 4th, 2023.
From left to right. Front row: Jillan Ali (Egypt), Ouahiba Ramdane (Algeria), Sawsen Belbahi (Algeria), Karam Al Qalawi (Jordan/Romania), Amel Gouasmia (Tunisia), Amira Sebti (Algeria), Abeer Desouky (Egypt), Sally Desoukey (Egypt), Houria Boufas (Algeria). Back row: Mariusz Berca (Romania), Bileid S Aldaleem (Libya), Mohamed Akram Bouras (Algeria), Adel M. Abuamr (Jordan), Hans-Heinrich Limbach (Berlin), Mohamed Ellouze (Tunisia), Ammar Alsoud (Czech Republic and Jordan), Saleh Al Bashaish (Jordan), Ahmed Marhri (Morocco)
This year there was a particularly large participation at the Mahdia workshop organized by H. H. Limbach and M. Ellouze the day before the Humboldt Kolleg "Functional Material Development for a New World" (5.-7.10.2023). The nine female and seven male scientists (Fig. 2) came from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, the Czech Republic and Romania, from the disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology. Four of them participated for the second time at a workshop of this series. After the training, all were able to present their work successfully at the following Humboldt Kolleg. All participants thank the GDCh for the support and hope that the series will continue.
Mohammad El-Khateeb (Irbid, Jordan)
Mohamed Ellouze (Sfax, Tunisia)
Henning Hopf (Braunschweig)
Hans-Heinrich Limbach (Berlin)
Marwan Mousa (Amman)
Beate Paulus (Berlin)
Majda Sekkal-Rahal (Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria)
List of previous MENA Interdisciplinary Young Scientist Workshops (Not part of the article)
Amman, Jordan, 9.11.-15.11.2009 (before Kongress "Malta IV" 2009) see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2010, 58, 1s92.
Sousse, Tunisia 26.6.- 27.6.2013 (before Humboldt-Kolleg "Research to Applications & Markets", 2013) see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2013, 61, 949.
Amman, Jordan, 1.4.-2.4.2014 (before Humboldt-Kolleg "Building International Networks for Enhancement of Research in Jordan", 2014) see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2014, 62, 910.
Tlemcen, Algeria 15.11.2014 (before Humboldt-Kolleg 2014 "Theory and Computation in Sciences and Bio-sciences") see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2015, 63, 387.
Irbid, Jordan, 25.4.-26.4.2015 (before "International Conference on Advanced Materials" ICAM2015)
Hammamet, Tunesia, 14.9.-15.9. 2016 (before Humboldt-Kolleg, 2016 "Research to Applications & Markets") see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2017, 65, 183.
Amman, Jordan, 25.4.-26.4. 2017 (before Humboldt-Kolleg 2017 " Jordanian Life Sciences for Sustainable Development") see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2017, 65, 1052.
Hammamet, Tunesia, 19.10.-20.10. 2019 (before Humboldt-Kolleg, 2019 "sResearch to Applications & Markets") see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2020, 68, 93.
Amman, Jordan, 8.6.2022 (before Humboldt-Kolleg 2022 "How to Change the World via Science") see Nachrichten aus der Chemie, 2022, 70, 90.
Madhia, Tunisia, 4.10.2023 (before Humboldt-Kolleg 2023 The International Conference on: "Functional Material Development for a New World"
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