Post by Günter M. Ziegler

Pleased and honoured to present, with Alexander Betts, Christine Gerrard and Sophia Buck, the Ox|Ber Oxford-Berlin Research Partnership to the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ms Elke Büdenbender - entering into a discussion of not only Berlin-Oxford exchanges of the flagship partnership between University of Oxford and the Berlin University Alliance, but also of the bridges built to other Berlin Institutions. Thanks for your interest, President Steinmeier and Ms. Büdenbender! And indeed, Ox|Ber is a remarkable partnership: Investing in early career researchers creates transformative opportunities that ripple across borders and disciplines. This is what the Oxford Berlin Research Partnership is fundamentally about: connecting people. We established the partnership in 2017 and it continues to stand a flagship partnership for both Oxford and Berlin. It is the largest UK-Germany university collaboration and unites the University of Oxford with the four institutions of the Berlin University Alliance: Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The partnership emerged at a critical moment in the relations between our countries, signaling enduring scientific solidarity between our nations precisely when it was needed most. We connect people through joint workshops that spark new collaborations, mobility funding, and our annual symposium, held alternately in Oxford and Berlin, returning to Berlin in 2026. We create the conditions for excellence to flourish. Over the years, we have supported approximately 1,300 researchers of all career levels, leveraging around €17 million in third-party funding to date. This September, our partnership adopted a new mission statement that speaks directly to our shared imperatives: At a time of shifting geopolitical complexities, we have committed to fostering collaborative, interdisciplinary research that transcends borders and promotes our shared values of truth, free speech and open debate. The statement emphasizes our commitment to supporting the close bilateral partnership of the UK and German governments to find solutions to global challenges from a European perspective. At the end of the visit, President Steinmeier received an honorary doctoral degree of the @University of Oxford, where his remarks left us with a powerful statement: “Freedom and the Search for Truth are inextricably intertwined.” Thank you for your visit, President Steinmeier. Photos: Bundesregierung/Guido Bergmann