Press release: Official public launch of the "Göttingen region's direct aid for Japan" donation campaign on Friday, 16:00 CET in the University's Aula (Great Hall)

Nr. 56/2011 - 28.03.2011

Eyewitnesses and experts report on the situation during and after the disaster

(pug) On Friday, March 25, 2011, the aid program will kick off with a public event in the historic Aula of the university at the Wilhelmsplatz – an ambitious aid program involving around 30 partners from Lower Saxony. Under the motto "Göttingen region's direct aid for Japan", institutions and companies from science, business, sports and culture have come together with the City of Göttingen to organise aid efforts to help needy Japanese students and young researchers. In the coming weeks and months, the aid partners will be organizing charity events, the proceeds of which will go directly to benefit young people affected by the disaster. At the kick-off event running today from 16:00 to 17:30 CET, eyewitnesses and experts will report about their experiences in Japan and the current situation on the ground. The main speaker will be the renowned Japanologist Prof. Harald Fuess, President of the European Association for Japanese Studies, the largest organisation for Japanese research worldwide. Interested attendees will have the opportunity to talk with event participants and personally ask questions. Mario Schmidt, the Asia expert of NDR, the North German Broadcasting Company, was originally scheduled to speak, but was called off to Tokyo at the last minute.

Prof. Fuess is a researcher and lecturer at Heidelberg University's Centre for East Asian Studies that, like Göttingen University, is one of the sister universities partnering with the Tohoku University in Japan. Prof. Fuess will give a short off-the-cuff lecture about how the Japanese are dealing with crisis and discuss the German and Japanese media's reporting over the past weeks. After this his talk, Japanese and German scholars and students at Göttingen University will share the personal experiences they had during the earthquake in Japan and about the current situation on the ground there. Some of the participants taking part in the public round of talks will include the likes of Helmut Takahiro Uchida, doctoral fellow at the Institute for Material Physics and alumnus of Tohoku University, Takanari Ideura representing the Japanese Student Union "For Japan", Professor Thomas Pruschke from the Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Göttingen student Stefan Glatz. Prof. Pruschke and Stefan Glatz were both in Japan when the earthquake shook the country.

At the beginning of the event, several of the regional cooperation partners will briefly speak about their relations with Japan, their motivation for wanting to help and the campaigns they are planning. The University's President Professor Ulrike Beisiegel, Göttingen's Lord Mayer Wolfgang Meyer, the CEO of the Sparkasse Göttingen bank, Rainer Hald, the Musical Director of the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, Christoph-Mathias Mueller, the General Manager of the Bullerjahn restaurant, Olaf Feuerstein, the Plant Manager of Novelis in Göttingen, Eric Tonkowski and KWS Saat AG Board Member, Dr. Hagen Duenbostel will be attending this first rounds of talks as will John Patrick, the Head Coach of the BG Göttingen, German Pro League Basketball Team who has lived and worked in Japan. Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Göttingen University's Vice President of Research and International Affairs, will moderate the round table discussions. The Berlin musician, Dietmar Herriger, who plays the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute, will provide musical accompaniment to the event.

"We will also collect donations during the event. The university and its partners are hoping for strong participation. Every donation is important, regardless of size," says Dr. Uwe Muus, director of Göttingen University's international department. "Other activities are also planned during the year to offer effective, long-term aid to students in need."

The not-for-profit "Georgia Augusta International Association" was founded to organise the aid efforts. The association aims to ensure that all donations directly benefit those affected. A committee of experts from the institutions and companies involved in the aid campaign will decide on exactly how the donated funds are distributed. "As an active member, the city of Göttingen will do all it can to support the association," says Göttingen mayor Wolfgang Meyer. "I am very pleased at the willingness to help and especially the desire to provide support to Japanese students in our city during this difficult time." Donations can be made directly to the association's account at the Sparkasse Göttingen – account number 15 1000 19, bank routing code 260 500 01 – please state "Direkthilfe Japan" when making donations. Donations are tax-deductible. Additional information is available from Dr. Tanja Falkowsky, Göttingen University international department, phone (0551) 39-12482 as well as on the Internet at http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/209598.html.

Note to the editors:
Journalists are cordially invited to attend the event.

Contact:
Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne
Vice President, Georg-August-Göttingen University
Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen
Phone (0551) 39-4320, Fax (0551) 39-4520
hiltraud.casper-hehne@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Internet: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/110984.html

"The Göttingen region helps Japan directly" – Partners:

• Academy of Sciences and Humanities
• Alumni Göttingen e.V.
• BG Göttingen
• Bullerjahn – bar and restaurant in the cellar of the Göttingen town hall
• German Primate Centre
• Göttingen Lutheran community
• Göttingen protestant student community
• Gottingen Symphony Orchestra
• The HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts
• The Hannover Chamber of Commerce, Göttingen office
• KWS Saat AG
• Göttingen Catholic university community
• the southern Lower Saxony craftsmen association
• Mahr GmbH
• Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
• Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
• Measurement Valley e.V.
• Novelis Deutschland
• Otto Bock HealthCare
• Private University of Applied Sciences (PFH)
• Sparkasse Göttingen
• City of Göttingen
• City church choir of Göttingen
• Göttingen student association
• "For Japan" student association
• THIMM – The Highpack Group
• Göttingen University
• Göttingen University Hospital

Additional partners desired.