28.03.2013  |Potsdam: Research on oil sand related aspects within the scope of the Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative (HAI) will be discontinued on the German side. At the same time, however, the cooperation in the context of HAI will be expanded in other fields and the excellent research with the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, will be continued and strengthened. 

Such fields include the just recently initiated collaboration in the area of health research. Further plans for expansion already exist for research in the fields of remote sensing and environmental monitoring as well as energy matter research and mineral resources. Research related to the oil sands, carried out within the framework of HAI, played only a minor part in the overall thematic portfolio of this cooperation. 

The aim of the planned reorientation is to secure a long term perspective for the scientific cooperation with the University of Alberta in Edmonton outside of oil sand research. Prof. Hüttl, Scientific Executive Director of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and responsible for the overall coordination of HAI on the German side comments “The partnership is intact and very successful. Within the framework of this cooperation independent as well as open and unbiased research is guaranteed in every respect. Thematic fields such as geothermal energy, membrane technology, geological storage of carbon dioxide or research on the initial ecosystem development form the central component of the HAI research activities of the participating Helmholtz Centres”.

The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving key and pressing questions in society, science and the economy through scientific excellence in six strategic research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter and Aeronautics, Space and Transport. With almost 34.000 employees in 18 research centres and an annual budget of approx. 3.8 billion Euros the Helmholtz Association is the largest scientific organization in Germany. Its work follows in the tradition of the great natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894).