Katrin Nostadt, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Deputy Director of Division: Interactive Technologies for Health and Quality of Life; Medical Technology

Katrin Nostadt studied German and English Philology and Business Management, holding an MSc from the Humboldt University of Berlin and an MBA in European Asian Management from the Berlin School of Economics and Law.

After six years in China, teaching German Studies at Sun Yat Sen University in Guangzhou, and as director of the DAAD Information Center, responsible for German higher education marketing in Southern China, she joined the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in 2005 as policy officer for cooperation with Asian countries, especially China. She was German delegate in CO-REACH (ERA-NET Coordinated Action for research programme co-operation between Europe and China). From 2011 to 2012, she coordinated WASCAL (Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use in West Africa) in the BMBF’s division for Global Change. She has experience in project funding in the field of climate change and research at universities of applied sciences and in the area of interactive technologies.

She has been the German representative in the JPI MYBL since 2015, being a member of the Steering Committee since 2017.

What motivated you to be the first rotating Chair of the GA?

I am convinced that international cooperation is not only the key to international understanding, but also helps us to question and optimize our own processes. In my view, the JPIs are so valuable because they do not simply work through predetermined programs, but are actually driven by the member states. As Chair of the JPI MYBL, it is a pleasure for me to contribute to making this commitment to cooperation tangible.

What is the importance of an initiative like JPI MYBL for Germany?

Germany initiated the JPI “More Years, Better Lives” in 2010. Our aim was to find answers to the social challenges of demographic change together with other European countries. Thanks to the commitment of the member states with their diversity of participating institutions, the interdisciplinary set-up and the active role of the advisory bodies (Societal and Scientific Advisory Board), we can now boast exciting funding activities and instruments for evidence-based policy advice.

For Germany, JPI-MYBL is an important instrument for European interdisciplinary research cooperation in the field of new care technologies.