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I moved to Jülich in November. There's all sorts of interesting industrial, technological, and scientific research going on here---it's not just the Forschungs

by evanb 10y ago

I moved to Jülich in November. There's all sorts of interesting industrial, technological, and scientific research going on here---it's not just the Forschungszentrum and the space agency. Cologne and Aachen aren't far. Worth a look if you're looking for an affordable place in Germany with good access to cities and lots of smart people to start a company.

evanb 10y ago
Also if you like beets.
flohrian 10y ago
Since (from your profile) you have also worked in a lab in the US: How does it compare to that? Do you like Germany so far?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- evanb 10y ago
  I didn't live in Livermore, I lived in Berkeley, and though I had a long anticommute I had a better network of people there. I like Germany so far (arrived in November), but I'm more of a city person. I'm looking to move to Cologne, but the rent is too low (although locals say it's very high), the demand is through the roof, and the supply is small. People I've spoken to say a year to find something to your liking isn't out of the ordinary. So I feel isolated, but I'm trying to fix it. But a year out of a three-year postdoc is substantial. FZJ and LLNL are both astounding places to do science. As a postdoc you don't notice it, but it's harder to do science at LLNL, since their core mission is security. Both places have excellent computational resources and friendly, brilliant people. You definitely notice the machine guns and the culture of security at LLNL, and it can make it difficult to have foreign visitors. It seemed to me that at LLNL / if you have DOE funding generally an inordinate amount of your time is spent justifying and fighting for your funding, whereas the German funding cycle seems to be a lot longer. The German system of supporting universities by having laboratory scientists responsible for at least 1 course a year is very interesting and healthy, I think. It's also easier to coordinate than it might be in the states where universities aren't all state run. Some US labs have very close connections to universities and often have joint positions (LBL and SLAC spring to mind), but the connections are stronger and obligations greater in Germany, I think.
yitchelle 10y ago
Do yo know if the ESA does tours of its facilities for the public? We live near Cologne; my sons and I wanted to visit it but was not able to find out if have a visitor centre or not.
- evanb 10y ago
  I don't know, actually. But their website http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10550 http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10550 has a phone number +49 2203 601-0.

by evanb 10y ago

evanb 10y ago

Also if you like beets.

flohrian 10y ago

Since (from your profile) you have also worked in a lab in the US: How does it compare to that? Do you like Germany so far?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
evanb 10y ago
I didn't live in Livermore, I lived in Berkeley, and though I had a long anticommute I had a better network of people there. I like Germany so far (arrived in November), but I'm more of a city person. I'm looking to move to Cologne, but the rent is too low (although locals say it's very high), the demand is through the roof, and the supply is small. People I've spoken to say a year to find something to your liking isn't out of the ordinary. So I feel isolated, but I'm trying to fix it. But a year out of a three-year postdoc is substantial. FZJ and LLNL are both astounding places to do science. As a postdoc you don't notice it, but it's harder to do science at LLNL, since their core mission is security. Both places have excellent computational resources and friendly, brilliant people. You definitely notice the machine guns and the culture of security at LLNL, and it can make it difficult to have foreign visitors. It seemed to me that at LLNL / if you have DOE funding generally an inordinate amount of your time is spent justifying and fighting for your funding, whereas the German funding cycle seems to be a lot longer. The German system of supporting universities by having laboratory scientists responsible for at least 1 course a year is very interesting and healthy, I think. It's also easier to coordinate than it might be in the states where universities aren't all state run. Some US labs have very close connections to universities and often have joint positions (LBL and SLAC spring to mind), but the connections are stronger and obligations greater in Germany, I think.

yitchelle 10y ago

Do yo know if the ESA does tours of its facilities for the public? We live near Cologne; my sons and I wanted to visit it but was not able to find out if have a visitor centre or not.

evanb 10y ago
I don't know, actually. But their website http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10550 http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10550 has a phone number +49 2203 601-0.