Research and Innovation Policies in the U.S. and Germany – Challenges and Opportunities

Dr Jens Brandenburg has been Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education and Research since December 2021. He has been a Member of the German Bundestag representing the constituency of Rhein-Neckar since 2017. In the 19^th legislative term he was spokesperson of the Parliamentary Group of the Free Democratic Party for studies, vocational training, lifelong learning and LGBTI rights. He also served as spokesperson of his parliamentary group on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment and on the Study Commission “Vocational Training in the Digital Work Environment”. He headed the working group on education and research for his parliamentary group. Dr Brandenburg has a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Mannheim (2008) and an M.A. in political science (2010). He finished his PhD in 2015 at the Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim. During his studies he worked at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and in various departments at the University of Mannheim. Prior to becoming a member of the German Bundestag, he worked for a global management consulting firm (2014-2017).

Nina Gray is the Assistant Vice Provost for Research at New York University. Dr. Gray completed her undergraduate degree at MIT, PhD at Brown University, and postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University. She has gained experience in research and academic administration, including at The New York Academy of Sciences and NYU Langone’s Neuroscience Institute. She was then the Associate Dean for the Sciences and Executive Director of the Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York's Graduate Center. She now works with leaders across NYU’s 3 campuses and 20 schools and colleges to foster interdisciplinary research, knowledge creation, scholarship, and innovation with a focus on collaboration, integrity, and inclusion.