Recap of the 2025 Symposium
Arab Science Symposium in Germany (ASSG 2025)
On 11 October 2025, the Arab Science Symposium in Germany (ASSG 2025) was held at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, bringing together an exceptional community of researchers, innovators, and thought leaders from across the Arab world and Europe. Now in its second edition, the symposium welcomed more than 180 participants representing over ten Arab countries, including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, and Sudan. This broad participation reaffirmed ASSG’s position as one of the most dynamic platforms for Arab–European scientific cooperation.
The symposium was organized by the German-Syrian Research Foundation (DSFG e.V.) in partnership with Syrian Academics in Rheinland-Pfalz (LSA-RLP e.V.), alongside a wide network of scientific and academic partners across Germany and the Arab region. Building on the success of ASSG 2024 in Hannover, the 2025 edition expanded both its thematic scope and strategic ambition, addressing emerging global and regional challenges through an interdisciplinary scientific lens.
Vision and Purpose
ASSG was established with the vision of creating sustainable intellectual bridges between Arab scientists, the European academic landscape, and the global research community. The 2025 edition continued this mission by focusing on four core objectives:
Strengthening scientific exchange between leading Arab and European researchers across disciplines.
Building long-term research networks capable of generating collaborative projects, joint publications, and academic mobility schemes.
Empowering early-career researchers by providing mentoring opportunities, scientific visibility, and platforms for professional development.
Addressing global and regional challenges: from public health and environmental sustainability to digital transformation and post-conflict reconstruction, through evidence-based discourse.
ASSG recognizes science as a powerful tool for diplomacy and social cohesion, fostering collaboration, mutual understanding, and innovation across political and cultural boundaries.
Programme Highlights
The scientific programme combined keynote lectures, plenary panels, thematic parallel sessions, workshops, and roundtable discussions, enabling both high-level academic exchange and practical engagement.
- Keynote Addresses and Plenary Panels
Distinguished speakers from academia, policy institutions, and international organizations delivered thought-provoking contributions on topics including:
The role of migrant scientific communities in driving innovation,
Health system transformation in post-conflict settings,
Ethical leadership and research integrity,
Scientific diplomacy and the future of Arab–European cooperation.
These sessions set the intellectual tone of the symposium and stimulated rich interdisciplinary discussion.
- Thematic Parallel Sessions
Sessions spanned three main thematic tracks:
Shaping Society: Knowledge, Culture, and Innovation
Health in Context: Medicine, Communities, and Emerging Challenges
Science & Engineering for a Sustainable Future
Each track featured invited talks by senior experts and Horizon Talks by rising scholars, ensuring a balanced representation of disciplines and career stages.
- Early-Career Researcher Engagement
A key component of ASSG 2025 was its commitment to supporting young scientists. Dedicated sessions provided:
opportunities for oral presentations,
structured mentoring interactions,
visibility for research conducted in Arab countries and diaspora communities.
Participants consistently highlighted these sessions as among the most impactful aspects of the symposium.
- Workshops and Roundtables
Interactive workshops addressed a range of timely and practice-oriented topics, including:
Empowering Arab academics within German research institutions,
Genomic imprinting in consanguineous populations,
Environmental governance in Syria,
Engineering innovation for post-conflict reconstruction.
In addition, roundtable discussions brought together representatives of Syrian diaspora organizations, extending the symposium’s impact beyond academia and into broader community engagement and strategic collaboration.
Impact and Significance
ASSG 2025 successfully strengthened the Arab-German scientific network, creating new collaborations, initiating joint research ideas, and building momentum for future initiatives. The interdisciplinary nature of the discussions; ranging from engineering to humanities, public health to digital ethics; demonstrated the richness of Arab scientific contributions and the value of transnational dialogue.
The symposium also reinforced the role of science as a driver of diplomacy, community building, and post-conflict development. By fostering direct exchanges between researchers, policymakers, and institutions, ASSG contributes to a more connected, resilient, and forward-looking scientific landscape.
Importantly, ASSG 2025 established a strong foundation for future editions of the symposium, which will rotate among German universities and continue to expand in scope and impact. The enthusiasm and engagement of participants clearly demonstrate the growing need for such platforms within Europe and beyond.