German Chancellor speaks at Auckland Uni

Dr Merkel says NZ has invested more in scientific collaboration with Germany over the past five years than with any other country. Photo / Dean Purcell

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is delivering a lecture to about 260 people at Auckland University's Maidment Theatre.

That follows the signing of an agreement between the university's bioengineering department and Stuttgart - based reasearch institute Frauhofer to develop robotic assistance to people with elbow injuries.

After receiving a Maori welcome, Dr Merkel welcomed the technology agreement. She highlighted a growing need under globalisation for countries to pool resources on such fronts.

The chancellor, a former research scientist with a doctorate in physical chemistry, noted that New Zealand had invested more in scientific collaboration with Germany over the past five years than with any other country, and had more than 200 German scientists working here.

She highlighted energy, disease, earthquakes, food and digital connectiveness as priority areas for collaborative research.

Dr Merkel, who grew up and worked as a research scientist in the former East Germany, said that her "whole life changed" with the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, which signalled her entry to politics.

Freedom remained humanity's main driving force, and life in former Communist states had been a "schizophrenic" experience for scientists in particular. They had been encouraged to think freely in their specialist fields but not when they left their institutes and turned their attention to wider society.

Dr Merkel said the fall of the Iron Curtain had opened the way for globalisation.

"Who would have thought the leaders of the leading countries would one day be sitting round a table (in Brisbane this weekend) talking about our common challenges."