The India offices of Freie Universität Berlin and University of Cologne, in collaboration with the India office of Max Planck Society, organized a special session in the "Journey of a Researcher from India to Germany" series, focusing on "Navigating Research & Student Life in Germany", wherein alumni from Freie Universität Berlin and University of Cologne who have done their research in association with a Max Planck Institute, shares a glimpse of their journey from India to Germany.

For this special session, we invited expert speakers Dr. Kedar Kulkarni, Associate Professor of Literary & Cultural Studies, Department of Humanities and Languages, FLAME University, Pune and Dr. Balakumaran Chandrasekar, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Pilani Campus.

Dr. Kulkarni did his fellowship at Freie Universität Berlin and was associated with the Max Planc kInstitute for Human Development, Berlin.

Dr. Chandrasekar completed his Ph.D. research at the MPIPZ - Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. After his first postdoctoral period, he received the CEPLAS - Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue his research at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Ms. Jagriti Budhiraja, an alumna of Freie Univerität Berlin and presently employed at Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi as Project Coordinator for Educational Cooperation (Bildungskooperation Deutsch) also participated in the Panel Discussion and shared her experience of completing her masters in education from Freie Universität Berlin.

A special note of gratitude to Mr. Matthias Dünnwald and the Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi for their support in making this event a success.