From contented pigs to toilet trained calves – these are some of the trailblazing findings from Dr Lindsay Matthews’ collaborative research endeavours in Germany. Lindsay was offered the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt scholarship soon after graduating with a PhD on cattle learning in New Zealand. Working on his scholarship with German researchers, he established a revolutionary behavioural technique that provided insights into the inner experiences and needs of pigs.
More recently, he teamed-up with two leading German research institutes to crack another unresolved issue – how to toilet train dairy calves. As cattle excreta is a major contributor to climate warming, the collection and treatment of effluent from potty trained animals would be an innovative way to help meet climate targets. Now comes the real-world challenge – taking toilet training to the farm. Lindsay and his German colleagues have some promising ideas on how to do this – but first, a few years of intensive research effort is required. Hence, the prompt to establish a permanent base in Germany – and so, together with his partner Dr Caroline Bagshaw, Matthews Research International Deutschland UG was conceived and born, only the fourth company established in Germany by New Zealanders. The birth, like all good things, took some time:
- A visit to the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Auckland to obtain formal documents proving that we were real people.
- Formal proof of the existence of our NZ company – our NZ company registration documents were insufficient. These had to be notarised and then apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and paper copies sent to the Notar in Germany responsible for our application.
- We required a German bank account to complete the company registration in Germany. We had a history in Germany – which helped enormously. The account needed sufficient funds in it before the UG could be recognised.
- About a month after all the formal requirements to establish a UG had been met and the documents had been submitted to the Handelsregister, Matthews Research International Deutschland UG was finally and formally born.
Happy days!! We are now looking forward with great enthusiasm to continuing with our exciting, transformational endeavours in Germany.
– Lindsay Matthews, Matthews Research International Deutschland UG