Energy and climate research, engineering studies and the Real World Labs as models for interdisciplinarity were the focus of the visit of a high-ranking Hungarian delegation to KIT at the end of June 2023. János Csák, Minister of Culture and Innovation, led the group, which exchanged views with the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Prof. Michael Kaschke, the KIT Presidium and researchers.
Prof. Roland Dittmeyer introduced the Energy Lab 2.0 to the guests. The head of the Institute for Micro Process Technology (IMVT) is in contact with the University of Szeged in Hungary, where a similar, smaller infrastructure to the Energy Lab 2.0 is being built.
The Hungarian delegation also visited the AIDA cloud chamber, where Prof. Thomas Leisner, head of the Atmospheric Aerosol Research Department at the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK), and Dr. Martin Schnaiter from the IMK explained approaches and experiments. Schnaiter is also already working with the University of Szeged, the topic is the application of photoacoustic technologies in the measurement of emissions and other environmental influences.
Dr. Gábor Szabó, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Szeged and Managing Director of the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Attosecond Light Pulse Source (ELI-ALPS) facility, and Prof. Alexander Wanner, Vice President for Teaching and Academic Affairs at KIT, had an intensive exchange about the scientific design of engineering courses at universities.
With Prof. Holger Hanselka, President of KIT, and Prof. Daniel Lang from the Institute of Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), head of the research group "Designing Real-World Laboratory Research", the guests discussed possibilities of transferring scientific knowledge and reflecting on technological progress. Both sides advocated networking ITAS with Future Observatories in Hungary to intensify the exchange on future developments of society, science and economy in general.