At the Open Day event, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented a multi-facetted program with about 200 individual events, including vivid presentations and join-in actions, spectacular experiments, and popular science lectures. More than 35,000 visitors glimpsed behind the scenes and discovered the large scope of research at KIT, which extends from contributions to the energiewende to future mobility, to climate and environmental research, to sustainability research, to robot development. Research into solutions for the information era was presented as was the development of new materials and astroparticle research.
“The Open Day was a big success, I am really happy about this great feedback,” says the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka. “With our successful event, we gave many visitors, children as well as adults, deeper insights into KIT’s fascinating research. Easy-to-understand lectures and experiments by employees of KIT made the public share the fascination of science. And also our students contributed significantly to the success of the Open Day with their Unifest and at the institutes.”
“In Karlsruhe, future has already started. The Open Day at KIT has shown this in a rather impressing manner,” the Lord Mayor of the city of Karlsruhe, Dr. Frank Mentrup, emphasizes. “I would like to thank all participants for giving the citizens of Karlsruhe this overwhelming insight into the world of science. KIT goes future and Karlsruhe joins in.”
What will traffic and what will energy supply be like in a few years from now? Will we be able to preserve and to shape our habitat? Can we protect our private sphere on the internet? Which new materials and technologies will be needed in the future? What do the smallest building blocks of matter mean to the structure of our universe? Scientists of KIT study a number of problems relevant to society. During the Open Day, they reported about their work at the institutes, laboratories, and test facilities. During the researchers’ rallye and at numerous experimental stations, young visitors were invited to go on a discovery journey through science and engineering. “Aktiv am KIT” (Active at KIT) was the motto of the Institute of Sports and Sports Science, which offered more than 50 events, including test training sessions, lectures, and tours. The program of the Open Day also covered the topics of studies, education, and life-long learning: KIT presented itself as a place of academic education and a big employer in the region.
Also the Unifest (university party) organized by the General Students Committee (AStA) of KIT contributed to the high number of visitors on the Open Day of KIT. The AStA organized a diverse program with a concert of the KIT Big Band, a culture talkshow, and theater performances as well as a children’s program. The party took place for the 30th time already and ended with performances of live bands and discos late in the evening.
In the morning, the EFFEKTE science festival started. On this occasion, President Holger Hanselka and Lord Mayor Frank Mentrup also opened the “Walk of Innovation”: 30 stations present inventions in history that changed the world and matching current research projects of KIT. The exhibition between the Palace and KIT Campus South can be seen until September 27. Within the next days and weeks, KIT will provide further contributions to the EFFEKTE Science Festival and the city’s birthday program. For further information, click:
For additional photos, click: http://www.kit.edu/kit/pi_2015_070_grosser-erfolg-des-tags-der-offenen-tuer-am-kit
Living virtual realities at the Life Cycle Engineering Solutions Center LESC of KIT. (Photo: Andreas Drollinger, KIT)
The KIT Sports Institute contributed as many as 50 events to the program. (Photo: Andreas Drollinger)
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.