12. June 2020 | Magazine:

The Week at TU Braunschweig │12.06.2020 Our Newsletter for all Employees

Topics: Hydrology + hydrogen technology + drug production + antibodies against Covid 19 + online semester + business trips + universities in competition

Editor: Viktoria Heyer

► Water: Excellent hydrologist

Dr. Bernhard Vowinckel, young scientist at the Leichtweiß-Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources, receives an Agnes-Pockels-Fellowship from the TU Braunschweig. The hydrologist is setting up a new research group in the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and River Morphology. Their goal is to numerically model sediment transport in surface waters and coastal areas. The fellowship will provide young scientists with up to 40,000 euros per year for three years.

► Hydrogen: new research network

The three institutes for thermodynamics, engineering design and internal combustion engines combine their expertise in the field of hydrogen research. Their research network was selected in the first stage of the “Innovation Laboratories for Hydrogen Technologies” call for proposals for the further development of this key technology.

► Fast track to medication

Together with small and medium-sized companies, the Centre for Pharmaceutical Process Engineering (PVZ) has now founded the ProPharm network. The cooperation is aimed at turning research results into products and processes in drug production even faster.

► Covid-19: the construction of antibodies

Kai-Thomas Schneider and Nora Langreder from the Institute for Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics told us about our research on neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They are part of the CORAT consortium that is developing a passive immunotherapy against the corona virus.

► Online semester: corrections every minute

“It works better than I expected,” says Professor Volker Staab, head of the Institute of Architectural Design (IAD), about the architecture teaching in the online semester. Even though the corrections of the students’ drafts on the screen require a lot of concentration and he misses the interaction. He is looking forward to good ideas and special concepts in model making.

► Sustainability: Resource City

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Professor Folke Köbberling, head of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art (IAK), deals with resources in the city: materials that are disposed of on building sites, theatres and trade fairs or can be found on wasteland. We spoke to her about new uses and about raw wool as a resource.

► Travel (if possible) without fever

Starting Monday, necessary business trips can take place again at the TU Braunschweig, but under certain conditions. This applies to standard trips, for example to other universities. Please inform yourself about the current regulations in the FAQs of the Personnel Department (engl.) in good time before the start of a business trip.

► Performance-enhancing competition or excellence craze?

Professor Frank Ziegele, Managing Director of the CHE Centre for Higher Education Development and Professor for Higher Education and Science Management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, will take a critical look at the global university rankings, their methods and effects in an online lecture on 22 June at 1 pm. The claim of the international “league tables” to choose the best university in the world is being questioned. The lecture is part of the series “Performance and Effectiveness of Universities in the 21st Century: Evidence-based Perspectives”, which is organized by the project group Teaching and Media Education on behalf of the President.

► Incorrectly linked

Unfortunately, in our last week’s review we linked the article on the sandbox projects incorrectly. Therefore we would like to send you on the right way back to the article “Der Gesellschaft etwas zurückgeben“. Many thanks to the Campus Life Representative Professor Susanne Robra-Bissantz for the hint.

► Darling of the week

Our darling of the week glows in the dark in the Oker. On Monday the object “Kieloben” of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art (IAK) was launched there. On Instagram you can see a small picture gallery of it, the curious among us will also find a short animation of the planned light installation. How the finished work really shines in the darkness in the Oker can be observed from tomorrow, 13 June at 21:00 hours east of the Wendentor Bridge. Then the light parcours 2020 will officially start.