19. July 2024 | Magazine:

The Week at TU Braunschweig │19.07.2024 Our Newsletter for all Employees

Topics:  Autonomous air taxis + Expedition in the Fram Strait + Guess!

Editor: Hannah Kreß

► Summer 300,000 years ago

To find out more about the temperatures in northern Germany in summer 300,000 years ago, scientists from the Institute of Geosystems and Bioindication have analysed fossils of chironomids. These were preserved in sediments from the former Schöningen open-cast mine.

► How air taxis can land safely and independently

Autonomous aircraft in the city must be able to fly reliably and automatically to the landing site along the optimal route. In the research project “C2Land”, scientists have successfully developed and demonstrated camera-assisted navigation and flight control.

► Expedition in the Fram Strait

At the beginning of June, Dr Marta Pérez Rodríguez from the Institute of Geoecology travelled with the research vessel “Polarstern” in the Fram Strait between Spitsbergen and Greenland. During the Alfred Wegener Institute’s expedition to the so-called “Hausgarten”, the environmental scientist collected sediments from this Arctic region for her studies on the mercury cycle.

► Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship for Prof. Christopher Teskey

Prof. Teskey is developing new methods that can be used to quickly assemble chemical raw materials into complex molecules – an important development for the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, for example. His research is being supported with around two million euros as part of a new funding programme from zukunft.niedersachsen. Congratulations!

► Studying for a sustainable future

The Bachelor’s degree programme “Battery and Hydrogen Technology” starts in the winter semester 2024/25. In this interview, Professor Georg Garnweitner and Professor Michael Heere talk about the special features of the degree programme, such as the hydrogen infrastructure with the H2 terminal and courses in a laboratory hydrogen escape room.

► Visitors from the IIT Bombay

Several representatives of the long-standing Indian partner university recently visited TU Braunschweig. The aim of the visits was to intensify the collaboration and to develop new opportunities for cooperation in research and teaching. The delegation was also welcomed by TU President Angela Ittel who invited them to the summer get-together of the professors.

► Associate professorship at the University of Pretoria

Professor André Fleißner from the Institute of Genetics has been appointed Associate Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, with effect from 1 July 2024. In recent months, the Institute of Genetics has established a close collaboration with the FABI in the field of fungal biology, which is to be further expanded in the future.

► Award-winning: VR learning environment for children with ADHD

Around 155 students presented their term papers at the “Young Software Developers’ Day”. The most convincing project was an interactive learning environment for virtual reality that takes into account the special circumstances of ADHD and thus enables more effective learning.

► GlüGS project honoured

The TU project “Glückskompetenz in der Grundschule” (GlüGS project) has been awarded the Social Impact Prize of the German-speaking umbrella organisation for positive psychology (Dach-PP). The first prize was awarded in Innsbruck to Tobias Rahm and Carina Mathes, who developed the project.

► Take a deep breath and start the day fresh

In the cool morning air in the Botanical Garden, employees and students can start the day with breathing exercises and simple physical exercises on 23 July from 8:15 to 8:45 am. There are still places available on the free leisure programme offered by the corporate and student health promotion teams. 

► Darling of the week

… are all the colleagues who helped our students to make it through the summer semester, whether by organising courses, offering advice or providing numerous services. But how many lectures were there in the summer semester? You can guess in our summer quiz “Guess what!”. 

►TU Summer Edition – Guess what!

Question: How many courses were offered at the TU in the summer semester? 

  •      a) 2544
  •      b) 3355
  •      c) 4152

 The answer and the next guessing question will be in next week’s edition.

► Events

There is always something going on at TU Braunschweig. Lectures, discussions, information events, concerts and much more. Take a look at our calendar of events and get inspired.