Open House Day 2015

With about 200 individual events, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented a multifaceted program at the Open House: with vivid demonstrations and hands-on activities, spectacular experiments, and popular science lectures. More than 35,000 visitors took a look behind the scenes and discovered the entire range of research at KIT: from contributions to the energy revolution and future mobility to climate and environmental issues and the topic of sustainability to the development of robots. From solutions for the information age to the development of new materials and astroparticle research.

"The open house day was a great success, I am very pleased about this great resonance", says KIT President Professor Holger Hanselka. "The successful event enabled us to introduce exciting research at KIT to many visitors, children and adults alike. In vivid lectures and experiments, the KIT staff members made the fascination of science tangible. Last but not least, the students also contributed significantly to the success of the open day with the great program of the university and in the institutes.

"In Karlsruhe the future has already begun. Today's open day at the KIT has impressively shown this," emphasizes the Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe, Dr. Frank Mentrup. "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 is part of it."

What will transport and energy supply look like in a few years? Can we preserve and design our living space? Can our privacy be protected on the Internet? What new materials and technologies will we need in the future? And what do the smallest building blocks of matter mean for the structure of our universe? KIT scientists deal with a whole range of socially relevant questions. At the open day, they reported on their work in institutes, laboratories, and experimental facilities. During the researcher rally and at numerous experimental stations, even the youngest could go on a voyage of discovery through science and technology. "Active at KIT" was the motto at the Institute for Sports and Sports Science, which offered more than 50 individual events, including trial training sessions, lectures, and tours. The topics of study, training, and lifelong learning were also on the agenda of the open day: KIT presented itself as an academic training institution and important employer of the region.

The unifesto of the KIT General Students' Committee (AStA) also contributed to the high number of visitors of the KIT Open Day. For this purpose, the AStA organized a diverse program, including a concert of the KIT Big Band, a cultural talk and theater performances, and a children's program. The festival, which is already taking place for the 30th time, traditionally ends in the evening with live bands and discos.

In the morning the science festival EFFEKTE started. In this context, President Holger Hanselka and Lord Mayor Frank Mentrup also opened the "Walk of Innovation": The 30 stations present historical inventions that have changed the world and corresponding current KIT research projects.

(Source: press release no. 070 dated 27.06.2015, available at www.kit.edu)