28.04.2010
New graduate school and new college in Karlsruhe
The Helmholtz Association is supporting a new graduate school specialising in scientific work on climate and environmental issues as well as a new college of catalysis research in the energy sector in Karlsruhe. The new “Graduate School for Climate and Environment”, or “KIT-Grace” for short, and the new Helmholtz Energy-Related Catalysis College are being established at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). Both institutions will begin work in early 2011. The objective is to provide high-level continuing professional development opportunities for doctoral students from all around the world.
“We aim to offer analytical and problem solving skills for doctoral students which are relevant to complex climate and environmental issues,” explains KIT-GRACE spokesperson, Professor Stefan Hinz. The ability to work and collaborate in international networks will also be trained, including in the framework of a three-month placement abroad and via KIT-GRACE-supported interaction with international experts. The Helmholtz Graduate School attaches great value to a clearly structured qualification concept with various modules and intensive support for scholars working towards their doctoral qualification. The academic framework and the KIT-GRACE infrastructure is provided by the KIT “Climate and Environment” Centre. The partner is the Technical University of Darmstadt.
Doctoral students at the Helmholtz Energy-Related Catalysis College will use catalytic procedures to tackle the energy and raw material problems confronting us in the 21st century. “The institution is unique in Germany thanks to its interdisciplinary approach to the interface of energy and catalysis," explains the college’s spokesperson, Professor Olaf Deutschmann. Catalysis plays a key function in the sustainable conversion and exploitation of chemical energy carriers. Research and development brings physics, chemistry, biology, energy and process engineering into the same boat with material sciences. The “Energy-Related Catalysis” college combines basic research and application-oriented development. A number of institutes at the KIT are involved in the new college. The cooperation partner is the University of Heidelberg.
Both institutions place a great deal of emphasis on doctoral students acquiring not only scientific expertise, but also team skills and competences in personnel management as well as an entrepreneurial mindset.
