Association of Friends to Renovate Guest House
- Top News
- Campus & Culture
In his annual report, Guido Baranowski spoke at length about a matter close to his heart: the expansion of housing close to campus for visiting lecturers and researchers who come to the university from Germany and abroad for a short stay. Since as far back as 1979, the GdF has maintained the Helmut Keunecke House in Barop, with its 13 apartments. These will now be vacated by October so that the building can undergo an energy-efficiency refurbishment and the apartments can be modernized. For various reasons, the previously planned new building will not be pursued.
Alongside accommodating academic guests, the GdF once again supported numerous activities at TU Dortmund University in the past year: these include the new electric racing car of the university’s Formula Student team Get Racing e.V., as well as Deutschlandstipendium scholarships and the prizes for the best graduates of each year across all 17 departments, contributions to the Summer Festival and the Academic Anniversary Celebration, and funding for conferences, cultural events, and travel. Because the number of applications has recently grown faster than the society’s income, professors of TU Dortmund University can now only obtain funding for their projects if they are themselves members of the GdF.
Insights Into Important Developments
President Manfred Bayer offered insights into the developments that will shape the university in the years ahead. The renovation of central buildings on campus was as much a topic as investments in renewable energy, the internationalization of the range of degree programs, and the integration of AI into teaching, research, and administration. To strengthen the economy, TU Dortmund University has also accelerated the transfer of patent rights and, to that end, developed a standard that has attracted attention well beyond the region. And to counter the shortage of skilled professionals, the first departments are now offering models that combine a job with a master’s degree. A semester schedule with free days in the timetable can contribute to this, as can digital course offerings, final theses completed within a company, or the recognition of professional work as equivalent to a mandatory internship.
To round off the annual general meeting, Professor Metin Tolan gave an entertaining lecture on the physics of a game of football. Under the title “Sometimes the Better Team Wins,” he explained why football is exciting precisely because so few goals are scored – and why, in a penalty shoot-out, the weakest scorer should go first. In doing so, Tolan supplied not only conversation material for the refreshments that followed, but also the perfect expert knowledge for the World Cup final at the weekend.