"We need collaborations like KAI to make the Hamburg Metropolitan Region even more attractive and competitive as a centre of science," said Katharina Fegebank, Senator for Science and Research. The partners' expertise in dual study and teaching, research and development, as well as innovation, technology and knowledge transfer will complement each other ideally. "On the one hand, HAW Hamburg with its high practical orientation and outstanding quality of studies and teaching, and on the other hand DESY, one of the world's leading accelerator centres, as an exciting field of application for innovative research and prospective specialists alike." KAI is likely to put the existing co-operation on a new level.
The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) announced in late September the strategic "Cooperation for Application and Innovation" (KAI) to advance innovative technologies for some of society's most pressing problems. Emphasis is on training highly qualified engineers and scientists and promoting spin-offs and start-ups. The City of Hamburg is putting EUR 120,000 in start-up funding towards the project.
Boost for region as a centre of science
Innovations and technology transfer
Plans are being laid to conduct more joint research in robotics and scientific computing as well as integrated microelectronics and mechatronics as part of KAI. Scientific spin-offs and start-ups are to be strengthened as part of Hamburg's joint project "beyourpilot". Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Directorate, remarked: "KAI allows us to accelerate innovation and technology transfer by bringing together basic and applied research and creating new perspectives for developing sustainable and digital technologies. At the same time, we are creating outstanding conditions for highly qualified education and training."
Joint centre in Science City Bahrenfeld
HAW Hamburg's new joint "Applied Computer Science" dual course of study is just one example of the collobaration. Professors at HAW are also lecturing at the Data Science in Hamburg (DASHH) graduate school co-ordinated by DESY. Plans are also being laid for a joint centre in Science City Bahrenfeld, which is now under construction. Micha Teuscher, President of HAW, noted: "That will benefit the entire Hamburg Metropolitan Region as a centre of science."
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