Pupils from Karlsruhe, together with guest pupils from Shang-hai/China, take part in a science exchange program from Janu-ary 27 to February 3. They are involved in projects at KIT and a company and, thus, obtain an impression of intercultural coop-eration in professional life.
The exchange program addresses pupils of the 11th and 12th classes in the area of Karlsruhe, who are interested in natural sciences and engineering and wish to broaden their horizon by meeting Chinese pupils and visiting China. The program is organized by the Pupils Academy Karlsruhe (Schülerakademie Karlsruhe e.V.) in cooperation with the House of Competence (HoC) of Karlsruhe Institute of Tech-nology (KIT) and the German China Society. At KIT, the program is coordinated by the Remote Studies Center (FSZ) of HoC. The part-ner is the Jingye Highschool in Shanghai, one of the most renowned schools of the region.
On Wednesday, January 27, 9 hrs, the Chinese pupils will be wel-comed in the assembly hall of the Bismarck-Gymnasium. Professor Jürgen Becker, Division Director for Studies and Teaching at KIT, Professor Gregor Paul, President of the German China Society, Karlsruhe, and Peter Gilbert, Chairman of the Board of the Pupils Academy Karlsruhe will address the pupils. Representatives of the media are cordially invited to attend the reception and to visit the project teams.
In the course of the project week, the Chinese and German pupils will independently study problems focusing on mobility and automa-tion as well as on economy and culture and on life and studies in Karlsruhe. At various institutions of KIT and in the city of Karlsruhe, the participants will implement their project ideas in practice in close contact to the scientists and employees. Familiarizing with the other culture will play an essential role.
Two groups of pupils will focus on the functioning of medical robots used for surgical interventions at the KIT Institute for Process Com-puting, Automation, and Robotics (IPR) under the direction of Dr. Jörg Raczkowsky. At the Remote Studies Center, pupils will develop a multi-media product about cultural differences between Karlsruhe and Shanghai. It is the objective to portrait studies and life in Karlsruhe from the German and Chinese perspectives. Three groups of pupils will concentrate on the planning and management of traffic. Together with the Karlsruhe company PTV AG, they will simulate certain traffic situations and evacuations. Again, intercultural com-parison of Karlsruhe and Shanghai will be in the focus. In September 2010, the German pupils will travel to China.
The Pupils Academy Karlsruhe has established an open network for cooperation among research institutions, universities, industry, and schools in order to support talented young people in the fields of natural sciences and engineering in the Karlsruhe Technology Re-gion. HoC is the central institution for the development of compe-tences and advanced training at KIT. The FSZ coordinates virtual learning at KIT and possesses vast experience in the preparation of studies and in the training of teachers for the subject of natural sci-ence and engineering.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.