lookKIT 02/2011 - PKM - KIT

0211 > 0211
24 blickpunkt
interACT
Informatics Alliance Opens Doors to Top
Universities Worldwide for KIT Students
By Sophie Kolb // Photograph: Martin Lober // Translation: Maike Schröder
nformation scientists greatly appreciate
the value added by networking, not
only in engineering. An outstanding example
is the International Center for Advanced
Communication Technologies (interACT),
to which seven research facilities
belong. It offers KIT students direct contact
to top researchers worldwide.
“We do not only want to qualify experts, but
make them fit for today’s world,” says Alexander
Waibel, Professor of Computer Science at KIT and
co-founder and director of interACT. He points out
that work and research today increasingly cross
borders: “Experience gained abroad is of particular
importance to engineers and scientists who
will work in international teams later on.” inter-
ACT grants enable excellent students to write
their theses in a research group in another part
of this world.
Under interACT, seven informatics centers execute
joint projects, invite professors, organize
summer schools, and enhance the mobility
of graduate and Ph. D. students. “We only accepted
the best from all continents,” Professor
Waibel says of establishing the network. Now,
it is no longer being expanded, because “we do
not want to collect figures, but to maintain sense
and quality as well as living contacts.”