lookKIT 02/2011 - PKM - KIT

0211
Focus 25
Mit den
Besten
im Boot
interACT öffnet
Studierenden Türen
zu Top-Universitäten
Among the partners are Carnegie Mellon University
(CMU) in Pennsylvania, one of the top three
American universities in the field of informatics,
and the Japanese Waseda University, which is famous
for robotics. KIT is the only German university.
Two of the partners are located in the USA,
one in Italy, one in Hong Kong, and two in Japan.
Professor Waibel thinks that information scientists
who create technologies to support international
communication also need to experience these
technologies themselves. interACT, however, does
not only include computer experts. Every student at
KIT may apply for a grant. “CMU, for instance, also
has a good program for fine arts and a renowned
department of psychology,” adds Waibel.
Going abroad with interACT does not mean occasionally
sitting in a foreign lecture hall. The student
is supposed to write his final thesis in a research
group at one of the seven partners. “It is important
to experience today’s research first-hand,”
explains the Director of interACT. “In addition, students
will get to know the country and the people
only if they fulfill a certain task.”
Last year, Daniel Kappler spent four months at
CMU to develop a grasping scheme for robots
within the framework of his final thesis. “It was
very interesting to get to know another system,
a new city, and people from all over the world.”
Contact with the home university was maintained,
as every student is supervised by a professor in
Karlsruhe and a professor abroad. “No time is lost.
A thesis written elsewhere will also be accepted
here,” says the KIT graduate.
interACT is also characterized by efficient support
services. Daniel Kappler emphasizes that it is highly
helpful to have a contact partner in Karlsruhe and
at the partner university. “As we are close cooperation
partners, we can solve problems very effectively
and in a rather unbureaucratic manner. That
works very well,” emphasizes Margit Rödder, who
takes care of the students in Karlsruhe.
So far, about 100 students have been granted an
interACT scholarship. With the support of the state
of Baden-Württemberg, KIT, and the KIT Department
of Informatics, interACT grants them EUR 600
– 800 per month for a duration of eight months. In
this way, students are given the opportunity to participate
in conferences after their final thesis or to
work on publications and posters. ”This will be very
useful for their career,” explains Margit Rödder.
Later on, such an experience “will open worlds,”
Professor Waibel says. He presents an example: A
KIT student stayed at CMU and executed a project
that became the precursor of the famous supercomputer
“Watson” that hit the headlines after
its appearance on the Jeopardy show. Also Daniel
Kappler is proud to have published a paper with
his CMU supervisor after his final thesis. He sums
up: “It definitely made sense. I would advise everybody
to do the same.”
http://isl.ira.uka.de/index.php
Auslandserfahrungen sind heute wichtiger
denn je – insbesondere für Ingenieure und Wissenschaftlerinnen,
die später in internationalen
Teams tätig sein werden. Deshalb bietet das KIT
als einziges deutsches Mitglied im International
Center for Advanced Communication Technologies
(interACT) seinen Studierenden einen direkten
Kontakt zur weltweiten Spitzenforschung.
InterACT ist ein Verbund aus sieben Forschungseinrichtungen
aus den USA, Japan, Hong-Kong,
Italien und Deutschland. Mit dabei sind zum
Beispiel die Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
in Pennsylvania, die zu den Top drei der amerikanischen
Universitäten im Bereich Informatik
gehört, und die japanische Waseda University,
eine Weltberühmtheit in Sachen Robotik.
Über gemeinsame Forschungsaktivitäten, Sommerschulen
und Gastprofessuren hinaus bietet
das Zentrum Studierenden aller Fachrichtungen
die Möglichkeit, ihre Abschlussarbeit in einer
renommierten Forschungsgruppe bei einem
der sieben Partner zu absolvieren. Dafür vergibt
interACT mit der Unterstützung des Landes
Baden-Württemberg, des KIT und der Fakultät
für Informatik am KIT mehrmonatige Stipendien.
interACT zeichnet sich zudem dadurch
aus, dass Ansprechpartner an jedem Standort
die Studierenden effizient begleiten. Während
ihres Aufenthalts werden die Studierenden jeweils
von einem Professor in Karlsruhe und
einem im Ausland betreut. Dies garantiert,
dass die Arbeit auch anerkannt wird und sich
die Studienzeit nicht erheblich verlängert. Und
verhilft den Studierenden zu einem Erlebnis, so
Professor Alexander Waibel, Direktor von inter-
ACT, das „später Welten öffnet“.
Sophie Kolb