General
ExpertiseKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) was founded in 2009 by the merger of the Karlsruhe Research Centre (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, FZK) and the University of Karlsruhe (TH). It is a public corporation according to the legislation of the state of Baden-Württemberg and fulfills the two missions a) of a university and b) of a national research center within the Helmholtz Association. With 9.400 employees (including nearly 6.000 employees working in the science and education sector), 370 professors, 3.200 doctoral researchers, and an annual budget of about 790 million euro (2012), KIT is one of the biggest research and education institutions in Europe. According to the Helmholtz mission, the main features of KIT’s research programs are their complexity, long-term objectives, and the necessity of multidisciplinary co-operation. Research & development activities at KIT cover fundamental research, process and product development as well as pre-competitive co-operation with industry. Besides, KIT installs and operates large experimental facilities and devices, such as, and provides open access to these installations for external research groups. It is not only for that reason that partners from science and industry are quite often very closely involved in KIT’s research efforts. Research at KIT is currently focusing on seven major topics: “Energy”, “Climate and Environment”, “Materials-Structures-Functions”, “Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics”, “Mobility Systems”, “Information-Systems-Technologies”, “Humans and Technology”. Institutes and programs, i.e. competences and research tasks, form a matrix within KIT. The institutes offer their scientific competence by working in the programs, while, in turn, each program usually involves several participating institutes. KIT participates in a wide range of international programs and large-scale experiments, such as ITER, ANKA, KATRIN, and the Pierre Auger Observatory, and is fully integrated in the internationalization strategy of the Helmholtz Association through its offices in Brussels, Moscow, and Beijing. About 4000 students and 800 scientists from abroad come to study or work at KIT every year – another evidence of the high attractiveness of this institution. The strategic implementation takes place in the knowledge triangle Research – Higher Education – Innovation. Participation in EU Projects and International ActivitiesAt KIT, several institutes are involved in EU projects. The following list gives a selection of the more important projects:
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