Two Ministers, Two European Regions, and a Vision for Europe’s Universities
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming a delegation from the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture—including Minister Christian Tischner and State Secretary Prof. Steffen Teichert—as well as South Tyrolean Provincial Councilor Philipp Achammer to TU Ilmenau.
The discussion with University President Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler, SUNRISE Coordinator Julian Wüster, and Thomas Mirow from the TU Ilmenau EU Office focused on the close ties between TU Ilmenau and the Free University of Bolzano within the framework of the SUNRISE Alliance. The universities are already working closely together on student and staff exchanges and on joint teaching and research activities, and are jointly developing new international pathways for education and innovation.
The recently launched joint Horizon Europe project DETROID demonstrates how this long-standing collaboration is leading to concrete joint projects: Coordinated by TU Ilmenau, 15 research and industry partners from Europe – including the SUNRISE partners Free University of Bolzano and Università Politecnica delle Marche – are working to make the vehicles of the future safer and more reliable. During a visit to the Thuringian Innovation Center for Mobility (ThIMo), research group leader Dr. Valentin Ivanov provided the delegation with insights into the work being done and the role of TU Ilmenau in the project.
DETROID also exemplifies the potential of our SUNRISE university alliance: Together, we aim to translate knowledge into innovation more quickly, create international educational pathways, promote lifelong learning, and actively help shape sustainable change in our regions.
This exchange has shown that when universities, policymakers, the business community, and regions collaborate across borders, new opportunities for co-production, knowledge transfer, and innovation emerge.
We look forward to further expanding the connections between our regions and universities, learning from one another, and jointly developing European solutions to the challenges of the future.
