TUM-IAS Director’s Message
2024 was again a successful year for the TUM Institute for Advanced Study: New programs were successfully implemented, partnerships further strengthened, and new Fellows warmly welcomed, while departing Fellows left with lasting relationships. The TUM-IAS also hosted several major conferences organized by its Fellows and their TUM host professors, attracting hundreds of international guests.
Our shared goal is to create new knowledge. In today’s complex world, achieving this relies on scientific cooperation that transcends the borders of states, government systems, religions, and skin colors. I remain confident and optimistic because I believe in science’s unifying spirit of cooperation. The year 2024 has reaffirmed this belief.
In 2024, we engaged with other German Institutes for Advanced Study, exchanging ideas and fostering dialogue. Despite differences in funding models and institutional connections, we are united by the commitment to supporting creative talent in transforming innovation into secure knowledge.
Our in-depth exchange with the IAS in Princeton through its Director David Nirenberg and the management team has been a source of encouragement – particularly in times of international tension and upheaval. It has reinforced our commitment to maintaining and perhaps even expanding spaces for shared reflection and scientific creativity to ensure the continuous flow of knowledge.
New knowledge will be essential in many areas, not only in the natural and engineering sciences but also in medicine and life sciences, as well as for shaping the future direction of our national communities and cooperation. Finally, and this will be a long-term endeavor, we will need the knowledge to embed sustainability into our economy, society, and daily lives.
Demonstrating its commitment to promoting sustainability and addressing related challenges across disciplines, the TUM-IAS has continued the Seminar Series of European Universities on Sustainability, launched in the autumn of 2023. Six scientists from the National Technical University of Ukraine, Poznań University of Life Sciences in Poland, Riga Technical University in Latvia, the University of Freiburg, and the Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia shared insights of their research as part of our weekly Scientists meet Scientists series.
For the first time in 2024, the TUM-IAS awarded the Dieter Schwarz Courageous Research Grant, uniquely combining sustainability and digitalization.
Thanks to our partnership with the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST), TUM and the NST were able to jointly honor the winners of the Sustainability Award 2024. In December 2024, we mourned the loss of our friend and supporter, Michael Nobel. His passing is a great loss for the Nobel Sustainability Trust, of which he was a founder, as well as for TUM and global sustainability efforts.
In 2024, our successes would not have been possible without the generosity of our friends and supporters. I express my sincere gratitude to the Siemens AG, the TÜV SÜD Foundation, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the Nemetschek Innovation Foundation, and the Nobel Sustainability Trust. Your support has been crucial in turning our ideas into reality, getting new things off the ground, and potentially paving the way for future initiatives.