FAU celebrates its birthday

Developers of educational computer games, racing car designers and a collection manager who writes comics are at the forefront of this year’s celebrations for the 281st anniversary of FAU, the Dies academicus, on November 4.

All members of FAU are invited to attend: members of staff and students, and anyone who feels connected to FAU in any way. The Dies academicus is held in German.

During the Dies celebrations, FAU traditionally honors trailblazers and pioneers, clever minds who contribute to driving the world forward and shaping the future with their ideas and inventions – the FAU Innovators. This year:

• Sandra Jeleazcov and Prof. Dr. Benedikt Morschheuser, who have developed computer games for patients with chronic inflammatory diseases and their relatives as an effective way of helping them learn more about the diseases
• Udo Andraschke, the curator of the university collections, who makes an effort to present the artefacts in such a way that they still speak to today’s audiences, for example in a graphic novel
• The High Voltage Motorsports student group, established in 2007, that has successfully competed in international student competitions with racing cars they have designed and built themselves, providing students from a range of different disciplines with the opportunity of gaining practical experience and subject knowledge.

The keynote speech will be held by Prof. Dr. Michael Uder on the topic “A new MRI for the world”. The director of the Institute of Radiology at Uniklinikum Erlangen and Chair of Diagnostic Radiology received the German Future Prize for this “new MRI” from the Federal President last year.