The event was organised by DBU scholarship holders Meret Jürgens, who is working on her doctoral thesis at IKK, Alexander Schmaus and Alexandra Loll. Following the motto ‘Making your doctoral thesis a reality’, twelve doctoral students discussed with experts from industry and politics how scientific findings can be incorporated into political decision-making or business processes. Prof. Hans-Josef Endres, head of IKK, provided an interesting insight into the venue – IKK on the Mechanical Engineering Campus in Garbsen.
Five speakers shared their perspectives and experiences:
- Dr. Harald Heinrichs (Leuphana University Lüneburg) gave all participants an introduction to knowledge transfer from the perspective of sustainability politics.
- Dr. Simon Kapitza (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) spoke about knowledge transfer into politics and his work as a science policy advisor,
- Dr. Katharina Reuter (Bundesverband Nachhaltige Wirtschaft BNW e. V.) focused on the transfer between research and sustainable business practice,
- Carolin Könning (DBU) reported on successful communication strategies, and
- Dr. Ruth Brand-Schock (Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft BDEW) brought the perspective of the energy industry and business questions to science.
In addition to lively discussions, the symposium also provided an opportunity for personal exchange: Joint evening events gave participants the opportunity to network and get to know Hannover's Nordstadt district. The symposium once again demonstrated how important dialogue between research, politics and business is for effectively putting sustainability and environmental innovations into practice. All participants were able to take away many ideas for transferring their doctoral projects into practice.
