New to the Elite Network of Bavaria? At the beginning, many find it difficult to find their way around in view of the numerous programmes and offers. The Get Together on 11 November 2023 in the Audimax of the TU Munich offered new members the opportunity to get to know the Elite Network and each other.
Over 330 curious newcomers to the Elite Network gathered at the TU Audimax on the afternoon of 11 November. Viktoria Rossi, alumna of the Max Weber Program, hosted the event in an entertaining manner. Ministerialrätin Frauke Preißinger, Head of the Elite Network Coordination Office, began by warmly welcoming the newcomers, gave a brief outline of the history and aims of the Network, which now has around 3,950 active members and 11,000 alumni, and presented the five funding lines: Elite Graduate Programs, International Doctorate Programs, Max Weber Program, Marianne-Plehn-Program and Junior Research Groups. Even if the term 'elite' is no longer in fashion, Ms Preißinger said that in science, as in sport, it is important to promote both the general public and top-level talents. She encouraged the audience to utilise their talents and use them for the common good.
After this opening, some of our members offered insights into the various opportunities and events offered by the Elite Network. Borys Zubaryev, Lena Schorr, Éverton Souza da Silva, Juan Manuel Cano Vila and Viktoria Rossi gave vivid accounts of their personal experiences at the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing, at the Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, at the EuroScience Open Forum in Leiden, at the EliteCup and at last year's Elite Network graduation ceremony in Augsburg. Dr Andreas Hendrich from PROFiL provided information about the soft skills seminars on offer and Christoph Wild from the Coordination Office gave a short introduction to using the Community Portal.
New to the Elite Network, many members are still unsure whether they want to pursue a career in science or in business. In order to present the opportunities and challenges of both paths first-hand, two keynote speeches on the topic of "Careers in academia and economy" followed in the second part of the event. Professor Oliver Reiser, head of the International Doctorate Program "Photo-Electro Catalysis: chemical catalysis with photonic or electrical energy input” and Arturo Buitrago Méndez, alumnus of the Elite Graduate Program "Honours Degree in Technology Management" and co-founder of the start-up Knowron, shared their wealth of experience with the new members and around 25 alumni, provided fascinating insights into their careers and answered questions from the audience.
