Uni at City Hall

 

Review

 

The Higgs Particle

The Coronation Hall at the Aachen City Hall was bursting at the seams: over 500 interested citizens, pupils, and students came to the "Uni at City Hall" panel discussion. RWTHextern and the City of Aachen invited three RWTH Aachen physicists to discuss the Higgs particle.

Many Exciting Questions

Professor Thomas Hebbeker started the evening with a brief introduction before he, Professor Achim Stahl, and Profesor Micheal Krämer answered the audience's questions. Through their institutes, all three were involved in the CMS experiment at CERN in Genf to find the Higgs particle. For almost two hours the scientists answered numerous and detailed questions and explained the research surrounding the Higgs particle in an exciting and entertaining way.

Physics, that excites

The response and knowledge show Aachen citizens' interest in the topic, in science, and in our university. It was apparent, often through applause, that the three scientists not only conduct research at the highest niveau but that they do it with heart and soul, and fun and excitement. The panel discussion will soon be available for viewing on the RWTH Aachen YouTube channel.

 

Taboo Topic: Organ Donation

Every year thousands of patients in Germany wait, often futiley, for a transplant that could save their lives.  A primary cause of the shortage of donated organs certainly lies in the fact, that organ donation is topic that causes great fear and uncertainty among people.

 

But to what extent is this founded? And under what legal, medical, and ethical guidelines are organ donations and organ transplants, and not just in this country, made?

Panel Guests

Through the framework of the event series Uni at City Hall,  Professor Dominik Groß from the Chair of History, Theory, and Ethics in Medicine at RWTH Aachen, the Director of Internal Medicine II (Nephrology and Clinical Immunology) at Aachen University Hospital Professor Jürgen Flöge, and Ingo Linn, Chair of the Aachener Förderkreises für Organtransplantation e.V discussed this and the new legal guidelines on the panel with the audience.

 

Nuclear Phase Out Risk Factor

After discussing the risk of nuclear power phase-out in Germany last time with the public, our latest topic was called "The Euro in Crisis?" and was held on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 7:30pm, in the Krönungssaal of Aachen City Hall. Speakers included: Professor Oliver Lorz, Fakulty of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen, Holger Fahrinkrug; Head of Research and Chief Economist, WestLB; Professor Ansgar Belke, Chair of Economics, Duisburg-Essen University