Open Day at Saarland University on 8 June
During the Open Day on Saturday, 8 June 2024, from 10 am – 4 pm, Saarland University will showcase its range of courses and numerous research topics to the general public. The partners at the Saarland Informatics Campus will also present the wide range of computer science topics in information events. Besides introductory talks on the degree programs, there will be info-booths and participation events from various institutions, such as the Computer Science Student Advisory Service, the student councils, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the Centre for Bioinformatics (CBI).
An overview of the SIC program items can be found on this page. The complete program of the Open Day can be found on the University’s website.
Study information
In building E1 3, the student advisory services for Mathematics and Computer Science will offer a joint information booth throughout the day. In addition, there will be multiple talks on the different computer science-related study programs and a 25- minute lecture on the computer science degree programmes several times a day. The exact times of these talks can be found in the programme overview using the filter “Studienberatung”. The student representatives of Computer Science and Language Science and Technology as well as the Mathematics Pre-Course and teacher training in Computer Science will also have information stands here, where those interested can find out more about studying at UdS at first hand.
Research
There will be various talks, info-booths and and participation activities on many exciting and current research topics throughout the day. These will take place in the Computer Science building E1 3, at DFKI (building D3 2), in the Center for Bioinformatics (building E2 1) and for the department of Language Science and Technology in building A2 2.
In building E1 3, a presentation will show how freely available social media data can be used to research migration flows or gender inequality. This can help aid organisations, for example, to adapt their measures in crisis areas. Also in the foyer of the Computer Science building, the Department of Mathematics will provide exciting insights into mathematical research questions by playing a game of billiards.
Among other things, DFKI will be presenting a research project in the field of individualised medicine and will be demonstrating how technical devices can be operated using only the power of thought with so-called brain-computer interfaces. At the Center for Bioinformatics, visitors can marvel at a DNA sequencing machine built from Lego bricks and gain insights into the AI-supported drug development of the future at the stand of the NextAID3 excellence project.
Interesting insights will also be provided by the programme of the department of Language Science and Technology in building A2 2 and on the Festwiese. In addition to research into language variations with the help of AI, the programme will focus on computer-assisted (language) processing. There will also be a translation challenge against machine translation tools.
Also a variety of interesting interdisciplinary research questions will be presented during the open day, such as: What influence does AI-generated content have on the formation of political opinion? What opportunities and risks does digitalisation offer for democracy in Europe?
Other (participation) activities
In building E1 3, the student laboratory of computer science “InfoLab Saar“ will inform visitors about its work at an information booth an through various participation activities. On the informatics square in front of building E1 3 there will be an all-day children’s programme including a bubble show for the youngest visitors. New this year is the school bus, which will be travelling regularly between the Festwiese and the Computer Science buildings between 10 am and 2 pm.
Background Saarland Informatics Campus:
900 scientists (including 400 PhD students) and about 2500 students from more than 80 nations make the Saarland Informatics Campus (SIC) one of the leading locations for computer science in Germany and Europe. Four world-renowned research institutes, namely the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, the Center for Bioinformatics as well as Saarland University with three departments and 24 degree programs cover the entire spectrum of computer science. /pzs