Minister of State Blume visits DIT

11.9.2023 | DIT press office

Just ahead of the upcoming winter semester, Markus Blume, the Minister of State for Science and the Arts, paid a visit to the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen. During his visit, the minister had the opportunity to gain insights into the six research laboratories, the latest projects, and the reasons why students from a wide array of countries choose this study destination. For the winter semester of 2023/24, ECRI anticipates approximately 1,500(*) new students from around 100 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These increasing enrolment figures document the sustained success of the European Campus and its location.

Science Minister Blume noted: “Pfarrkirchen is where the world comes to study. The European Campus Rottal-Inn at the Deggendorf Institute is a true success story. Its special appeal lies in international students hailing from over a hundred countries, excellent academic conditions, and strong support from the local community. Furthermore, the focus here is on themes of the region: health, digitalisation, and tourism. “The Deggendorf Institute is one of our most dynamic universities. This is evident even and particularly here in Pfarrkirchen.”

Upon arrival, Minister Blume was greeted by University President Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Peter Sperber, and Vice President Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt and the Dean of the Faculty Prof. Dr. Christian Steckenbauer shared insights into current initiatives. “We hope for ongoing support from the ministry to be able to lead the way in expanding our research and development activities in the future”, Kunhardt said. Students from Greece, Russia, Nigeria, and Iran showcased their tourism projects in the field of Extended Reality, offering virtual tours of Pfarrkirchen using VR glasses. In the “DigiHealth & Smart Tourism Lab,” the latest regional health project, “med4PAN,” was presented: this project aims to improve medical care in rural areas with technical assistance, such as providing defibrillators by drones in cases of acute heart failure. In the “EEE Lab for Electrical and Energy Engineering”, a simulator was used to demonstrate the principle of wind energy generation and to illustrate the functional principle of electrochemical energy storage during the course of the day.              

Since October 2015, ECRI has been an international study destination of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) and was established based on the state government’s “science-based regional and structural policy”. The primary research and teaching focuses at this campus are sustainability and quality of life in rural areas, which are explored from various perspectives in degree programmes such as Digital Health, Tourism, Energy and Energy Technology, and Healthy Sustainable Building, among others.

(*) Enrolment estimate as of 30.8.2023, subject to change.      

Bild (DIT): Student Vasiliki Spyropoulou (on the left) presented the virtual tour of Pfarrkirchen via VR glasses to Minister Blume (centre) at the DigiHealth & Smart Tourism Lab.