Guests at this year's Sundowner included the professors newly appointed between January 2021 and June 2023, members of the Rectorate, as well as other university colleagues. The event was held in cooperation with the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH). The Rector, Professor Wolfram Ressel, and the new Managing Director of the WRS, Michael Kaiser, had warm words of welcome for the assembled guests before Professor Ralf Takors presented compelling insights from his field of research: Bioeconomy. As part of his presentation entitled “Bioeconomy: an important pillar of future industrial production – also at the University of Stuttgart”, Professor Takors passed around some examples of products from everyday life for the guests to test out and take a closer look at – from sugar substitutes to alternative coffee capsules.
Buoyed up by the interesting lecture, the guests then ascended to the viewing platform to watch the sun set over Stuttgart and the region. The weather might not have been perfect, but the clouds and the bracing breeze made for an atmospheric evening. After nightfall, the new professors had the opportunity to network over finger food in the friendly atmosphere of the tower’s event space.
This was the first Sundowner to take place since the pandemic and the organizers were delighted to host almost fifty guests. This format allows new professors to get to know the university, connect with each other and get an impression of Stuttgart from the lofty heights of the city’s most famous landmark. Such occasions encourage broad interdisciplinary exchange and thus the university’s ‘Stuttgarter Weg’ (Stuttgart Way), the guiding principle of networked disciplines that has become the university’s trademark.
