The Gaul Lecture Award, conferred annually, honors a preeminent international scholar whose exceptional contributions have profoundly shaped an area of research in the fields of mathematics, economics, or computer science. This year, the KIT Depatment of Economics and Management is awarding this prize to Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Josef Zechner, Professor of Finance and Investments at WU Wien and Co-head of the Research Institute for Capital. On Thursday, April 11, Prof. Zechner will give the public Gaul Lecture on the topic: "Externalities and the Objective of the Firm in Capitalist Economies" from 16:00-17:30. We look forward to welcoming everyone interested. The lecture will take place at the KIT-Campus South in building 10.11, room 223 (Alter Senatssaal).

Magali Hauser, KIT

Are you planning to start a Bachelor's degree programme at KIT in the winter semester 2024/2025? But you don't yet know which specific STEM degree program to choose? You are not sure whether your basic knowledge in the subjects of mathematics, computer science, physics and chemistry is sufficient? Then the topMINT orientation semester offers you optimal support in choosing and preparing for your studies. The topMINT orientation semester is offered only in German, application deadline for participation is March 31, 2024.

Congratulations to our student Johannes Mietz, who was awarded the prize for the best bachelor thesis by the Roland Berger Foundation for European Business Management. In his thesis "Designing a Writing Assistant for Thesis Writing in Microsoft Word Using Large Language Models", he deals with how language models can support students in writing academic papers. The prize jury justified its decision by stating that the highly topical work is characterized by great practical relevance and high academic quality. We wish Mr. Mietz every success in his future academic career.

On February 14, 2024, the inaugural lectures of Prof. Dr. Adrian Hillenbrand (ECON) and Prof. Dr. Sven Spieckermann (IOR) took place. Prof. Hillenbrand spoke about "Experiments in the field - win-win for science, business and politics". Prof. Spieckermann's lecture focused on the digital factory twin and gave an overview of the state of the art in the field of simulation in production and logistics. We are pleased about the cooperation with both professors at the KIT-Department of Economics and Management.

Fabian Krüger, Ann-Kristin Kupfer and Benjamin Scheibehenne gave their inaugural lectures on December 21, 2023 as part of a joint inaugural lecture. We welcome the new colleagues to the KIT-Department of Economics and Management and wish them every success in their work.

Markus Breig, KIT

The Industrial Engineering and Information Systems master degree programs receive extremely positive ratings in the current CHE Master's ranking. The "range of courses" category is particularly highlighted, especially for the "breadth of course content", "opportunities for individual specialization in the degree course" and "digital teaching elements". The Master's in Industrial Engineering and Management also achieved excellent ratings in "General study situation" and "Support during studies". In the Master's in Information Systems, KIT scores above average in "Research orientation of the degree program", with positive ratings for student participation in research projects and integration of current research results into teaching.