Education Minister visits IST Austria

Claudia Schmied, Austrian Federal Minister of Education, Art and Culture, today visited the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria. IST President Thomas Henzinger welcomed Claudia Schmied and informed her of the establishment and development of the research institute. The presentation was followed by a tour of the campus. Ms. Schmied met PhD students Magdalena Steinrück and Sebastian Novak, and postdoc Line Ugelvik, and professors Michael Sixt and Jozsef Csicsvari. After visiting the biology and neuroscience laboratories in the Bertalanffy Foundation Building Ms. Schmied emphasized the importance of the education of young scientists for Austria by referring to the IST Graduate School as a model. Schmied: “The existing collaborations between local schools and IST Austria prove that basic research in the natural sciences can be communicated successfully to the general public.”