THI gets "research turbo"

In response to the Corona crisis and the challenges of digitisation, the State Government is pushing its High-Tech Agenda for Bavaria as a business location. The additional programme has an investment volume of 900 million euros, which has already been budgeted. Minister President Dr. Markus Söder (CSU) said after the cabinet meeting on Monday: "We want to create new opportunities and completely different jobs by promoting technology and research. That is why we have adopted an economic and technology programme, a research turbo".
Some of the measures on the High-Tech Agenda, which is set to run for four years, will now be implemented in 2021. This means that all 1800 research posts will be filled and equipped with the necessary material resources as early as next April, not just until 2023. Science Minister Bernd Sibler: "In a dynamic scientific environment, we want to bind top executives to Bavaria even better and earlier - in an uncertain world, Bavaria stands for security, reliability and progress. About 730 professorships are at the forefront. These positions will be created in the fields of artificial intelligence, among others. In this context, Minister President Söder explicitly mentioned Ingolstadt - a hub for AI research in the field of mobility.
For the THI, this means that in addition to the approximately 30 positions already advertised, another 90 positions can be filled next year. President Prof. Dr. Walter Schober: "The THI was well aware of the high-tech agenda with the development of Ingolstadt into an AI mobility hub and the establishment of the Neuburg external campus. The acceleration programme gives us additional impetus here. In this way we are also creating an economic impulse for our region".
Five AI research professorships have already been filled at the THI in the winter semester 2020/21. The new appointments are in application areas such as machine learning, innovative production and logistics systems or image understanding in medicine. In addition, nine further appointments are currently pending.