At the beginning of the new year, entrepreneurs from the region met with "their" university lecturers for the 6th time as part of the "Business meets Science" event at the Zittau location of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Following what has now become a good tradition, the General Business Association of Zittau and the surrounding area (AUV), the Dresden Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Zittau branch, and the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences invited guests to this New Year's reception at the university. For the first time, the Dresden Chamber of Crafts was a co-organizer, which is an expression of the strengthened regional cooperation between business and science.

Around 100 people accepted the organizers' invitation. The focus of this event was on the Faculty of Mathematics/Natural Sciences. At the beginning, university lecturers and students gave a lively presentation of their respective faculties with show experiments, before the Dean, Prof. Dr. Bernd Delakowitz, presented the teaching and research activities of the entire faculty and spoke about cooperation with the regional economy.

Dr. Herbrich, head of the laboratory department at fit GmbH in Hirschfelde, shared his positive experiences of working with scientific partners. This regional company has been working closely with the faculty's employees for many years. Dr. Herbrich reported in particular on the joint development of specialist staff - about students who started their professional careers at fit on the basis of practical, diploma or other final theses. "The proximity to Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences has many advantages for us," he concluded.

The Vice-Rector for Research, Prof. Dr. Tobias Zschunke, then summarized the current development of the university and pointed out innovations in the cooperation between business and science. The web-based research information database and the transfer map, which makes cooperation in the area of student theses and dissertations visible, were presented. For the next two years, there will be three connectors at the university that will make the university's research focuses and achievements more transparent for industry and promote cooperation.

Afterwards, we visited the microbiology and bioprocess engineering laboratories on campus, which are among the most modern at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. In these well-equipped laboratories, students in the Chemistry, Molecular Biotechnology, Ecology and Environmental Protection courses are trained to meet their needs.

During the successful event, new ideas were already developed for next year, when "Business meets Science" will take place again on January 14, 2016. A new product of cooperation is also planned: the IHK, HWK and university want to create a technology-related project workshop twice a year.