International Scientific Dialogue in Chennai

In early October, Dr. Tanja Harbaum took part in a delegation trip to India organized by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The trip brought together researchers and scientific organizations from Germany and India to discuss current developments, strengthen ties, and initiate new collaborations.

A key focus of the delegation trip was the three-day “Chip Design” workshop in Chennai. There, researchers from both countries exchanged ideas on topics such as processor and RISC-V design, analog and RF circuits, brain-computer interfaces, compute-in-memory architectures, quantum computing, wireless communication, and measurement technologies. A total of 28 scientific presentations were on the program.

The scientific program and the technical discussions during the three days of the event were organized and facilitated by Prof. Holger Blume (Leibniz University Hannover) and Prof. Shanthi Pavan (Indian Institute of Technology Madras).

On the third day of the course, Dr. Tanja Harbaum presented her talk titled “Hardware/Software Co-Design for Integrated AI Systems.” The course provided an ideal platform for discussing current research approaches and establishing new contacts for future collaborations.

In addition to the workshop, other courses were held to promote German-Indian scientific cooperation. A highlight of the trip was the visit to the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The sprawling university campus is located in a protected nature reserve where antelopes and monkeys roam freely among lecture halls, department buildings, and laboratories.

The trip highlighted how important personal exchange is for building long-term international research collaborations. The numerous discussions and newly established contacts provide a promising foundation for future joint research activities between Germany and India.