ZIT’s innovation talks represent a series of technology-oriented events in Vienna designed to make a contribution to increase awareness of the importance and necessity of innovation and technology. The events focus on current issues (intellectual capital report, gender mainstreaming, IPR, CSR, etc.) or innovation models (user innovation, U-theory, etc.), integrating the input from R&D companies.
The innovation talks aim to raise the innovative performance of companies in Vienna based on the active promotion of knowledge transfer between the research community and SMEs. ZIT organizes practice-oriented workshops designed to convey innovation-related information to Viennese companies which is not already offered anywhere else.
Innovation Talks in 2012:
“The Plant as a Building Material“
Date: January 12, 2012, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Place: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Peter Jordan-Straße 82, Schwackhöferhaus, 3rd Floor, Institute of Soil Bioengineering and Landscape Construction), Seminar Room 03/107
Event organizer: ZIT and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute of Soil Bioengineering and Landscape Construction
Speaker: Prof. Florin FLORINETH (Institute of Soil Bioengineering and Landscape Construction)
The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna would like to expand one of its current research focal points – ”The Plant as a Building Material” - taking account of safety and quality of life aspects – as a field of research. On the basis of the accompanying Innovation Talk “The Plant as a Building Material”, ZIT will provide information on this research focus and support the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna in finding partners to implement this research project.
Within the context of the research project “Plants as a building material – safety and quality of life“, a partnership between business and science will be created which is designed to deal with the use of plants as building materials. The two focal points of the research project will deal with:
- Safety and plants
This topic deals with the manifold applications of plants for slope and embankment stabilization. Particular attention will be paid to the planting of flood protection dams and railway embankments as well as highway embankments with wood as a means of increasing safety and more effectively protecting residential areas. - Quality of life and plants
This area deals with the positive effects of plants on people. In particular plants in residential areas have a positive impact on the well-being of people thanks to the production of shade, the increased moisture in the air, the reduction in the level of noise and dust filtration. This feel-good factor should be measurable in order to promote greening measures in residential areas, and thus improve their quality of life.
The aim of the project is to develop innovative and marketable products on the basis of research.
Registration: Per telephone by calling +01 4000 86 733 or per e-mail by writing to Katharina Olbrich.
Innovation through Equality of Opportunity: The Value of Gender and Diversity for Research and Development
Date: February 23, 2012 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Place: ZIT, Ebendorferstraße 4, 1010 Vienna
Maximum number of participants: 15 people
Speaker: Regina Frey, Genderbüro, Berlin
Gender aspects are becoming increasingly important in research and development. The evaluation of the diversity of the circumstances in life and usage patterns enables more precise impact analyses in product development. The aim of this workshop is to enhance the gender competence of participants and provide a basis for them to utilize this knowledge in the field of research. This workshop is particularly valuable for potential project entries in the ZIT Call FemPower 2012. You will be given the opportunity to obtain tailor-made support for the conception of your project.
Part 1
The participants will be given a theoretical introduction to the concepts of gender and diversity, which will be supported by practical examples of gender-sensitive product development. Based on this, the gender dimensions implicit in the research work of the participants will be worked out in detail. Gender diagnosis instruments which can help to achieving corresponding consequences in the development and marketing of products and services will be tested.
Part 2
Date: March 14, 2012 (or March 15, 2012), specific time by arrangement
Maximum number of participants: 5 people
Selected project ideas will also be given the opportunity to undergo individual gender coaching to enhance the FemPower aspects of the projects which should be entered in the ZIT Call FemPower 2012 funding competition. In a two-hour coaching session, Regina Frey will specifically address the gender dimensions of the projects. A maximum of five coachings will be awarded.
Registration: Please contact Lukas Lengauer by February 17, 2012
The Promotion of Women in Research Institutions
Date: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Place: ZIT, Ebendorferstraße 4, 1010 Vienna
Maximum number of participants: 15 people
Speakers: Nicole Schaffer and Florian Holzinger, Joanneum Research
Although the proportion of female students has been continually higher than their male colleagues for many years, women still continue to be strongly under-represented in corporate research as well as in other research institutions. Even at the Vienna University of Technology, the share of female students has risen to 25%. In later career phases, the share of women declines significantly, so that women only comprise 7% of the professors working at the Vienna University of Technology. A similar situation exists in non-university research facilities and competence centers. These figures not only point to gender-specific discrimination, which should be combated for sociopolitical reasons, but they also have implications for technological and economic policies. In order to be successful in an increasingly knowledge-based economy, this potential inherent in the labor force must be fully exploited. Moreover, the diverse compositions of teams enable the members to contribute different background and experiences to the development work, which in turn increases the innovation performance of research facilities.
This Innovation Talk targets representatives of research facilities, especially competence centers in Vienna. The aim is to show ways to sustainably increase the percentage of women working at research institutions. In this regard, attention will primarily be paid to recruiting and career models promoting the advancement of women.
Registration: Please contact Lukas Lengauer by April 27, 2012
