DRC President Rector Friedrich Faulhammer at the 9th EUSDR conference in the Austrian Parliament

Friedrich Faulhammer, President of the Danube Rectors' Conference (DRC), Chairman of the Board of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), and Rector of the University for Continuing Education Krems, held a keynote speech on the topic “The Danube region as a cultural, natural and scientific area” on the occasion of the 9th Conference of the Speakers of Parliament of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), which took place in the Austrian Parliament on 18 and 19 March 2024. 

Faulhammer emphasized the important role the DRC is playing in the Danube Region while fostering scientific exchange and mobility of ideas and persons for more than 40 years. He also pointed out on the successful cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research within the Danubius Awards, particularly concerning the Danubius Young Scientist Award which is awarded to 14 young scientists – one for each country that is part of the EUSDR. The Award represents one of the most significant recognitions of young scientific talents coming from the Danube Region. 

In his keynote, he also explained the mission of the IDM as the permanent secretariat of DRC: transnational cross-border cooperation in the Danube Region stands always at the forefront. In the last year under the motto “Locating the Future”, with an exceptional programme of 20 organized events in all of IDM's 19 target countries as well as one dedicated to the river itself, the IDM demonstrated in practice how cross-border cooperation works and how important professional network facilitation along the Danube River is. A. As a result, this is where according to the Institute – which is also one of the oldest think tanks not only in the German speaking world – future is located: in the Danube Region.