ESDE at the IAS Retreat: Insights from a Day of Interdisciplinary Exchange
The IAS Retreat 2025 brought together researchers from across the Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS) at Forschungszentrum Jülich - ranging from nuclear physics and neuroscience to AI-enhanced crowd safety and materials science. Our ESDE group member Till Hauer took part in the event, which offered a glimpse into the breadth of simulation-based research happening across IAS subinstitutes.
Throughout the day, Till engaged with fellow students, reconnected with former professors, and exchanged ideas at the lively poster sessions. Particularly valuable were the insights gained into the role of the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) within the IAS, and how various subinstitutes rely on JSC services for their scientific computing needs.
Among the many talks that stood out, three in particular left a strong impression:
- Minimal Physical Modeling of Living Systems (IAS-2): An intriguing presentation by Thorsten Auth and Jens Elgeti on using numerical models to better understand microscopic biological systems.
- Shaping the Future of Crowd Safety: From Flames to Footsteps (IAS-7): Lukas Arnold and Mohcine Chraibi showcased innovative approaches that combine vision-based systems and simulations to study crowd behavior in emergency scenarios.
- The Futures of Computing at JSC: Robert Speck provided an overview of upcoming JSC services and outlined how the centre is evolving to support future challenges in simulation and data science.
The retreat’s well-structured mix of talks, spotlights, poster sessions, and informal breaks enabled productive networking and meaningful scientific exchange. The spotlight sessions, in particular, helped attendees identify relevant posters and initiate discussions with researchers across disciplines - essential for navigating the 100+ posters on display.
Till’s verdict: a highly valuable experience - and a strong recommendation for anyone considering attending the next IAS Retreat.