The theme of this year's two-day Institute meeting in the idyllic town of Klingenmünster was "Research at the IfV". In this context, we discussed current and future research topics and methods that characterize the research profile at the IfV and should be further developed. We also discussed potential project sponsors and partners, as well as the visibility and networking of the IfV in the national and international research landscape.

After the productive working sessions, the evening provided an opportunity to relax and enjoy dinner together at nearby Landeck Castle.

The meeting was a successful event that provided us with space for the creative further development and strategic orientation of research at the IfV.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Eva Heinen and part of her team from the chair of Mobility and Transport at the Technical University of Dortmund at our institute. The visit presented an excellent opportunity to share information about our respective research through a series of short presentations. The open dialogue and exchange were immensely fruitful, and we reflect on a productive day filled with engaging discussions.

We congratulate our colleague Anna Reiffer on winning the advancement award from the heureka Foundation, which was presented as part of the Heureka '24 congress.

Anna Reiffer received the award for her contribution "Generation of Activity Schedules for Agent-Based Demand Models", which she developed as part of her dissertation. In the approach, the first step determines the time use for all activities of a household, and in the second step, the activities are assigned to the household members by solving a multi-objective optimization problem.

The advancement award is endowed with €5,000 and is awarded every 3 years in recognition of outstanding scientific achievements in the field of decision-making and optimization methods.

The yearly excursion organized by the IfV will take place this year from 19.05. to 23.05. in Paris. We will travel to Paris together by TGV and experience a varied program. This includes, among other things, the efforts towards a city with fewer cars, the construction of the Grand Paris Express and aspects of logistics and urban planning. Further program points and details will follow.

Information on registration will follow in the next few days. If you have any questions, please contact Emre Görgülü emre.goerguelue∂kit.edu or Christian Klinkhardt christian.klinkhardt∂kit.edu.

The annual English seminar, this time in Bad Gastein, was once again an enriching experience for all participants. The main objective of the seminar, to practise and improve technical English, was achieved through a variety of activities. These included lectures, discussions, abstract writing, peer reviews and exercises in traditional and AI-assisted translation.

The participation of doctoral students, research assistants and professors from several chairs of transportation from Germany and Austria also facilitated professional exchange and networking.

Outside of the seminar, it was possible to take advantage of the leisure activities in Bad Gastein, especially skiing and hiking.

On 21.02.2024 we had the opportunity to visit Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport and the DRF Luftrettung at Baden-Airpark.

During the tour, we gained insights into working practices in the terminal, baggage handling, processes on the tarmac and the airport fire department. Afterwards, there was a lively professional exchange with Mr. Eric Blechschmidt, Head of Air Traffic, Marketing and Sales, about the economic and traffic perspectives of the airport.

In the second part of the excursion, we visited DRF Luftrettung, which maintains its entire helicopter fleet at Baden-Airpark and schedules missions for southern Germany. We would like to thank you for the insight into the largest helicopter hangar in Europe as well as the insights into the organization behind the numerous missions.

As usual, the TRB Annual Meeting was held in Washington at the beginning of this year, where our institute actively participated through a multitude of conference contributions in the form of presentations and poster presentations. The TRB is one of the largest conferences in the field of transportation and mobility research, providing a unique opportunity for exchange with scholars that extends beyond the usual European framework.