Inaugural Lectures to Introduce New Professors

The new faculty members at LIT gave their inaugural lectures; the Faculty of Law followed on Thursday.

v.l.: Mathis Fister, Claudia Fuchs, Markus Vašek, Andreas Wimmer
v.l.: Mathis Fister, Claudia Fuchs, Markus Vašek, Andreas Wimmer

Univ. Prof. Prof. Stefan Rass (LIT Secure and Correct Systems Lab) opened the inaugural lecture series at the JKU’s Ceremony Room on Wednesday, April 27, with his presentation titled "The Devil Takes the Hindmost: Security as a Battle of Wits". Beginning with quantum cryptography, Prof. Rass spoke about his two main areas of research, applied cryptography and security economics. Prof. Rass is exploring ways to provide maximum and quantifiable security, particularly by studying ways in which cryptographic mechanisms can be used to provide comprehensive protection by turning privacy attacks into mathematical games.

Univ. Prof. Thomas Gegenhuber (Sustainable Transformation Management Lab) followed with his presentation titled "Organizing for Sustainable Transformations", focusing on why technologies are tangible or intangible artifacts, many at the heart of human activities such as production, services, and communication. He is examining the interaction between technology and society against a backdrop of the UN’s sustainable development goals.

The Faculty of Law followed at 4:00 PM on Thursday, April 28.

Univ.-Prof. Mathis Fister (Institute for Administrative Law and Administrative Theory) held a presentation titled "Intertemporale und intergenerationelle Grundrechtswirkungen - Am Beispiel des Klimaschutzrechts".

Univ. Prof. Claudia Fuchs (Institute for Constitutional Law and Political Science) followed with her presentation titled "Genehmigung, Verteilung, Auftrag: Zur Leistungsfähigkeit der Dienstleistungskonzession als Steuerungsinstrument" about the service concession as a conventional form of action in the area of domestic administrative law. Under the influence of EU law, this area has undergone functional modification and is increasingly becoming an instrument in the area of market regulation.

Univ. Prof. Markus Vašek (Institute for Administrative Law and Administrative Theory) followed Prof. Fuchs with his inaugural lecture titled "Ein Versuch über die richterliche Unabhängigkeit", focusing on the prerequisites of judicial independence and what this means in concrete terms as well as how it can be developed in the future. His presentation also addressed questions as to how to convey the phenomenon of judicial independence to students in a more comprehensible way.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Andreas Wimmer (Institute for Administrative Law and Administrative Theory) concluded the inaugural lecture series with his presentation titled "Schutz der Persönlichkeit im digitalisierten Verwaltungsverfahren", taking a look at the current trend of digitalizing administrative and administrative court proceedings, a process that is raising numerous legal issues. Although the potential use of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and video technology could facilitate procedural efficiency, there are also a number of risks involved, especially pertaining to the individual’s integrity and dignity. Prof. Wimmer’s inaugural lecture focused on outlining potential areas of opportunity, and dangers and pitfalls, and point out approaches to possible solutions.