Would you still do a doctorate at 73? Hermann Merkel did, and five years later he can officially call himself “Doctor.” The former freight forwarder conducted research on e-highways at the KIT Institute for Material Handling and Logistics, often doubting himself in the process. In clicKIT, he explains what kept him going and why this period had such a profound impact on him.

Every year, students compete in the Digital Future Challenge (DFC) to develop the best solutions for a digital future. This year, two KIT teams prevailed over 87 other ideas: the AI agent system “Ankommen” helps people navigate the bureaucratic landscape, and the robot dog “Sprout” helps reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture.

At the end of last year, the KIT dining hall was transformed into a competition arena: Over 400 students from 70 universities in 13 countries in northwestern Europe travelled there with their more than 150 coaches to take part in Europe’s largest in-person programming competition – the Northwestern Europe Regional Contest (NWERC).

133 participants from 53 universities competing against each other: The German University Championships (DHM) in taekwondo took place at KIT on November 29, 2025. The event was organized by two KIT students, Kaize Zhou and Jessica Wolf. In clicKIT, they share what made the competition day so special.