On 27th October 2025, Elisabeth Gaar, professor of optimization, and HPSC Lab's Michael Schlottke-Lakemper gave their inaugural lectures at the University of Augsburg.?In Germany today, the inaugural lecture (Antrittsvorlesung) is a public academic talk given by newly appointed professors to introduce their research to the university and the broader public, often accompanied by a formal reception. Its roots trace back to early modern universities, where such lectures marked the official assumption of a professorial chair and demonstrated scholarly authority. Today, it combines this tradition with a strong emphasis on outreach, interdisciplinarity, and visibility within the university community.

In his lecture on Wissenschaftliches Rechnen im KI-Zeitalter: Zwischen Rechen- und Denkmaschine, which roughly translates to "Scientific Computing in the AI Age: From Number Crunchers to Thinking Machines", Michael?discussed how scientific computing is changing in the era of artificial intelligence, using the contrast between “calculating machines” and “thinking machines” as a guiding theme. He outlined the continued importance of classical high-performance computing for large-scale simulations in areas such as aerospace, climate and weather modeling, and biomedicine, and contrasted this with recent advances of AI methods, for example in protein structure prediction and data-driven weather forecasting. At the same time, he highlighted key challenges for the use of AI in scientific computing, including issues of reliability, explainability, and reproducibility. The lecture concluded with examples from current research in numerical methods, GPU-based computing, and secure machine learning, emphasizing the complementary roles of simulation-based and data-driven approaches in future scientific computing.