From imagination to paradigm shift

Mathematician Klemens Fellner on the limits of his ideas as a researcher.

Is your imagination a boundary that you want to manifest or overcome? As a researcher, you try your hand at things that no one has ever understood before. It requires significant effort and the right intuition to grow new ideas and put them on a scientific foundation. How often did I experience that my idea was wonderfully off the mark and even overrun by research, before I was able to improve it?

How do you realize that an idea is a mirage that will never work out? When do you insist on your idea, despite all the doubts and doubters, to be the most patient (and not the most stubborn) to initiate a paradigm shift?

After 25 years as a researcher, I can at least say that you have to imagine your ideas well. Then what you want to manifest will manifest.

Related news

Climate research in Greenland: Old data provides new insights

The polar explorer and University of Graz professor Alfred Wegener left behind a unique collection of climate data from Greenland. A research team from the University of Graz is now analysing this 100-year-old treasure trove of data and comparing it with current measurements.

Diversity in nature and science: How we talk about plants and each other

Ginkgo, kiwi, hemp: they exist as male and female plants. Anyone who paid attention in biology class will confirm this. But is this categorisation, established by Carl von Linné almost 300 years ago, still valid today? An interdisciplinary team at the University of Graz is questioning these attributions and using this as a starting point to provide food for thought for gender-sensitive interaction between students, scientific and teaching staff.

Around the world in eight stops: the Long Night of Research at the University of Graz

On 24 April from 5 pm, you can take a short trip around the globe at the University of Graz, discovering pecularities of foreign countries or new local features in the entrance hall of the University Library. The itinerary takes you through introduced animal species, political attitudes and the omnipotence of algorithms. There will also be a programme in the historic reading hall, as well as at the UniGraz@Museum and the University Archive.

Studying at the University of Graz: How to enrol

Ready for a new chapter in your life with the start of your studies at the University of Graz in the winter semester 2026/27? Here you will find information on deadlines, admission procedures, registration, and everything else you need to successfully start your studies in the fall.