Colloquium and Nachsitzung

I gave a colloquium at Universität Karlsruhe (TH) today. The university and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, which hosts my sabbatical, are due to merge into Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The seed to merge was sowed back in 2006 when the institutions made a joint proposal, and was selected by the German government, to become one of the first three elite universities in Germany.

There are two cultural differences for colloquia here:

1. The audience does not clap before or after the talk. They knock on the armrest or the table (or other hard surfaces) instead. This is also true for giving informal seminars.
2. The host will take the speaker out for drinks and dinner afterwards. Others in the faculty will also join. The name for this informal get-together/discussion session is called the Nachsitzung (literally means "after session").