Last week, a symposium on the occasion of Prof. Rausch's retirement from his occupation at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna was held. The program, called "(K)ein Abschied" ("No/A goodbye"), included several speeches from colleagues covering various topics for which the university offered its ballroom.
After an introductory speech of the rector of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Petra Winter, the following lectures were held:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Riederer: "Wege zur Erforschung von Morbus Parkinson"
Dr. Rudolf Moldzio: "Das Institut für Medizinische Chemie in den letzten 10 Jahren"
Dr. Hugo Kanz Diplom Tzt.: "Vom Institut für Medizinische Chemie in die Praxis"
Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Franz Rubel: "Zeckenproblematik weltweit"
Ao.Univ.-Prof Dr. Teresa Valencak: "Kongresse der Vetmed in Asien"
Ao.Univ.- Prof. Dr. Günther Schauberger: "Umweltprojekte mit China"
Ao.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Richard Trappl (Confucius Institute, Vienna): "Wege nach China, Wege mit China"
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rudolf Bauer (University of Graz): "Kooperationen in Pharmakologie und TCM mit China"
Prof. Dr. Zhou Zhiqiang (Leiter der Bildungsabteilung, Botschaft der Volksrepublik China): "Kooperationen und Stipendienprogramme mit China"
From the lectures of colleagues it became clear, that Prof. Rausch looks back at not only a successful carreer, but also at numerous international friendships. While some talks outlined the long-standing relationship of Prof. Rausch to the respective person, others described how their own work related to Eurasia-Pacific Uninet. Furthermore, the lecturers expressed their admiration and gratitude for Prof. Rausch's commitment in the network.
Even though Prof. Rausch is withdrawing from his position as a professor for Biochemistry at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna he still keeps his presidentship for the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet. In this regard, Prof. Rausch will continue his legacy establishing contacts and partnerships between Austrian and Central-/Asian countries.
After finishing his doctoral degree in Biochemistry, Prof. Rausch received a two-year postdoc scholarship from the National Institute of Health (NIH), Maryland. Starting from 1980, he held a position at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. With his research interest in Neurochemistry, Prof. Rausch focused his work on age-related neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. Prof. Rausch takes up an important role in the research of human and animal neurological diseases. Furthermore, he has guest professorships in universities in China, Japan and Tajikistan. Since 2007, Prof. Rausch is actively involved in the advancement of the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and resumed Prof. Brigitte Winklehner's presidency in 2012. Today, the network takes up an important role in establishing contacts between a comparatively small Central European country like Austria with numerous countries in Centralasia and East Asia on a scientific.