Brunswick, the City of Henry the Lion, is the second big city in Lower Saxony in Germany with a population of around 240,000. It is characterized by an appealing and exciting blend of the past and the present, tradition and the future, science and culture. Braunschweig unites tradition and high technology, outstanding infrastructure and an excellent location at the heart of Northern Europe. Braunschweig is home to the oldest University of Technology in Germany, the Technische Universitaet Carolo-Wilhelmina, founded in 1745, and further fourteen internationally renown Research Institutions and National Laboratories. According to a recent study by the European Commission, it is the center of the most powerful research region in the entire EU. The University of Applied Sciences, Lower Saxony's only School of Design, the College of Fine Arts and Design "HBK" and, a multitude of colleges and National Laboratories in the fields of information technologies, sciences, physics and metrology, mobility and transportation, aeronautics and space, medicine and infection research, chemistry and biotechnology accomplish the science environment of Braunschweig.
Recently, Braunschweig's application entitled "Kitchen of Ideas" was awarded as City of Science 2007 by the Stifterverband fur die Deutsche Wissenschaft (German Foundation for Science).