Ulm University and the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute Heilbronn are pooling their expertise in the field of digital transformation: in future, up to 20 doctoral students will conduct research on topics related to digital change in a new cooperative graduate school funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation. The "Graduate School Digital Transformation Heilbronn/Ulm" focuses working closely with business and society in order to transfer scientific findings directly into practice.
Ulm University and the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute Heilbronn (FSTI ) have launched a joint graduate school on digital transformation. In the "Graduate School Digital Transformation Heilbronn/Ulm" (GSDT), doctoral students are researching digital change in business and society. Ulm University contributes its expertise in digital platforms and markets, sustainable digital transformation and (explainable) artificial intelligence. As a non-university research institute, the FSTI contributes its internationally recognised expertise in areas such as digital twins, cooperative data spaces and sustainable value creation, particularly with a focus on SMEs. The joint research projects will focus, for example, on the use of Explainable Artificial Intelligence in industry and how such systems can contribute to automation and what added value they bring.
The GSDT, which is funded by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, will initially start with up to ten doctoral students and can later grow to up to 20 doctoral students. The PhD students will be jointly supervised by scientists from Ulm University and the FSTI. By establishing the graduate school, the partners reinforce their cooperation and contribute significantly to the digital transformation of value creation processes in Germany in collaboration with the Bildungscampus Heilbronn and the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Park as well as other stakeholders from the scientific community, economic viability, politics and society. The office of the Graduate School is located at the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute in Heilbronn.
Wwith its strategic profile area "From Data to Knowledge", Ulm University and the research institutions at the Heilbronn educational campus, in particular the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute, complement each other perfectly in the GSDT. "Our collaboration, which is especially tight in Digital Business and Analytics, is developing into a flagship project in Baden-Württemberg. Together, we are researching how the digital future of business and society can be shaped," says Professor Michael Weber, President of Ulm University. The managing director of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, Professor Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer, is delighted about the expansion of doctoral opportunities on the education campus: "In addition to scientific innovation impulses, interdisciplinary doctoral projects also create useful knowledge for the economy and society within the meaning of a real-world impact. I am certain that we can create real added value through this cooperation."
"Thanks to our trusting cooperation, the first doctoral projects have already started," emphasise the spokespersons of the Graduate School, Professor Mathias Klier from the Institute for Business Analytics at Ulm University and Professor Heiner Lasi, Academic Director of the FSTI. Quality assurance is a top priority: The doctoral students regularly present their research progress at the Heilbronn Research Colloquium (HFC). The first interdisciplinary research projects were already presented there in February.
Further information:
Prof. Dr Mathias Klier, Institute for Business Analytics, Ulm University, email: mathias.klier(at)uni-ulm.de
Prof. Dr Heiner Lasi, Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute Heilbronn, email: heiner.lasi(at)ferdinand-steinbeis-institut.de
Text and media contact: Christine Liebhardt