The Johannes Kepler University Linz and the new IT:U Interdisciplinary Transformation University Austria have put together a comprehensive cooperation package. Its heart: the innovative doctoral program “Digital Transformation in Learning”. AI and digital tools are intended to take learning and teaching at universities to a new dimension. The application deadline for the English-language program is September 20th.
The newly founded Technical University IT:U and the Johannes Kepler University Linz are combining essential strengths and competencies with a cooperation agreement – and are also taking advantage of the advantages of their local proximity. A core element is collaboration in the completely redesigned doctoral program “Digital Transformation in Learning”.
This new study program, which leads to a PhD degree, starts in the winter semester of 2024 and is led by Ass.Prof., who has recently been appointed to IT:U. Sebastian Dennerlein and Univ.-Prof. Markus Hohenwarter headed. Hohenwarter is a professor at the JKU Linz School of Education and, among other things, the inventor of the dynamic geometry software GeoGebra. Dennerlein most recently researched and taught at the Institute for Educational Science and Technologies at the University of Twente (Netherlands) and is considered one of the leading minds in Europe for new learning and digital transformation of teaching.
JKU Rector Stefan Koch emphasizes: “With more than 24,000 students, the JKU is Upper Austria’s largest educational and research institution. The training of future teachers is also a key concern for us. The JKU has been teaching and researching at the Linz School of Education since 2016 and has a strong technology focus, also through the university-wide focus on digital transformation. We will bring this expertise into the new joint doctoral program and further expand our strengths.”
Stefanie Lindstaedt, founding president of IT:U, emphasizes: “With our new doctoral program ‘Digital Transformation in Learning’, IT:U is launching the first full-fledged study program just one year after it was launched. With this doctoral program, we want to revolutionize teaching at universities by using the huge potential of AI and digitalization together with innovative teaching methods for active learning in projects, higher personalization and better scalability in teaching.”
The doctoral students in the new program are supervised by an interdisciplinary team of professors from the two universities and thus benefit from the advantages and infrastructure of the cross-campus. This creates a strong hub for innovation and development of teaching at universities in Linz’s university district.
Strategic and operational partnership between JKU and IT:U
Together with the doctoral program, JKU and IT:U have also decided on a long-term strategic partnership in the cooperation agreement: An overarching “Strategy Board” at the highest level will identify and promote mutual development potential and synergies in study and research operations. Synergies in the infrastructure, such as the establishment of a shared computing center and the shared use of the cafeteria and the study library, are other important key points of the cooperation agreement.
“It is very important to both universities to further develop and strengthen Linz as a university location transparently and on an equal footing, and thus to provide lasting impetus for the Austrian research and education landscape.”emphasize Stefanie Lindstaedt and Stefan Koch.
OTS ORIGINAL TEXT PRESS RELEASE UNDER THE EXCLUSIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SENDER FOR CONTENT – WWW.OTS.AT | JKU