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Archive of news from previous years

Professional development course on “Webinars in international projects and teaching”

The “Internationalisation 2.0” run by the Institute for Digital Learning (IDL) under the auspices of ifi is currently running a course on Internationale Online Teaching. You can register by contacting kathrin.horn(at)hs-kempten.de at the IDL:

Webinars in international projects and teaching – basic didactical and technical principles

Delivered online by lecturers and accessible to students all over the world, webinars are a key format in international teaching. To conduct them effectively, you need to be versed in the technology and didactics. You can learn what it takes in this seminar –

no need for previous experience. Our course will teach you all the basic principles. It consists of a 90-minute introductory webinar followed by 4 hours in class. You also have the option of a follow-on coaching session.

Please note:
You will need a laptop with internet access to take part in the webinar. We will send you the link in advance. Please make sure you plug your headset in before entering the virtual room. You should also bring your laptop to the classroom session too, please.

The learning objectives of this course are:
After completing this course, participants will know what webinars are (in contrast to other online teaching formats) and have developed an understanding of how teaching and learning work in webinars; they will know all the key functions of Adobe Connect and be able to run their own webinars using it; they will know various ways of making their webinars interactive and dynamic and be able to optimise their personal performance in webinars (language, set-up on screen, etc.)

Dates: Wednesday, 29 May 2019 webinar + Wednesday, 5 June 2019 classroom session
Times: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. webinar + 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. classroom session
Room: W216
Lecturers: Sandra Niedermeier, Kathrin Horn

International project server up and running

The university was able to secure funding from the Bavarian State Ministry in connection with its Internationalisation 2.0 project to install a state-of-the-art, high-performance server for international activities. With the installation now fully completed, the international project server (ips) is up and running – and raring to go. It is equipped with cutting-edge GitLab open-source software, which meets the latest industry standards and is proving very popular among students thanks to its wide range of functions and intuitive user interface. Versioning is performed using GIT open-source software.

The ips will in future be used to host international student projects involving partner universities, final theses abroad, and teaching and research in the international arena. It provides a central infrastructure and bolsters the international image of our university.

The first three pilot projects are already under way, run by the Faculty of Computer Science in conjunction with Michigan State University, USA.

We look forward to all the faculties making widespread use of the international project server We and invited anyone interested in doing so to contact the Institute for Internationalisation (ifi), either by email ips(at)hs-kempten.de or calling extension 300.

Visit by TH Deggendorf re. “Internationalisation 2.0”

On 7 November 2018, a team from Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences met with members of our own university at the Institute for Internationalisation. Mr Alexander Zitt and Dr Martina Reitmair-Krebs from the eLearning Centre in Deggendorf visited Kempten to intensify their collaboration on the “Internationalisation 2.0” project and offer their expertise in international video and web-conferencing.<br/> <br/> This project, which has secured funding in excess of one hundred thousand Euros from the Bavarian State Ministry, will encompass several strands at our university until 30 September 2022. A key component is the joint effort with TH Deggendorf to procure specialist equipment for international video and web-conferencing – particularly for small to medium-sized groups, e.g. for transmitting international project team meetings, including our students’ projects with international partner universities launched in March 2019 based on our international project server. These systems are also useful for webconferences relating to research projects, plus a number of our professors are interested in the potential for delivering binational and trinational lectures and international teaching using web and videoconferencing teaching.<br/> <br/> The event proved very popular amongst our own university corpus, attracting 18 participants. Besides the host IFI, it was attended by members of the Institute for Digital Learning, representative of the central IT hub, the video laboratory, the Languages Centre and the International Office and professors from various faculties.<br/> <br/> By now, all the contacts required to conduct the sub-projects have been made between Kempten und Deggendorf. After evaluating the system recommended by Professor Barkowsky from Deggendorf, IFI acquired the Logitech Webconferencing equipment in question. On Tuesday 27 November 2018, the set-up was found to be highly functional and user-friendly under stringent test conditions during a joint webconference with our colleagues in Deggendorf.<br/> <br/> If you would like to learn more about any of these topics, please feel free to get in touch with the Institute for Internationalisation. We would be delighted to hear from you!

Research trip to Michigan State University

Director of the Institute for Internationalisation Professor Jochen Staudacher visited Michigan State University from 28 October to 3 November 2018 in relation to the Bavarian Research Alliance-funded project “All for one or one for all: Examining the influence of differential remuneration schemes on the evolution of collaborative behaviour using agent-based simulation and game theory methods” to bolster the existing research collaboration with the working group led by Professor Arend Hintze. On 2 November 2018, Professor Staudacher gave a presentation on “Cooperative game theory, evolutionary computation and numerical experiments in R” as part of a research seminar conducted jointly by the Digital Evolution Laboratory and Michigan State University’s Evolving Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and discussed various approaches to making use of the results and methods in cooperative game theory for evolutionary models.

On 31 October during his stay at Michigan State University, Professor Staudacher also took part in a future-focused internal workshop on “Education 2035” and visited Kempten undergraduate David Richter, who was writing his bachelor’s thesis degree in a working group led by Professor Hintze. He also took the opportunity to talk with a number of colleagues in Michigan about plans to conduct joint student projects – particularly with regard to linking up on the new international project server at Kempten University of Applied Sciences. He spoke with fellow academics in computer science and evolutionary biology, representatives of the Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab and the Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), Dr Felix Kronenberg, who was about to conduct a return visit to Kempten University of Applied Sciences as an invited speaker at the Conference of University Language Centre Directors at the end of November 2018.

We continued to expand our collaboration with Michigan State University during the course of 2019. For example, Acacia Ackles and Emily Dolson from Michigan State University were to attend that year’s Summer School on “Data Science for Everyone” from 22 to 30 July 2019. We enjoy excellent collaboration with this partner.

We regularly post progress reports on the latest research work, closer collaboration with Michigan State University and joint projects here on our website.<br/>  

“Internationalisation 2.0” project

Since 1 October 2018, the Institute for Internationalisation has been acting as the coordinator for the “Internationalisation 2.0” funding line of the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts. The Institute is delighted to have secured this funding, securing a six-figure sum for four years to channel into harnessing the potential of digitalisation to strengthen our university’s internationalisation drive. Professor Jochen Staudacher

At the heart of this drive lies the construction of the “Kempten International Project Server”, aimed at hosting joint projects with our international partners in the future. It was scheduled to go live during Summer Semester 2019 for supporting international teaching activities throughout the university. The Faculty of Computer Science lined up several pilot student projects for co-operation with Michigan State University for summer 2019 with the aim of then sharing experiences. We were keen to break new ground conducting joint student projects with international partners, including regular virtual team meetings.

Another focal point is bolstering international teaching using video and web-conferencing. Here, we are collaborating with TH Deggendorf to harness synergies for joint procurement, share experience in international teaching using these media, and utilise a common teaching concept.

In particular, we aim to create cutting-edge mobile group solutions that enable collaborative live streaming of course elements and boosting their interactivity. Besides binational set-ups, we will also be trialling sessions linking three different countries. In addition, the video and web-conferencing equipment is to be used for conducting joint projects with international partners and communicating within international research projects.

The Institute will continue to provide regular progress reports on this trailblazing project, particularly about the “Kempten International Project Server” and the use of video and web conferencing for international collaboration.

1. Kempten International Summer School on “Data science for Everyone!”

We enjoyed some very eventful days during our first International Summer School on “Data Science for Everyone”, and we are delighted to have received so much positive feedback across the board from our participants.<br/> <br/> Between 22 and 31 July 2018, we hosted 17 international students from 11 different countries all over the world at our university. Under the banner “Data Science for Everyone”, they immersed themselves in the analysis tools “R” and “Rstudio” and sampled the latest trends, such as deep learning. Above all, participants enjoyed the direct practical relevance of numerous training units and appreciated the helpful tutors offering continuous additional support.<br/> <br/> Students had a great time getting to know Kempten and Bavaria on the wide-ranging extracurricular programme. They visited Schloss Neuschwanstein, sampled some mountain air on the Tegelberg, explored Munich the BMW Museum and enjoyed an informative visit to Robert Bosch GmbH. They frequented beer gardens, sampled German food, had loads of fun at the “Bavarian Get Together” and made new friends from all over the world. The Allgäu shone in its full glory with unstinting sunshine in the mid-summer heat. This made saying goodbye all the more difficult after ten days.<br/> <br/> It wasn’t just our guests who spent the time gathering rich experiences and new impressions. Our visitors touched us profoundly with their open minds, genuine interest, thirst for knowledge and eagerness to learn. And we’re quite certain this won’t be the last time we see some of them at our university.<br/> <br/> We have put together an album of “Best of 2018” snapshots from the Summer School at www.kemptensummerschool.de including photos, a video diary, blogs and feedback from the participants ...<br/> <br/> Enjoy browsing and dreaming of your relaxing, beautiful vacation!<br/>  

“Evolutionary games” software package

The “ EvolutionaryGames” software package developed by Daniel Gebele and Jochen Staudacher is an official extension to the free programming language R for evolutionary game theory concepts that has made a very positive mark. Besides data analyst Joseph Rickert listing it amongst his “Top 40” of the 237 R software packages launched in November 2017, more than 400 users have already downloaded it all over the world. The software was designed as a tool to help the Institute’s expert group on “Data Science & Networked Life” collaborate on application-oriented interdisciplinary research projects with international partner universities.

Research project run by the International Lake Constance University of Applied Sciences

On 5 and 6 October 2017, Professors Jochen Staudacher (left) and Armin Brysch (right) visited Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Winterthur. They hooked up with colleagues from ZHAW and Vorarlberg Advanced Technical College in a joint workshop to drive forward the IBH project on “Careerability”.<br/>  

Visit by Jory Schossau from Michigan State University

At the invitation of Professor Staudacher, Dr Jory Schossau from Michigan State University visited Kempten for a research sojourn from 8 to 14 July 2017. During his stay, he delivered a lecture on evolutionary game theory in the Faculty of Computer Science on 10 July and spoke at the inaugural ceremony on 12 July.

Founding of the Institute for Internationalisation (ifi)

The international inaugural ceremony for the Institute for Internationalisation (ifi) at Kempten University of Applied Sciences was held on 12 July. The remit of the new Institute encompasses coordinating, pooling and assisting activities throughout and beyond Europe to enhance the university’s internationalisation drive.

The globalised economy and worldwide networked research require young academics to possess international awareness and intercultural skills. This spurs Kempten University of Applied Sciences to determinedly expand its international and interdisciplinary activities. After preparations lasting nigh-on a year, the Institute for Internationalisation (ifi) was officially founded on 8 June. Its remit will include supporting and developing international and interdisciplinary learning, events and research plans. On 12 July, the Institute showcased its profile at a small inaugural ceremony. In his opening speech, the President of Kempten University of Applied Sciences, Professor Robert F. Schmidt, emphasised the acute need felt by the export-heavy Allgäu region for young academics with an international outlook. Pointing out that “Internationalisation at Kempten University of Applied Sciences already means innovative teaching and academic exchange with a global perspective,”

he voiced his conviction that “The new Institute will make the opportunities presented by our international activities even more prominent.” Professor Mechtild Becker, Vice President for Internationalisation and the Institute’s patron, presented video messages from students expressing their passion for international exchange. Professor Becker highlighted the positive experiences that have stemmed from the existing network of more than 90 international university partners. “Yet we need even more cross-cutting collaboration that networks students on different degree programmes and spawns interdisciplinary teams,” she declared, to meet the challenges that will emerge in the future.

<br/> On a research sojourn from Michigan State University in the United States, Dr Jory Schossau offered his thoughts on the new Institute. His experience in industry and research has taught Schossau to value interdisciplinary teams and cross-cutting collaboration immensely. He highlighted the inestimable importance of the diversity offered by international teams in particular. Dr Schossau added that the scant week he was spending at Kempten University of Applied Sciences had motivated him greatly and he looked forward to further scientific collaboration between Germany and the United States.

<br/> Professor Jochen Staudacher declared in his inaugural speech as Director of the Institute that the remit outlined in the Institute’s statute to act as a central university facility established an ideal framework for trustworthy collaboration with the faculties and the International Office Amongst the projects the Institute has planned, he highlighted the establishment of an international Summer<br/> School on Data Science and Big Data for international students, starting in <br/> Summer Semester 2018. The Director outlined the concept for offering international visiting students an introduction to trailblazing techniques for handling masses of data scientifically and examining specific application cases in particular disciplines, surely inspiring those involved to spend guest semesters at Kempten University of Applied Sciences.