On 1 September, another professorship was successfully filled in the Faculty of Applied Computer Science at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). Prof. Dr. Thomas Buchmann, an expert in software engineering and model-driven software development, joins the growing faculty at DIT with immediate effect.

The IT specialist looks back on a successful academic career at the University of Bayreuth. His diploma in mathematics in 2002 was later followed by a doctorate (2010) and habilitation (2017), both in computer science. "After that, I taught and researched for five years as an academic councillor at Bayreuth University," Buchmann reports. But the 45-year-old native of the Upper Palatinate also brings practical business experience with him to Deggendorf. Between his studies and his doctorate, Buchmann worked for Desko GmbH, a developer of hardware for reading documents such as ID cards, barcodes, magnetic strips and chip cards. There he headed the software development department for three years. Prof. Buchmann, who describes himself as "calm, level-headed, but also determined", finds the development dynamics at DIT particularly interesting. "The growth that the Deggendorf Institute of Technology has to show," says the software expert, "is quite impressive." This has excited him and he would like to be on board in order for him to bring his own extensive experience to research and contribute to teaching.

In September, preparatory courses for first-year students will begin at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). First-semester students can refresh their knowledge in basic subjects with this course offer. Registration is still possible.

The preparatory courses are offered in subjects such as accounting, mathematics, physics or computer science. The course "Studying with Success" provides prospective students with practical tips on how to organise their daily study routine, how to prepare for exams on an ongoing basis and how to work scientifically. The complete range of courses can be viewed on the internet at www.th-deg.de/en/study-with-us/prep-courses. Students can also register directly online. Questions about the courses can be answered by the Career Service via e-mail at vorbereitungs-kurse@th-deg.de or by phone at +49 991 3615 223.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has been able to attract a first-class appointment for the professorship of "Global Public Health". Dr. Sabine Dittrich has held the position at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen since 1 August. Her students in the Master's programme Global Public Health can look forward to a lecturer with worldwide experience in public health.

Colourful and curious - that is simply Prof. Dr. Sabine Dittrich's motto. "From my red hair to my stories from all over the world - colourful, curious, yet determined and assertive. That probably describes me best," Dittrich says about herself. Her curiosity and hard work have taken as far as Singapore, England, the Netherlands, Laos and Switzerland. After almost 20 years abroad, the native of Augsburg is now returning to Bavaria. In her luggage: a lot of experience in terms of health care and research. Her area of expertise relates to how pathogens are detected, diagnosed and communicated in the health system. Her work in Laos and Geneva had the greatest impact on the microbiologist. In Asia, she researched and practised at the country's largest state hospital; in Geneva, she sat as an expert at the round table to help make global health decisions. She knows the systems inside and out. Sabine Dittrich has worked with the world's top infectious disease researchers, held positions at the EU and the Tropical Institute in Berlin, and maintains close ties with the University of Oxford. She now wants to bring her expertise, experience and networks to DIT. "I am looking forward to meeting the students and working with them on how to build better health systems. It will be great to educate this next generation to ensure that all people around the world have access to good healthcare including new technologies," says the newly appointed professor. At DIT, the combination of international orientation and a pragmatic and innovative environment appeal to her. Her students can expect practical examples and interactions with colleagues in international organisations as well as many discussions from her. After all, Dr Sabine Dittrich knows that only those who are open to new opinions and data can follow scientifically sound paths. Until the students return to the university in early October, the new professor and her dog are busy settling in and getting used to the local dialect.

On 11 November the DigiHealthDay (DHD) will take place for the third time. The international scientific symposium will be preceeded by two more workshops and an Erasmus+ blended intensive programme on artificial intelligence in healthcare. Registration to all events of the DHD22 series is still open. In addition, the submission deadline for scientific papers will be extended until 1 October.

The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) hosts the DHD for the third time, this year as a hybrid event (on-site and live stream). In the run up to the main event on 11 November, there will be two more workshops in October on relevant topics of Digital Health. Participation in the virtual workshops is free and registration is open on the official website: www.th-deg.de/digihealthday

Preceeding the main event, there will be an Erasmus+ blended intensive programme from 7 to 11 November. The programme titled “Explainable and Ethical AI in Healthcare” is funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme and will be hosted by DIT-ECRI, University of Agder (Norway), Aalborg University (Denmark) and Luleå Technical University (Sweden). People interested in participating in the programme can register by sending an e-mail to info.digihealth@th-deg.de, including name, affiliation / position, and study programmes (for students) until 1 October.

Researchers and scientific staff can also contribute to the DHD22 by submitting scientific papers in the field of Digital Health to the committee. Scientific contributions will be published jointly in DIT’s Journal of Applied Interdisciplinary Research (JAIR) and the Ukrainian Journal of Medical Informatics and Engineering, to support the Ukrainian colleagues in the field of Digital Health research. In addition to that there is an extraordinary chance for students to win a cash price for their R&D project, including the thesis work on Digital Health topics. The deadline for both submissions, the scientific papers and the student projects, will be extended until 1 October. Information on submissions and criteria can be found on the official website: www.th-deg.de/digihealthday

The main DHD22 event on 11 November includes plenaries, scientific and student sessions, a special EFMI Session, and a panel discussion. The international scientific symposium features Prof. Dipak Kalra (UK), Prof. Bernd Blobel (Germany), Prof. Rajendra Gupta (India), Prof. Sarah Wamala Andersson (Sweden), Prof. Louise Pape-Haugaard (Denmark), Prof. Martin Gerdes (Norway) and other world-renowned speakers.

The DHD22 series is hosted by DIT-ECRI in cooperation with its sponsors and partners: Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care (Stmgp), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI), German Society of Digital Medicine e.V. (DGDM), German Telemedicine Society (DGTelemed), Bavarian Telemedinice Alliance (BTA), Armenian Association of Digital Health (AADH), City of Pfarrkirchen, Russian-Armenian University (RAU), People's Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), National Healthcare University of Ukraine (NHU), and DigitalHealthNews.eu (the media partner).

At the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) summer fest in July, various cakes were sold at the international bake sale. The proceeds from the cake sale have now been donated to the Kinderkrebshilfe Rottal-Inn e.V. (Children’s Cancer Aid).

It is a tradition that cakes are sold for a good cause at the ECRI summer fest and the proceedings are donated to a charity. This year, the cake sale raised a total of € 385. Campus Director Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt added the remaining difference to €500 from his own pocket, which were donated to the Kinderkrebshilfe Rottal-Inn e.V..

For Josef Hofbauer, the 1^st chairman of the Kinderkrebshilfe Rottal-Inn e.V., the donation is an important signal and enabled the association to support children with cancer and services that are not covered by health insurance. In addition, donations can also help many families who are in financial need due to the disease, for example, when the salary is not enough or the parents have to stop working to be able to care for their child. Every donation, no matter how large or small, is needed and goes directly to where it is needed. Hofbauer emphasised during his visit to the campus. He also exchanged views with Prof. Kunhardt on the palliative and hospice situation in the Rottal and the surrounding districts of Passau and Deggendorf. The lack of palliative care and assistance in the region makes the work of the Kinderkrebshilfe Rottal-Inn e.V. all the more necessary.

At the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), numerous young people will once again begin their studies in October. Many of them come from a different country and cultural background. In order to promote cultural exchange and to bring students closer to the Bavarian culture, ECRI is once again offering the Host Family Programme this semester. Interested students can register now.

The Host Family Programme enables international students to make contacts off campus and to get to know the Bavarian culture and way of life. For this purpose, the university establishes contact between students and locals, who then meet informally and as often as they like. Whether it’s coffee and cake, a trip to the beer garden, a games evening or cooking together. There are many opportunities to introduce students to the area and culture.

Participants in the Host Family Programme don’t need to be afraid of possible language barriers. Most students know German very well and are happy to use their language skills in conversation with locals. For locals, too, the Host Family Programme offers the perfect opportunity to speak English casually and thus deepen their language vocabulary. In addition, they get to know the respective country of the students, its inhabitants and their culture. Last but not least, friendships are also made and togetherness is enriched. A small insight into the programme is provided by the university’s podcast, in which participants share their experiences so far. You can find the podcast at: https://www.th-deg.de/campustalk.

Further information and the application form for the Host Family Programme can be found on the website at www.th-deg.de/hostfamily. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Ebertseder via e-mail at andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de or give her call on +49 991 3615 8863.

The Host Family Programme is a non-profit organisation of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, which is dedicated to the integration of foreign students. At ECRI in Pfarrkirchen, the programme started for the first time in the winter semester 2019/2020 with six host familied and ten students.

The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) is pleased to announce a donation from the District Association of the Lower Bavarian Sparkassen to the ECRI Support Association. The cheque for € 2,500 will directly benefit the students, who will have access to a drinking water dispenser from October.

Martin Ruhland, Chairman of the Board of Sparkasse Rottal-Inn, presented the cheque from the District Association of the Lower Bavarian Sparkassen. Dean Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer and university coordinator Georg Riedl were also present when the cheque was handed over to Michael Fahmüller, the first chairman of the ECRI support association.

The money from the donation will go towards a water dispenser on campus, from which students will benefit from the coming semester. The water dispenser not only supplies fresh drinking water, but also counts how many plastic bottles are saved by students refilling their bottles. The project not only demonstrates how important it is to take care of water resources, but also how good the water quality is in Germany. For many students, drinkable water from the tap is so unimaginable that they resort to water from plastic bottles. With a project on drinking water, the university wants to sensitise students to the issue. For example, signs saying "Drinking Water" have already been placed on the taps in the university. Thanks to the donation from the District Association of Lower Bavarian Savings Banks, this project can be expanded to include a water dispenser and the built-in meter will make the extent to which this is done for the environment clear, thus contributing to sustainability.

An event was recently held at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) campus for company representatives and researchers to learn about advances in drone and software technology in the field of digital inspection of buildings and infrastructures. With over 120 participants and positive feedback throughout, the event was a great success.

Under the title “Digital Inspection: Buildings, Structures, Drones & more”, the modern and complex topic of “digital inspection in construction” was extensively examined from several sides. After a welcome by the university management, represented by Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt, experts from STRUCINSPECT (a subsidiary of the world market leader and manufacturer of innovative cranes PALFINGER) reported on the possibilities of digital building inspection in the context of building data modelling, or BIM for short, drones and software. With the help of a practical example of a motorway subway, the speakers impressively demonstrated how digital inspection can be carried out in practice today.

Afterwards, Louisa Harmann, Customer Success Expert of the Munich-based company Fairfleet GmbH, spoke about challenges and solutions of buildings and roof inspection from the air and presented many practical examples and applications of drone technology.

This was followed by a panel discussion in which, in addition to the speakers from the two keynote presentations, the founders of the Deggendorf-based start-up “Squadron”, which was founded by DIT students at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen, also had their say. Everyone agreed that technological progress can make the processes of recording, documenting and eliminating defects many times faster and easier. Finally, there was an opportunity for informal exchange for guests and speakers present.

The number of 120 participants at the event shows the great interest of the industry in the topic. The initiative for the event came from Hubert Girschitzka, Business Development Partner of STRUCINSPECT in Bavaria and Pfarrkirchen’s former mayor Georg Riedl.

They are not only the first in Deggendorf, but in all of Germany: In a ceremony in the city’s Old Town Hall, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) said goodbye to the graduates of the Bachelor’s programme in Artificial Intelligence at the end of June. Seven former students were delighted to receive their certificates from the hands of programme coordinator Prof. Dr. Heribert Popp and AI professor Dr. Patrick Glauner.

A special video message came from Germany’s largest institute for artificial intelligence (DFKI). Managing Director Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger did not miss the opportunity to send special greetings to Deggendorf on the occasion of the first Bachelor AI graduates in Germany. He appealed: Be aware of your ethical responsibility and put people at the centre of your AI projects. Krüger emphasised the key role of artificial intelligence for the future and praised the Deggendorf Institute of Technology for recognising this faster than other universities and consequently being able to say goodbye to the first graduates. The initiator and coordinator of the programme, Prof. Dr. Dr. Heribert Popp, congratulated his former students. He pointed out that with this certificate they had bright prospects not only in Germany and Europe. With a degree from DIT, one of the most successful university start-ups in Bavaria with enormous growth, an above-average international share and internationally successful rankings, they would not have to hide in the USA either, said Popp.

Artificial Intelligence has been booming for several years, skilled workers are in short supply, and the federal and state governments are trying to promote the topic with considerable funds. The Deggendorf Institute of Technology reacted quickly and has been offering the Bachelor’s programme in Artificial Intelligence since 2019. At the start of the new degree programme, already trained computer scientists from the various disciplines were also admitted. They were able to have the common modules from their computer science studies credited to them. In addition, all students were already working in IT professions, and the necessary practical semester was also omitted. Thus, in October 2021, the first students were able to successfully complete their Bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence at DIT after only two years of study and while working.

On 15 July, students from the Healthy and Sustainable Buildings course at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) went on an excursion together with course director Prof. Dr. Michael Laar. They visited the company Schlagman Poroton and the town of Burghausen.

The group started at the Schlagman Poroton company in Zeilarn. The students learned about various building materials, including the world's best pure mineral highly insulating brick. The know-how and the range of products, as well as the ultra-modern production facilities, were therefore particularly interesting for the students at Schlagman Poroton. The company then invited the students to lunch together in Marktl.

Afterwards, the group went on to Burghausen. They immersed themselves in medieval architecture at the longest castle in the world. In addition to the buildings of the castle, the students also visited the museum with Renaissance paintings of the Bavarian State Gallery. They discussed, among other things, the development of perspectives in paintings since the Renaissance until today.

Urban planning also plays a major role for the students of the Healthy and Sustainable Buildings programme. Therefore, the group explored the historic city centre and the Grüben as an example of a well achieved balance between preservation of the historic substance and modern use at the same time. The adjacent Wöhrsee as an inner-city and sustainable leisure option was also on the agenda. During the excursion, the international students were not only interested in the technical topics. They also absorbed the information about the development of Bavarian culture. The knowledge about the historical development as well as the modern and innovative building materials form an important basis for the students' future work in Bavarian and German companies.

On 20 July, US Consul General Timothy E. Liston, in the presence of former Member of the German Parliament Bartholomäus Kalb, made a brief detour to the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences as part of a visit to the Deggendorf district. Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber, President of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), reported to his guests on the current connections of DIT to the United States.

The Consul General was particularly impressed by the university's Silicon Valley Program and the intensive cooperation between DIT and the Santa Clara University in California. "A showcase project in terms of spin-offs and especially in the effort to transform innovations into marketable products and companies," as Prof. Sperber emphasised. The Consul General was naturally pleased to hear that the American start-up spirit and contact with successful US companies could also give start-ups in Lower Bavaria a tailwind.

According to Sperber, there is still room for improvement in the number of students coming to Deggendorf from the USA. But the university is very active in this area and tries, among other things, "to attract young people to us with study programmes that are very close to the social challenges of our time", says Sperber. Thematically, this ranges from health to digitalisation. In the opposite direction, DIT's International Office will be able to arrange semesters abroad in the United States for about ten students this academic year. Unfortunately, the Covid effects are still being felt to some extent, especially in overseas exchanges. This has (still) resulted in a lower number of students studying abroad than in previous years.

Two of the currently fastest supercomputers in Germany are located in computing centres near Munich. The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) and the Max Planck Society are responsible for the high-performance computers. They have now given students from the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) a rare look behind the scenes.

During the excursion to Garching, the students of the Master's degree programme High-Performance Computing/Quantum Computing were able to take a close look at the supercomputers of both computing centres. "SuperMuc-NG" and "Raven&Raven" are ranked 2nd and 5th respectively among the fastest supercomputers in Germany. "SuperMuc-NG" of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre is even listed as the 26th fastest computer worldwide.

From the scientists of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre and the Max Planck Society, the students learned more about the infrastructure and operation of these high-performance computing centres - from hardware to software to security measures to research and services performed. According to Prof. Dr. Rui Li and Prof. Dr. Peter Faber, the first look inside the supercomputer "SuperMuc-NG" was impressive. The group was also particularly interested in the energy and cooling system. Especially with regard to the topic of sustainability. The hosts answered questions in detail. The group of visitors was surprised that even groundwater from the Isar wetlands is used to cool the computer centres.

Even though it is probably assumed otherwise, it is often difficult for university start-ups to find fellow entrepreneurs to build up their business. Start-up advisors from the universities and colleges from the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Passau, Landshut, Regensburg and Amberg-Weiden have noticed this and want to find a solution together. They see a solution in cross-university talent matching events. The first online event took place on 7 July under the motto “Startups meet students”.

The cooperation between the universities increases the chance for the start-ups to find the right team member. They can present themselves to a larger audience and meet students from even more disciplines. A total of eight selected start-up teams presented their start-up projects at the first Talent Matching Event in 3-minute pitches and then went into detail about their vacant positions. They were looking for co-founders, permanent team members, final-year students, working students or interns. Around 85 students took part in the event. After the pitches, they were able to get to know the prospective founders in small groups and in a personal atmosphere.

This time, the talent matching event was organised by the DIT Startup Campus together with the Landshut University of Applied Scienced, the University of Passau and the O/HUBs (University of Regensburg, OTH Regensburg and OTH Amberg-Weiden). All participants can imagine holding further events at each university in turn.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has succeeded in acquiring funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for basic research in black skin cancer. Prof Dr Melanie Kappelmann-Fenzl is researching the molecular basis of black skin cancer. She is particularly interested in deciphering the misdirected activation in tumours, i.e. why a birthmark changes pathologically. In the future, individualised diagnostics and therapy for those affected could be derived from this.

Personalised medicine and highly innovative therapy approaches have been finding their way into the treatment of cancer for years. Intensive, interdisciplinary basic research is necessary for this. It should uncover what happens in the tumor cells and reveal the complex interrelationships in ever greater detail. That is what Melanie Kappelmann-Fenzl is doing with the help of bioinformatic data. Thanks to the German Research Foundation, she will be able to strengthen her team over the next three years and has found a cooperation in the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Kappelmann-Fenzl’s vision is clear: “This basic research, which is now also being funded in Deggendorf, will hopefully create a better understanding and perhaps reveal approaches for individualised diagnostics and therapy, which, among other things, can have a corresponding effect on healthcare in the region as part of the Medical Campus in Lower Bavaria.” With the help of the funding provided by the DFG, academic training at DIT can also be deepened in this direction. A doctoral position in bioinformatics is expected to be available for this purpose at the end of 2022. Melanie Kappelmann-Fenzl has already been working on the training of data analysts as part of the Master’s programme in Life Science Informatics since 2019.

Prof Peter Schmieder was named “Male Entrepreneur Leader of the Year” in Florence on 28 June. For the head of the Bavarian Innovation Transformation Centre (BITZ) Oberschneiding, it is the reward for more than ten years of hard work in the field of business start-ups. Schmieder has thus made history with his Silicon Valley Program in Lower Bavaria and for the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT).

As the best leader for founders and young companies in Europe has Prof Peter Schmieder accepted his winner’s trophy when his name was called last by Prof Dr Thorsten Kliewe, Chairman of the ACEEU (Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities). A top-class, 60-member jury had made the decision. “The competition was strong with renowned competitors from the other countries. Of course, I hoped so, but I still didn’t think that my team and I would actually come out at the top in the end,” Schmieder said, “unbidden” with joy about the Triple-E title. “This is an award for all of us in Oberschneiding and for the Silicon Valley School. It shows that we are on the right track.” The three “E”s of the award, incidentally, stand for Entrepreneurship, Engagement and Education.

The Triple-E Award is intended to draw attention to a necessary transformation at colleges and universities in the European region. “We are very resourceful in Germany when it comes to new technologies. But when things work in the lab, that’s often the end for us. We leave the marketing of such an idea to others and prefer to devote ourselves to new problems again,” Schmieder explains the dilemma at our universities. It’s different at the famous US universities. There, researchers are supposed to go a few steps further. The idea is to become a product, the product is to be scaled to large markets and thus develop benefits for many people. And, of course, profit for those who discovered, developed and brought it to the market. It is precisely this successful, American approach of the DIT Silicon Valley Program that trains professors and is the brand essence of the BITZ in Oberschneiding-

For Schmieder, winning the Triple-E Award is a great achievement: “Our Silicon Valley Program increases the entrepreneurial potential of regional business and management teams. And it does so through a scientifically based, continuous and accompanied process.” And that is precisely what the programme has now been awarded for. For the DIT professor, the matter is clear. He wants the best of both worlds: “German ingenuity and Silicon Valley mindset.”

After two years of corona-related abstinence, the 43rd Football Championship of the Bavarian Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW) took place on 8 July. A total of ten universities sent the best footballers among their employees to the tournament in Landshut, this year's host.

Led by team captain Alexander Zitt, the DIT footballers fought their way to first place in one of two groups of five. In the semi-final match against the team from the universities of Kempten and Ansbach, the DIT players won 3:2 and thus secured their place in the final. There, they only narrowly missed a sensation in an exciting match against the men from OTH Regensburg. In the end, the Regensburg team deservedly won the match 5:3. Nevertheless, it was a bitter blow for the DIT team because they had managed to get the upper hand over the eventual tournament winners in the group phase with a 2-1 victory. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the joy of winning the vice-championship and the shared title of top scorer for Christian Ebner prevailed.

A big thank you goes to the organisation team of the Landshut University of Applied Sciences. They had also provided a great supporting programme with various activities outside of the tournament. For example, the supporters of the DIT team who had travelled with them were able to prove themselves at the goal wall and score a goal or two. The all-round successful day was rounded off with a joint dinner and subsequent award ceremony in the canteen of Landshut University of Applied Sciences.

In keeping with the motto "After the game is before the game", all those involved at DIT agreed as soon as the final whistle blew to continue training together as part of the company sports programme in order to be able to play a good role again in the upcoming Bavarian University Football Championships.

On Saturday, 9 July, after a two-year break, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen was finally able to organise a summer fest again. The event attracted both young and old visitors, students and locals alike, who all got their money's worth.

After the official welcome of the guests by Dean Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer and the 2nd Mayor of Pfarrkirchen, Hermann Gaßner, the young visitors immediately joined the Children's University. The topic this time was optical illusions and why we see what isn’t. The next generation made the human kicker unsafe and tried their luck against the 1st team of TuS Pfarrkirchen e.V.. At the Spielecafé der Generationen, everyone played together in colourful teams.

Those who wanted to learn more about the campus could watch exciting experiments at the Open Labs, ask the lab engineers questions and also try out experiment themselves. In the two campus tours, visitors not only learned more about ECRI, the students, the focal points and the history of the international campus in Pfarrkirchen, Lower Bavaria, but also stopped off at all the labs, the library and the cafeteria. There, the physical well-being was well taken care of with international dishes and ice cream. Those who wanted a sweet dessert afterwards could choose from a variety of international cakes. The proceeds of the cake sale will be donated again this year to the Kinderkrebshilfe Rottal-Inn e.V.. The Lazy Cat provided various coffee specialities and aperitifs with its Catmobile.

In the evening, the ECRI band played, in a small line-up due to the upcoming exam period, and heated up the audience in the marquee. The student duo played a colourful mix of well-known songs that invited the audience to sing along. Afterwards, the band Pinja Daunen stepped it up a notch with a mixture of ska, rock and indie and made the tent shake. After a few encores and almost two hours of playing time, Pinja Daunen closed ECRI's Summer Festival 2022 with their last song. The students were so enthusiastic about the musicians that they spontaneously stormed the stage to take a photo together.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has joined the initiative "OHA!-Ostbayern handelt". The association, based in Regensburg, is committed to sustainability and climate protection.

At the end of June, university president Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber and the first chairman of the association Eduard B. Wagner signed a cooperation agreement. The common goal is to promote a climate-neutral and sustainable society. In doing so, the cooperation partners support, among others, companies that take on a pioneering and exemplary role in climate neutrality and sustainability, as well as companies that want to set out on the path towards more sustainable business.

In 2016, DIT founded the Sustainable Development WG and thus formally recorded activities and efforts around the topic of sustainability for the first time. In 2021, the university appointed Prof. Dr. Michael Laar as sustainability officer and officially anchored the topic in the university structure. Since October 2021, Michael Laar has been working with representatives from eight German higher education institutions to develop practical intervention strategies and individual measures for saving energy. These are to be explicitly aimed at universities of applied sciences.

In Deggendorf, there are Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in the field of environmental engineering, as well as in Pfarrkirchen at the European Campus Rottal-Inn the Master's degree programme "Sustainable and Healthy Buildings". Furthermore, the sustainability campus in Pfarrkirchen has a sustainability laboratory where students from different disciplines deal with the complementary topic of ecological, economic and social sustainability.

At the end of June, the joint research team of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) presented itself at the "Automatica". Under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Berthold Bäuml, the latest research results in the field of "Intelligent Robotics", or more precisely, on skilled, robotic manipulation, were shown. And they amazed not only the scientific community.

Automatica is the leading global trade fair in the field of automation and robotics. Every two years, around 30,000 visitors come to Munich, with a high proportion of trade visitors. "We were able to show a wide audience our work on learning skilled in-hand manipulation, which is unique in the world so far," reports Prof. Bäuml enthusiastically. The idea behind this is that a robot in a multi-fingered hand moves an object without dropping it. And it does so upside down and without looking - in other words, only with the help of the sense of touch. "This complex exercise," explains Bäuml, "was learned completely independently in a simulation in just 36 hours using so-called "reinforcement learning" and then executed with the real hand of the DLR humanoid "Agile Justin"." What may sound simple to people who are not familiar with this topics is in fact not. The work of the DIT-DLR laboratory "Autonomous Learning Robots" attracted great interest and recognition at the fair. And not only with the Minister of Science, Dr. Markus Blume, but also with the numerous, internationally highly renowned scientists represented as well as with some important CEOs of the robotics industry. Bäuml reports that his team succeeded in surpassing the results originally shown by the company OpenAI for learning robotic in-hand manipulation. And OpenAI is not just anyone. After all, the US company is funded by Elon Musk, among others. OpenAI had recently abandoned the topic because of too many problems. "To have successfully stayed with it," says the DIT professor, "makes us a little proud."

The DIT-DLR Joint Research Lab is a joint research group of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology and the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics of the German Aerospace Center with laboratories at the BITZ in Oberschneiding and the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhofen. Since the beginning of 2022, work has already been underway on the commercialisation of the robotic hand as well as the intelligent learning processes for applications in industrial production as part of the "SmartHand" research project funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs together with a company from the Deggendorf region. This is seen as a key technology, as only through a massive expansion of automation will production in Germany still be possible at all in the future. Especially because of the shortage of labour.

Since 2020, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has been a partner of the Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator (BIPA). The programme brings together students from Bavaria, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and companies from Bavaria. The companies assign tasks to the students, who are supposed to work out innovative solutions as an international team. Last year, students Franziska Feldbauer and Marouane Khoukh from DIT took part. Using their example, the university wants to motivate other companies and students to take part in the programme. Only a few months later, Franziska and Marouane are now working on their own start-up.

They laid the foundation for it at the company PS Cooperation, which also participated in BIPA. They gave the students the task of thinking through the topic of warehouse management and Kanban in terms of digital possibilities. Franziska and Marouane had the right profile for this - as did Neama Al-Ali from the United Arab Emirates and Tom Tsukermann and Yuval Peretz from Israel. Through the organisers of BIPA, they were selected as a team for the PS Cooperation. Josef Gutsmiedl, who works at the PS Cooperation location in Eggenfelden, was on hand to mentor the team. For him, the exchange between university and company was exciting: "The students brought "innovative spirit" with them and came up with completely new approaches." He was impressed by the excellent result that the students produced in only two months and that corresponded exactly to the company's ideas. The fact that Gutsmiedl is still in contact with Franziska and Marouane after the BIPA programme is all the more gratifying. Franziska and Marouane would like to further develop their start-up idea "WhereHouse" together with him and their mentor Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Dorner. WhereHouse is an AI-based solution for providing a digital twin for warehouses. Students and companies can participate in BIPA again this year. Companies can e-mail startupcampus@th-deg.de. Students apply online at: https://bip-accelerator.com/. The 2022 programme starts on 17 October with a workshop in Munich and ends on 14 December with a workshop and presentation of the results in Be'er Sheva.

BIPA is organised by the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship in Munich, the OTH Regensburg, Tech7 and the Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.

Under the motto “Create New Patterns”, the Graduation Ceremony 2022 took place at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) on 24 and 25 June. In an open air event, graduates said goodbye to the university. The highlight was the traditional hat toss before the after-show party began on campus.

All graduates were allowed to keep the doctoral hat as a memento. So Ulricke Sauckel, head of the DIT Alumni Department, hoped before the hats flew into the air on the first evening: “Hopefully you wrote your names in the hat so they can find it again!” Earlier in the evening, former students had been presented with certificates in the presence of their friends and family. Nine students were honoured for their award-worthy theses. Graduate Gayathri Sathyanand spoke movingly to her former fellow students: “I have found my dream job. I was completely right to study at DIT.” There were also words of farewell from President Prof Dr Peter Sperber, Vice President Waldemar Berg, District Administrator Bernd Sibler and Deggendorf’s mayor Dr Christian Moser.

Hannah-Maria Oppelt, a graduate of the Media Technology programme, said that the best thing was to meet all her fellow students once again. Around 1,350 alumni and accompanying people were guests at the graduation ceremony this year. The event was planned and organised by DIT alumni together with the students of the Master’s programme in Media Technology led by Prof Susanne Krebs and Maximilian Radomski. Many details rounded off the evening: there was a photo wall for the graduates, a specially created Instagram filter, and anyone who wanted to could talk about “their” DIT moment in front of the camera. The highlight was the light show, which was particularly effective at the after-show party.

Prizes and awards this year were donated by:

• MICRO-EPSILON MESSTECHNIK GmbH & Co.KG,
• Rotary Club Deggendorf
• MAX STREICHER GmbH & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien,
• Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co.KG,
• Mediengruppe Attenkofer,
• Zollner Elektronik AG,
• K+B E-Tech GmbH & Co.KG,
• Ferchau GmbH
• Rotary Club Bayerwald-Zwiesel

On Tuesday, 5 July, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) will once again host a Science Bench. At this event, Anna Schmaus-Klughammer, LLB (hons) will take a seat on the Science Bench between 12 noon and 2 pm and exchange views with the public on improving healthcare in the Rottal-Inn district.

Science rarely takes place only in the lecture hall. Especially when it comes to the topic of healthcare in rural areas. After all, the topic affects everyone in the district. That is why ECRI takes science outside through the Science Bench to the people it affects. To be more precise, in the Pfarrkirchner Allee near the Lazy Cat café. Anna Schmaus-Klughammer is available for a chat for two hours and, together with the population, explores the question of how the improvement of healthcare in the district of Rottal-Inn can be improved.

In the med4PAN project, Anna Schmaus-Klughammer and her team are looking for solutions to improve healthcare in the Rottal-Inn district. The motto of the project is: "Breaking the limits of telemedical care in rural areas! The knowledge gained is not only profitable for our region, but can also help other districts. Interested citizens can ask Anna Schmaus-Klughammer directly how exactly the project proceeds and what steps are necessary to improve healthcare in the district. Have a chat on the science bench!

The time has come: After a two-year break, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) is organising a summer party again. On Saturday, 9 July from 2 pm onwards, our official mascot, the panther Deggster, will be dancing on the campus grounds.

Both young and old guests will get their money’s worth at the summer festival. Whether at the children’s university on the topic of “Optical Illusions – Why we see what is not there” or at experiments in the ECRI labs, there are many exciting and new things to discover. If you want to learn more about the campus, you can take a guided tour of all areas of ECRI and ask questions about studying and teaching in Pfarrkirchen. There will also be various hands-on activities such as the magic ball, wonky wire or bagpipes at the Technology for Children stand, the IKAROS Virtual Reality Experience by the Techniker Krankenkasse and a reaction game by AOK. The Spielecafé der Generationen e.V. offers entertainment for all ages with a range of board games. One of the highlights is the human kicker, where, among others, the men’s team of TuS Pfarrkirchen e.V. will compete against the students. But all other football fans are also cordially invited to take part in the human foosball.

The physical well-being is also well catered for. The Mensa will be offering a variety of hot and cold food, with vegan and vegetarian options. Drinks will also be sold by the student organisation RESP e.V. There will be an international cakes sale, where all the proceedings will go to the Rottal-Inn Children’s Cancer Aid. You can buy coffee from the Lazy Cat Mobile. They will also sell some summery aperitifs.

The summer festival has special highlights starting at 7 pm with the ECRI band. After their performance the band Pinja Daunen will heat up the audience in the large tent with a mix of indie/rock/ska.

At the end of May, everything at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) revolved around the international. From intercultural training to live cooking, a colourful programme was offered during the International Weeks to promote cultural exchange.

According to Nathalie Banehr, the International Office team can look back on informative and entertaining International Weeks at all three study locations – Deggendorf, Pfarrkirchen and Cham. There were information events on summer schools and stays abroad for DIT employees. Students from the Master’s programme in Strategic and International Management offered intercultural training on Colombia, Brazil and South Korea. Many other events made the week a unique time: the student association ESN organised an International Dance Day and the international tutors offered a hike to Schwellhäusl. In Deggendorf, there was the Quiz around the World as well as the popular Erzählcafé. At the same time, the KULTURcafé took place at the European Campus Rottal-Inn. The Celebration of Cultures in Cham was a great success. The highlight for everyone was Taste the World as live cooking on Zoom. And for the first time, visitors from Pfarrkirchen came to the International Week. The participants of the Summer School of the Master’s programme Global Public Health visited the Deggendorf campus and took a tour through the city centre.

How did DIT students do with digital teaching in the winter semester? The conclusion of an internal survey  was that the challenges were big, but nevertheless well mastered. And digital teaching is here to stay.

With the aim of further improving digital teaching at DIT, an online survey took place after the winter semester. All students at DIT were invited to give their opinion anonymously. In the end, more than 1,500 students voted. The quality of teaching at DIT was given an overall grad of 2.4. Compared to the first semester during the pandemic, the university was able to significantly improve the quality of teaching from the students’ point of view. Prof Waldemar Berg, Vice President for Teaching at DIT, knows the importance of this: “The quality of teaching is our backbone. To act innovatively and flexibly, our strength – thus the balancing act succeeded in pandemic times.”

The past autumn and winter were tough. Study conditions were once again under the strong influence of the pandemic. Short-term changes in the framework conditions were the order of the day: 3G, then 2G with digital offerings for unvaccinated students, shortly followed by switching to only digital teaching for everyone. It has now been established: the better students feel looked after by the teaching staff, the higher the quality in online studies is experienced. The same applied to the possibility of interaction. Being able to exchange ideas during a lecture, to learn with each other, has a great influence on a positive assessment of the teaching.

And where should it go in the future? The students appreciate the advantages of digital teaching and specifically want a sensible mix of digital and face-to-face teaching. On-site teaching at DIT should predominate. There is also a demand for more lecture recordings, followed by hybrid teaching (online & on-site teaching at the same time), live online lectures and the increased use of DIT’s learning management system. What becomes clear is: It is becoming increasingly important for students to gain more flexibility for their daily study routine. The “why” is gaining in importance – why which medium or which time makes sense at the moment.

A voucher was raffled among all participants, which Johannes Klier was able to secure. When he won, he revealed why it was important for him to take part in the survey: “Digital teaching will remain an issue in the future. That’s why it’s important to strive for improvements together.” DIT’s digital teaching offer, also in combination with face-to-face teaching, is constantly being improved. Currently, the Digitalisation & Innovative Teaching department is building a hybrid training lab for lecturers. In addition, DIT wants to provide students with even better support for self-organised learning.

Intense bass, billows of black smoke, stories from life, brass music with a twist and vocal art in Austrian dialect. That was the Stadt Land Fluss Campus Open Air 2022. Four perfect days of concerts on the university campus are over already. But the next Campus Open Air is just around the corner.

The Campus Open Air took place for the fifth time this year. From 16 to 19 June, the university appealed to a wide variety of musical tastes with the Rammstein cover band Stahlzeit, Ringlstetter & Band, Moop Mama and Pizzera und Jaus. Around 6,000 visitors were there and were rewarded with the best weather and a great atmosphere. The anticipation for next year is already rising. The Campus Open Air series will be continued in 2023 on the long weekend around Corpus Christi.

Up-to-date information is available at www.th-deg.de/en/slf-campus-open-air.

Employees of the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) can now make business trips quickly and, above all, CO2-free. Six company bicycles have recently been bought for the campus staff. This initiative was supported by the sustainability officer of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), Prof. Dr. Michael Laar.

It is a trial that has been running at DIT Sustainability Campus in Pfarrkirchen since the beginning of June. Most of the business trips made from the campus are short journeys – mostly to the city centre for appointments or transport. These can be easily done by bike save CO2 compared to travelling by car. With the purchase of the company bikes, ECRI is trying to live up to its responsibility to be an environmentally friendly university. There is a separate shelter for the bikes and there is even a regular bicycle workshop for university staff. This is the first time such an offer has been made at a DIT location. If the concept proves to be a success consideration will be given to expand the offer to other university locations.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has been among the best in worldwide university comparisons for years. This is also confirmed by the WURI Ranking 2022, which was published in mid-June. In the category "Entrepreneurial Spirit", DIT takes second place. Ahead of universities with a global reputation, such as Berkely University of California and Princeton University. A decisive point for this is the "Bavarian Innovation Transformation Centre" (BITZ) in Oberschneiding.

WURI, which stands for "World's Universities with Real Impact", i.e. those that make a difference. For years now, DIT has been among the TOP 10 when it comes to entrepreneurship and start-ups. The WURI places 8 and 5 in previous years prove what the Deggendorfers achieve in this respect. This year, DIT is now the highest ranked university in Europe in terms of entrepreneurship and the only German university in the WURI TOP 50. President Prof. Peter Sperber is certain: "With the work at our BITZ in Oberschneiding, we have made it straight to the top of the world. Our university is unique in the world with this campus and the Silicon Valley School". He added that the Valley had already been brought to Lower Bavaria to some extent and that Bavarian companies were being successfully supported in market development and acceleration. Overall, DIT ranks 24th among the "Global Top 100 Innovative Universities".

Prof. Peter Schmieder, founder and director of the Silicon Valley School and scientific director of BITZ is certain that the location in Oberschneiding has once again raised the Silicon Valley Program to a whole new level. "We can keep up with the big players in the international academic landscape," Schmieder proudly explains. In the entrepreneurship category, he says, we are even ahead of Berkely University, with which we have had a partnership for years, and also ahead of Princeton University. "That," adds the DIT professor, "is a huge incentive for our further work."

This year's WURI ranking again included entries in the categories "Industrial Application" (DIT ranked 33rd), "Entrepreneurship" (ranked 2nd), "Ethical Value", "Cosmopolitanism", "Crisis Management" (ranked 8th) and "Fourth Industrial Revolution". This approach allows smaller universities the same chances in the evaluation as large established universities. The presidents of the participating universities are actively involved in the evaluation process. Finally, the members of the WURI Evaluation Committee conduct a rigorous review and recommend a list of universities for the global Top 100 rankings.

The WURI ranking is organised by the Institute for Policy and Strategy on National Competitiveness (IPSNC) in South Korea and is supported by the Hanseatic League of Universities (HLU) in the Netherlands, the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) in Seoul, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva and the Tailor Institute of Franklin University (FUS) in Lugano. The results are available on the internet at www.wuri.world.

The basketball players of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) were finally able to shoot baskets again on 9 June after the forced break due to corona. At this year’s Bavarian University Cup, equivalent to the Bavarian championship for colleges and universities with up to 10,000 students, two teams each from DIT and the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences competed against three teams from the Bundeswehr University in Munich. In the end, the DIT players secured one of the places on the podium as third place.

The tournament was won by the Weihenstephan basketball players. They beat the Bundeswehr University Munich in an exciting final game and thus secured the title. Spurred on by their own good performance, the DIT players are already looking forward with full motivation to the upcoming university tournament in autumn. The DIT squad included Louis Keber (ASV Cham), Marco Degel, Tizian Podlech, Tristan Hamala, Jakob Kern, Ahmed Abdaal and Julian Hölzl.

The organisation of the tournament was taken over by DIT University Sports Officer Carolin Stadler and her colleague Laura Nowak, together with the head of the Master’s programme in Applied Sports Science, Prof Richard Latzel, and tournament director Linda Zeindl. It was great that the city of Deggendorf had made it possible to use the triple gymnasium of the Comenius High School. The Deggathletes ASW, the Deggendorf sports students club, took care of the physical well-being.

For the development and implementation of the new Bachelor’s degree programme “Building Products and Processes” (BPP) at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), further expertise has been gained. Dr Alexander Siebel, an expert in building physics and construction, was appointed professor at the end of May. He will strengthen the team in Pfarrkirchen with immediate effect and will also play a key role in shaping the building physics laboratory at the campus.

“I chose the position in Pfarrkirchen because the Building Products and Processes degree programme is unique. Here, the interaction between teaching, practice and research is institutionalised and professionalised,” says Prof Siebel and is please about his move to Rottal. His focus is on the optimisation of building materials and constructions with regard to their thermal and acoustic properties. Even before his appointment to Lower Bavaria, the renowned building physicist held a professorship for building physics at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences. From this position and his many years of practical experience, he has outstanding specialist knowledge. He would like to share this expertise with as many future BPP students on campus as possible.

In the next few years, the Building Physics Lab at the Pfarrkirchen site will also be established under his leadership. “This task represents a very special challenge for me. My team and I want to help ensure that the new degree programme is characterised by a pronounced theory-practice relationship in teaching and research,” says the 43-year-old. Equally important to Siebel is the close cooperation with practical partners in the local construction industry. He would like to work intensively with them in the coming years. “It is very important to me to let the requirements from practice flow into the theory again and again and thus adapt the learning concepts to real needs. True to my motto: There is always something left to discover,” Siebel explains. Fortunately, because innovative building materials will also play a huge role in the goal of minimising the CO2 footprint of our society. And the new BPP degree programme addresses precisely this issue. “We want to make a difference,” says the professor, optimistic about his new task at ECRI and looking ahead with confidence.

Those who would like to start studying in October can still apply for a study place at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) until 15 July. A new Bachelor’s degree programme, Building Products and Processes, will also start in the coming winter semester.

The hybrid degree programme combines knowledge and expertise from construction management and engineering and is the first degree programme in Germany to focus on sustainable building products for the buildings of tomorrow. With English and German as course languages, students are well equipped for both national and international careers. The special feature of the degree programme is the links to the regional economy with companies in the construction industry, where students can already complete an internship or write their final thesis during their studies. In this way, they are ideally prepared for their career entry and already bring practical experience with them.

In addition to the new degree programme, ECRI offers eight other degree programmes. Among them is the internationally awarded Bachelor’s programme International Tourism Management / Health & Medical Tourism. Further study programmes are Digital Health, Healthy and Sustainable Buildings and Energy Systems Engineering.

With English as the campus language, ECRI is particularly attractive for internationally oriented students and brings together people from around 90 nations under one roof. More detailed information on the campus and the courses offered can be found on the website at https://th-deg.de/ecri-en.

The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), a faculty of Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), participated in the Medical Informatics Europe (MIE) conference in Nice, France from 27 to 31 May. There Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan, head of the master’s programme Digital Health at ECRI, presented the university’s vast and successful experience in fostering global Digital Health education and chaired three scientific sessions.

The MIE conference is one of three conferences related to Digital Health the ECRI participated this spring-summer. At DMEA – Connecting Digital Health in Berlin the university was visible with a dedicated stand from 25 to 28 April. There ECRI presented its educational and R&D programmes, among them the main study programme Master of Digital Health (MDH), and the annual signature event series DigiHealthDay. At the MIE conference from 27 to 31 May in Nice, France, the university not only presented its vast and successful experience in the field of Digital Health, but Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan also chaired three scientific sessions, underlining his expertise. DIT-ECRI has been an Academic Institutional Member of  the European Federation for Medical Informatics, the host of MIE, since 2019, and has partnered with that leading European academic society in many aspects, in particular, within the frameworks of the DigiHealthDay series.

After participating in DMEA and MIE Professor Chaltikyan explains: “Thanks to the vast national and global networking and connections of its staff, the DIT-ECRI collaborates extensively with a number of key players in Digital Health, both in Germany and internationally, which has a mutually beneficial, “win-win” effect: on the one hand, students and staff at DIT have excellent opportunity to engage with the global Digital Health community, with multiple educational and research possibilities. On the other hand, DIT-ECRI contributes significantly to the advances in Digital Transformation of Healthcare worldwide, and brings its considerable expertise and experience to the forefront of innovation and development in this critical domain.”

The collaboration with key players in Digital Health will find its high point in the participation of the DIT-ECRI at the HIMSS22 Europe Health Conference in Helsinki from 14 to 16 June. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the leading global non-profit dedicated to advancing health care through its digital transformation, bringing together more than 120,000 experts, business developers, scholars, students, and Digital Health enthusiasts from all over the world. The 2022 HIMSS European Health Conference & Exhibition will be this year’s epicenter to accomplishing the goal of Digital Health Transformation. Therefore, the DIT-ECRI’s significant presence at the conference in Helsinki with a dedicated stand, more than ten teaching staff and students in attendance, and Professor Chaltikyan as the moderator of the Workforce Empowerment track of the conference will add to the university’s journey towards becoming a recognised centre of Digital Health education and research – nationally, Europe-wide, and globally.

The most important prize for international students at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) was awarded for the twentieth time. The award winner is Gayathri Sathyanand from Bangelore, India. She is being honoured for successful academic achievements and voluntary commitment at DIT. The prize of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is endowed with € 1,000.

Gayathri Sathyanand has been studying the Master of Science Electrical Engineering and Information Technology since 2019. Her academic achievements are outstanding. In addition, the student shows above-average voluntary commitment. As an ambassador for her degree programme, she shared her experiences with prospective students. During the lockdown, she took over the official DIT Snapchat account for a week and created the theme “DIT stays at home”. This gave students the opportunity to share their ideas on how they deal with the online semester and use the lockdown to positively improve themselves and learn new skills. In the TEDxDIT association, she led everything related to computer science on the board and organised one of the first face-to-face events at the university during the pandemic in autumn 2021. She had chosen DIT because of the practice-oriented curriculum and the university’s research activities on the latest technologies. After her studies, she would like to gain a foothold in the automotive industry. She has already put out her feelers: the young woman completed her internship and final thesis at BMW Group.

Big honour for Prof Peter Schmieder, head of the Bavarian Innovation Transformation Centre (BITZ) Oberschneiding. The professor of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is one of five finalists in the category “Male Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year” at the international “Triple-E-Award”. The final decision and award ceremony will take place on 28 June in Florence.

The three “E”s of the award stand for Entrepreneurship, Engagement and Education. The prize is awarded to individuals and universities who, in addition to teaching and research, are particularly committed to their so-called third mission. That is, the transfer of knowledge and technology to society and the economy. For example, also in the form of promoting start-ups, as is done with great verve in Oberschneiding.

On the one hand, the Triple E Award pays respect for achievements. On the other hand, the attention generated is intended to further promote the corresponding change at colleges and universities in Europe. The decisive factor for Prof. Schmieder’s nomination was his success with the Silicon Valley Programme at DIT. The jury’s statement reads: “Prof. Peter Schmieder has demonstrated his outstanding leadership qualities over a period of more than ten years through the creation, development and advancement of DIT’s Silicon Valley Venture Development Program. The programme enhances the entrepreneurial potential of regional business and management teams through a science-based, continuous and guided process. As an excellent networker, he brings together the best of both worlds: German ingenuity and Silicon Valley mindset.”

Peter Schmieder is very pleased about his nomination: “Being among the five finalists proves that we are on the right track with our Silicon Valley School.” Especially with the team at BITZ, which will be strengthened in spring 2022, much more can be achieved for German entrepreneurship and the regional economy in the future. Not only Schmieder, but the entire team in Oberschneiding is eager to do so. Schmieder has already received several national and international awards for his excellent teaching.

As part of the Master’s programme Global Public Health at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), the first cross-border Summer School took place in Pfarrkirchen in May. This brought together students from all over the world and from different universities for a fortnight at ECRI and culminated on 25 May.

The Summer School is an integral part of the new joint Master Global Public Health under the direction of Prof. Dr. Thomas Spittler, whose lectures only take place online. At the Summer School kick-off on 9 May at the Pfarrkirchen campus, the students met for the first time outside the virtual world. The joint Bavarian lunch provided an opportunity to get to know not only fellow students but also the local culture. The subsequent guided tour of Pfarrkirchen gave the students a first impression of the region. In addition to the cultural programme, excursions and professional topics were not neglected during the Summer School. During a tour of the DigiHealth laboratory on campus, the students got to know the equipment and tried it out themselves in experiments. At FotoFinder Systems GmbH in Bad Birnbach, they gained insights into the field of telemedicine and concrete areas of application. The Summer School was rounded off by a joint excursion to Deggendorf to the DIT campus, which ECRI is part of as faculty.

Most of the participants of the Summer School were in Germany for the first time and gained professional, personal and cultural experiences during the past two weeks that helped them broaden their horizons. This international approach is an essential part of the Master’s programme in Global Public Health.

The teams of the Bavarian Innovation and Transformation Centre (BITZ) in Oberschneiding have pitched again. After their trip to Silicon Valley a few weeks ago, five venture teams met a panel of top-class investors and experts from Eastern Bavaria in Oberschneidung on 19 May. In their search for investors, the venture teams wanted to convince them with their innovative business ideas in just a few minutes.

The panel at the “Homecoming” event in Oberschneiding included Karl Blaim (CFO Siemens Mobility), Martin Ebner (Managing Director Strama Group), Dr Christian Grams (CEO Munich Consulting Group GmbH), Dr Markus Ortmann (CEO mantro GmbH) and Mario Tauscher (CFO Pareto Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH). Peter Schmieder, head of the Silicon Valley School is pleased about this next important step: “We are bringing the spirit of Silicon Valley and the Californian mindset to Oberschneiding and Bavaria. The Silicon Valley weather has already arrived.” Not only the weather, but also photos and videos of the California trip in April provided the right starting points for good conversations. The week in Silicon Valley at Santa Clara University is one of the highlights of the Silicon Valley Program at BITZ Oberschneiding, which is part of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. The teams travelled to the Valley with Peter Schmieder, the BITZ team and representatives from politics and the region. Since then, there has been enough time to apply what they have learned, the experiences and the feedback from the investors and network partners. The best conditions for the five pitches, which were successful. The first implementations were planned later in the evening.

Alexander Dorn, Program Manager Silicon Valley Program, thanked the investors and experts for their constructive feedback. As a thank you, he presented them with the Oberschneiding owl: “We like to speak in pictures and in Oberschneiding the owl stands for wisdom, foresight and all-round vision. It is an excellent hunter and sees well even in the dark. Our owl has also been manufactured at a DIT Technology Campus and thus stands for practical implementation.”

After a long break, the International Office at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) is organising a KULTURcafé in person again, on Tuesday, 24 May at 5.30 pm. This time, European neighbouring countries will introduce themselves. Interested citizens are cordially invited to the event.

In a relaxed atmosphere, students from ECRI will present their home countries and report on exciting or even curious traditions and customs. Participants will get to know the European neighbours Albania, Portugal and France at this KULTURcafé. In addition to interesting insights into the respective cultures, the lectures provide a wonderful basis for intercultural dialogue. The event promises an entertaining evening with interesting conversations and new insights. Knowledge of English is an advantage. Snacks from the countries presented and drinks will be provided.

Everyone with an interest in other cultures, customs and traditions is cordially invited to the KULTURcafé. This will take place in the premises of the Glausbau Verein e.V. in Ringstraße 9 in Pfarrkirchen. The participation fee is 3€. Due to the limited number of places, please register with Daniela Schwertlinger (daniela.schwertlinger@th-deg.de or under +49 991 3615 8843).

The tourism industry has suffered greatly in recent years from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Now creative solutions are needed to strengthen the industry and breathe new life into it. At the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), students are therefore working on innovations in health and wellness tourism together with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). The kick-off was a Design Thinking Challenge with students from both universities. The resulting tourism innovations were presented at a final event on 12 May at the Pfarrkirchen campus.

For the two-and-a-half-day kick-off of the cooperation, ECRI students from Health & Medical Tourism met students from Business Administration with a focus on Tourism from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Oberstorf at the beginning of April. The aim was to develop innovations in health and wellness tourism in small teams in a design thinking challenge. For this purpose, the students were mixed into eleven groups, so that students from Pfarrkirchen worked together with students from Lucerne.

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer and Prof. Dr. Marcus Herntrei on the ECRI side and Prof. Roland Lymann and Lisa Fickel of the HSLU, the students first gained insight into market and trend analyses. These formed the basis for the work in the groups. During the Design Thinking Challenge, the teams were to develop innovative ideas from which the tourism industry can benefit. Creativity and knowledge were in demand. Already during the kick-off, ideas emerged from areas such as improving the quality of sleep, nutrition and well-being, emotional health as well as gamification for fitness.

In joint lectures, the ideas and innovations were expanded by students from both universities. In the end, prototypes were to be developed from the creative proposals. At the final presentation, the groups presented these together with their concepts and presented the work of the past weeks to the professors from Pfarrkirchen and Lucerne. In the final step, the prototypes including concepts will be submitted by the students to the "Shark Tank of Wellness Student Competition". This is a global competition for students. Of the international submissions, three teams will be shortlisted and invited to the "Global Wellness Summit". This will take place in Tel Aviv in November. There, the finalists will be allowed to present their innovations to the investors, the so-called Wellness Sharks.

On Thursday, 5 May, the Impact of Diversity Award was presented at the DRIVE. Volkswagen Group Forum in Berlin. The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) made it into the top 3 in the University Award category with its project "In 80 Nations around the World", beating off numerous competitors.

With the submitted project, the university portrays students and employees from a total of 80 nations who study and work at the international European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen. Special emphasis is placed on celebrating similarities and learning to love differences. This not only demonstrates the diversity of ECRI, but also actively shapes interculturality and internationality in the region. The university is supported in this by the Rottal-Inn District Office.

In addition to DIT, the Anti-Discrimination Office of the University of Marburg made it to the finals in the University Award category. The winner was the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Representatives at Bavarian Universities (LaKoF) with its Bavaria-wide project "Become a female Professor".

A total of over 200 submissions were received for the Impact of Diversity Award. In the first step, the public voting, over 50,000 people took part. Afterwards, 48 jurors from science, business, associations and initiatives selected the winners. The Impact of Diversity Award is presented to 14 award winners who have made outstanding contributions to the topics of diversity and inclusion.

Artificial intelligence - how deep is it already in our lives? Professor Dr. Patrick Glauner will explore this question in the first "Science Hour" at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The Science Hour is a new offer at DIT. All interested listeners are invited to come to the university, listen and discuss. The first edition will take place on Wednesday, 18 May at 6 pm at the campus in Deggendorf and simultaneously online.

For the premiere, Prof. Glauner will be answering questions on the topic of artificial intelligence. The AI specialist is known in his field far beyond Lower Bavaria. He has advised the German Bundestag, the French National Assembly and the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies as an expert on political issues relating to AI. The renowned Chief Data Officer Magazine lists Glauner as one of only three Germans on its internationally recognised list of experts in data science. In his lecture at the Science Hour, he will show what AI actually is and where it already has an impact on all of our lives. The various research approaches at DIT will be discussed, as well as the countless career prospects offered by this field. A special treat for the first Science Hour: After the lecture, anyone who wants to can visit the DIT's Deep Learning Lab in Degg's.

 "With the Science Hour we are addressing all citizens in and around Deggendorf. We welcome them to the university and create the unique opportunity to experience DIT up close. This way, anyone interested can get an insight into what it's like at the university and what topics our professors deal with," Angelika Hable from DIT's MINT team advertises the new offer. She is particularly looking forward to the lively discussions that arise when people of all ages question a topic.

The Science Hour is organised by the MINT Team of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. The event is free of charge, registration is not required. The Science Hour will take place in lecture hall B.004 at the DIT. If you would like to join online, you can find the link at www.th-deg.de/sciencehour.

After a long time of remote teaching due to corona the European Campus Rottal-Inn’s (ECRI) Healthy and Sustainable Buildings Master of Engineerig Programme resumed excursions. The first one for this semester led the students on the rooftop of the student residence at Alois-Gässl-Straße in Pfarrkirchen. The participants got a first hand impression of the building and had the chance to see the progress of the constructions.

During the excursion to the student residence the participants learned more about the construction materials used, which play an important role when constructing a sustainable building. They also gained some insights concerning the firefighting systems installed in the residence and they learned about the differential pressure method. This test simulates the wind load on a building on a stormy autumn day at wind strength 5 to see if the building leaks air. The results of this test show how well constructed the building shell is. The students not only saw how the things they learn in theory at ECRI are applied at a real construction site, but they were also rewarded by a beautiful view of the city of Pfarrkirchen as they had the chance to go up the rooftop of the new student residence.

For students of Healthy and Sustainable Buildings excursions are an integral part as these offer them the possibility to see real applications beside the coursework taught inside classrooms. The programme will further organise more excursions in different parts of Germany including museums, construction companies and construction sites.

In order to promote their common interests in teaching, research and transfer and the desire to strengthen mutual contacts, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) and the KI Bundesverband have signed a declaration of joint cooperation. Within this cooperation, the KI Bundesverband is represented by the Academy for Artificial Intelligence (AKI).

Artificial intelligence is a key technology of the future, which is why DIT and AKI are committed to ensuring that it is applied in the spirit of European and democratic values and that Europe achieves digital sovereignty. However, this means that both Germany and the European Union must be an attractive AI location for research and business.

In order to come closer to this goal, DIT and AKI will cooperate in various areas. For example, joint research activities are planned, but also the development of joint programmes for SMEs and other social groups to strengthen the handling and acceptance of AI. In addition, DIT will be represented by Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner on the AKI's scientific advisory board to accompany and support its offerings.

DIT President Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber is pleased about the cooperation: "The fact that the KI Bundesverband has decided to cooperate with DIT impressively proves that we are leaders in the field of teaching, research and transfer to AI." The new collaboration will also allow DIT to work more closely with the AI scene in and around the federal capital, he added.

Daniel Abbou, Managing Director of the AI Bundesverband, adds: "We are also very excited about the collaboration with the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. DIT knows about the relevance of artificial intelligence in research and application. We are convinced that our cooperation will strengthen the German AI ecosystem in research and business."

More information on DIT's AI offers can be found at www.th-deg.de/en. If you have any questions, Prof. Glauner is also available as a direct contact at patrick.glauner@th-deg.de or 0991/3615-453.

"Masculine" or "feminine" professions or just a profession you enjoy? On Girls' Day on 28 April at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), around 50 schoolgirls got a taste of typically "male" occupational fields. The day was held under the motto of sustainability, a focus of ECRI.

For Girls' Day, schoolgirls from the Pfarrkirchen high school and the Pfarrkirchen secondary school came to the campus to spend a morning learning about various aspects that are usually reserved for boys. The young women were welcomed by Andrea Ebertseder from the university's MINT team and the ECRI Women's Representative, Prof. Dr. Michelle Cummings-Koether. Afterwards, the schoolgirls met five English-speaking female students who had themselves decided to study in the STEM field. They then accompanied the students throughout the day.

In small groups, the participants explored the laboratories on campus through hands-on experiments. In two of the labs, a knowledge of English was necessary, because the lessons at ECRI are actually held in English. In the sustainability lab, the focus was on supply chains and the origin of individual components of a smartphone. In the DigiHealth & Smart Tourism Lab, they programmed a Cosmo robot. The Chemistry Lab was about energy production and the Electronics Lab was all about the heat pump. The laboratory for healthy and sustainable building simulated the course of the sun in the sky, which can be used to determine the heat requirements of a house.

The schoolgirls had no fear of contact on Girls' Day. On the contrary, they were happy to have the opportunity to meet female laboratory engineers, architects or students at ECRI. This shows them that they as women can work in such professions just as well and that others have already done it before them, says Graciette. For the high school student, divisions into "male" and "female" professions are outdated anyway, because all that matters is that it's fun. It doesn't matter whether it's technology, IT, mathematics or something else entirely.

After the excellent start of the Adult University at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) last year, lectures for inquisitive adults will again be offered at the campus this year. The first lecture of the series will take place on Thursday, 5 May from 5 pm.  The topic will then be digitalisation in health care.

Digitalisation is currently a megatrend that no one can ignore. Whether professionally nor privately, it follows us everywhere and all the time. No wonder that it is also making its way into healthcare. At first, this may seem suspicious to many, but digitalisation in healthcare offers enormous opportunities, especially in rural areas. For example, if the emergency doctor has to travel from one end of the county to the other in the event of a cardiac arrhythmia, vital minutes are lost for the patient. In this case, a drone can provide relief. Thanks to digitalisation, it can then bring a defibrillator, for example, and help can be provided quicker. The megatrend is also being used for chronic wounds. Mixed reality glasses are already being used for wound monitoring.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Spittler will share these examples and much more with the participants at the adult university. The expert from the field of health informatics will present the current state of developments, go into examples and also know how concretely digital healthcare can be improved in the district of Rottal-Inn with the help of the "med4PAN" project.

The lecture of the adult university will take place on Thursday, 5 May from 5 pm in the ECRI lecture room EC.B 007. Pre-registration is necessary and can be done by contacting Andrea Ebertseder at +49 991 3615 8863 or via email to andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de. Wearing a mask is still compulsory on campus.

This week the DigiHealthDay-2022 series starts again with its first workshop. As in the previous years, a series of pre-conference DigiHealth workshops by leading national and international experts, will be hosted in the spring-summer of 2022. These workshops pave the way for the main event, the DigiHealthDay-2022 on 11 November, 2022. The international symposium is hosted by the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The event is held in cooperation with local and international partners. Registration to the workshops and the main event in November is now open.

The DigiHealthDay-2022 is a one-day-long action-packed symposium. It includes keynote talks by leading German and international experts, audience-centered panel discussions, oral and poster scientific presentations, student thesis and project presentations, and networking possibilities. It explores modern digital health and its role in tackling global health problems from a uniquely international perspective. Highlight themes this year include: AI research, ethics and regulation; pragmatic research in digital health; as well as – traditionally – digital health education. At the DigiHealthDay-2022, the organisers will also share first-hand the result of the important ongoing research on Digital Health Education conducted by DIT-ECRI, and the highlights of the university’s new online learning course "Global Digital Health".

This year the symposium will be preceded by a special 5-day workshop on "Explainable and Ethical AI in Healthcare" delivered jointly by leading experts from DIT-ECRI, University of Agder (Norway), University of Aalborg (Denmark), and Luleå Technical University (Sweden).

Participation in the DigiHealthDay-2022 main event and pre-conference workshops is free of charge. The main event on November 11 is planned as a hybrid event (onsite and live-streamed). Participants will be able to join Prof, Dr. Dipak Kalra, International Invited Chair, Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt, Scientific Committee Chair and Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan, Organising Committee Chair and many of the speakers physically, on the ECRI campus, or tune in virtually from any part of the world. Registration to receive subsequent news and information is now open under the following link: https://th-deg.de/digihealthday

The previous edition of this signature event – DigiHealthDay-2021 – was attended by nearly 560 participants from 74 countries, and received testimonials; “It is fruitful with updated knowledge” “great discussion. great experts gets right to the point”, “Very educative”, among many. The event series offers considerable advantages to all who are curious about the latest advances in digital health, looking for inspiration for their business, or simply keen on meeting like-minded professionals from around the world.

Stadt Land Fluss, the festival of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), is back this year. After a forced break of two years, all music and concert enthusiasts from the region can look forward to four days of music on the DIT campus during the Whitsun holidays. Pizzera und Jaus, Stahlzeit, Ringlstetter und Band and Moop Mama will be on stage.

The kick-off on Thursday, 16 June will be spectacular: Stahlzeit are coming. They are Europe's most booked Rammstein tribute show and, thanks to their elaborate stage show, a unique live experience not only for Rammstein fans. On Friday, 17 June, Ringlstetter and band will present their latest programme "Fürchtet Euch nicht, es geht weiter!". From rock to hip-hop, everything is there. Of course including the well-known "Ringlstetter" sound. On Saturday, 18 June, Moop Mama, a ten-piece brass band from Munich, will perform. They have become known through their spontaneous performances in parks, in front of universities or in public places. Pizzera and Jaus' tours are often sold out within a few days. There are only a few tickets left for their performance in Deggendorf on Sunday, 19 June at the Epoxy Store Deggendorf.

Tickets for the Stadt Land Fluss Campus Open Air can be purchased at the Tourist Info in Deggendorf on Stadtplatz, at the Epoxy Store Deggendorf or via Eventim. Further information can be found at www.th-deg.de/slf-campus-open-air.de.

Start-ups from Lower Bavaria put their business models to the test last week in Santa Clara, California. They took part in the Silicon Valley Program of the Bavarian Innovation and Transformation Centre (BITZ) in Oberschneiding, which is part of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). They presented their ideas in front of Silicon Valley investors and learned how experts assess their chances on the global market. The trip to America is the conclusion of the course, which lasts several months, and a chance for founders to grow internationally.

According to Prof. Peter Schmieder, founder of the Silicon Valley Program, the 2022 teams were very successful in convincing the investors: "The investors have made intensive contact with all six teams. Some already have up to three follow-up appointments. Some investors will still travel to Germany in April to already invest in substantial development of the teams. An accolade". To get there, the six teams prepared for several months. During the one-week stay at the university in Santa Clara, the start-ups were specifically prepared for the planned investor pitches one last time. Each team had only ten minutes to convince the investors to invest in a German start-up. According to Peter Schmieder, the eight months of the Silicon Valley Program were no picnic for the teams, especially not the incredibly intensive final week: "We meet professional experts and investors at the end. They only respond to teams that are best prepared and highly professional". For each founding team, there were therefore intensive individual training sessions with their American mentors as well as guest lectures by top-class speakers on entrepreneurship, start-ups, fund raising, venture capital and digital marketing. Company visits to Google, Zollner, Jabil and NVIDIA made the Silicon Valley experience perfect.

The Silicon Valley Program has existed since 2014 as a cooperation between DIT and Santa Clara University, which is located in the heart of Silicon Valley. This has resulted in an impressive network to help German start-ups achieve international success. Information about the programme and the target groups can be found on the DIT website: https://www.th-deg.de/silicon-valley-school. Since 2021, the programme has been located in Oberschneiding at the BITZ in order to grow further. A delegation from Oberschneiding therefore also took part in the trip with great interest: Ewald Seifert, First Mayor of Oberschneiding, representing the district, Konrad Schmerbeck, Second Mayor of Oberschneiding, and Christian Schambeck, Managing Director of Schambeck holding GmbH.

Dr Andreas Wölfl was appointed professor at the Faculty of Applied Computer Science at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) on 1 April. The 37-year-old computer scientist, who comes from Bodenmais in the Bavarian Forest specialises in digital networks and operating systems.

The fact that DIT offers perfect conditions “for conducting industry-oriented research, actively involving students in the research process and feeding the results back into teaching” was one of the main criteria for Wölfl to take the next step in his career at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. Thematically, the computer scientist’s interests lie in cloud computing. Wölfl is particularly concerned with the question of how complex software systems must be designed in order to be able to use the cloud infrastructure as efficiently and economically rewarding as possible.

The newly appointed professor studied computer science at the University of Passau. AS a research assistant, he also completed his doctorate there as part of a cooperation with Airbus Helicopters. Afterwards, Dr Wölfl worked for ONE LOGIC GmbH as Head of Development/ Operations. The medium-sized company in Passau operated in the field of data science and artificial intelligence. In his role, Wölfö was the interface between the internal development department and the customer’s IT operations. His core activity was also creating the concept of AI system architectures for start-ups, medium-sized companies and DAX corporations.

Wölfl is very much looking forward to his new tasks at DIT: "I am fascinated by the balancing act between practical research and modern teaching." For example, Wölfl wants to establish container-based virtualisation, serverless architectures, hybrid connectivity and other disciplines of cloud computing in research and teaching at DIT. "These," says the computer science professor, "are new, innovative contents for a successful as well as future- and market-oriented education of our students." Basically, competence orientation is very important to him in teaching. In other words, the ability to confidently apply learned knowledge and transfer it to complex situations. But Wölfl is also looking forward to all the upcoming research projects with great excitement. "Together with our colleagues at DIT and the renowned external industrial partners, we can and will certainly make a difference," Wölfl is certain.

The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) offers a children's university on Friday, 8 April at 5 pm. This time, everything revolves around horses and how they can contribute to the learning process in the case of reading and spelling disorders. All interested children between the ages of eight and 13 can take part.

At school, children learn everything they need for their professional life. But when learning becomes stressful, for example because of a reading or spelling disorder, the fun of school can quickly disappear. The Project for Joyful and Relaxed Riding to Take Off in Learning, or P.F.E.R.D.L (German abbreviations) for short, offers support in such a case. In the Children's University, participants learn about the advantages of teaching German on horseback and how horse-supported pedagogy works.

But why with horses of all things? Horses promote fine motor skills, increase concentration and stamina, strengthen self-confidence, relieve tension and build social skills. Training with horses creates a framework that makes it possible to train the brain with all the senses and with pleasure in such a way that learning is easier, knowledge is permanently stored and can be retrieved even under stress.

In the children's university "Learning Easier with P.F.E.R.D.L", the children learn everything about horse-supported pedagogy in a theoretical part. Here Annika Münstermann from the University of Koblenz Landau provides insights and explains the background to the young students. Ellen Meier, guidance counsellor at the Realschule Pfarrkirchen rounds off the Children's University with a practical part afterwards.

The lecture will take place on Friday, 8 April at 5 pm at the Realschule Pfarrkirchen. In good weather in the green classroom and in bad weather in the auditorium. The kinder uni is an event hosted in German. During the event, masks are compulsory for children. Registration is through Andrea Ebertseder of ECRI via phone at + 49 991-3615 8863 or via e-mail at andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de. Interested parents can find more information about the project and how equine-assisted pedagogy contributes to the success of reading or spelling disorders at https://www.rs-pan.de/index.php/schulisches-leben/tiergestuetzte-paedagogik/p-f-e-r-d-l.

Bavaria was the second German state to give women access to university. Since 1903, when the Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold allowed women to study, the number of female students has steadily increased. The number of male professors, on the other hand, still predominates at the universities of applied sciences (HAW). To ensure that more women dare to become professors in the future, the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Representatives at Bavarian Universities (LaKoF) organised the seminar "HAW Professor as a Career Goal" at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) from 11 to 12 March.

The seminar was brought to the university in Deggendorf and supervised by Prof. Dr. Michelle Cummings-Koether, DIT’s deputy women's representative. The participants of the seminar fulfil all the requirements for an appointment as a professor. During the two-day seminar they received intensive coaching, which prepared the participants for an appointment procedure and thus for the professorship. The central core element was the trial lectures in front of an "appointment committee". The committee evaluated the presentations and gave reflective feedback.

The seminar "Berufsziel HAW-Professorin" received a lot of support and commitment from DIT. The "Appeals Committee" was made up of DIT professors, staff and students. In addition to the host Prof. Dr. Michelle Cummings-Koether, Prof. Dr. Kristina Waniek, Prof. Dr. Maria Kufner, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Grzemba and Prof. Dr. Sascha Kreiskott were members of the "Appeals Committee" and advised the participants. In addition, a representative of the Human Resources Department and four students were members of the committee.

Since the seminar was very well received by the participants and the university and its hospitality left a positive impression, another event is planned for July. At an information day at DIT together with the LaKoF, the project "Become a Professor" will be taken up again and the university's teaching campuses will be presented.

The seminar "Berufsziel HAW Professorin" was implemented with the help of the LaKoF's "Werde Professorin" project, which promotes women and prepares them as best as possible for a professorship. The aim of the project is to increase the number of female professors in Bavaria. Interested women can find out more about the project and the opportunities available to them at https://werdeprofessorin.de.

The DigiHealthDay (DHD) at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) is not only a series of events for Digital Health experts and students, it also provides a platform for aspiring researchers in the field. This is why the DHD also held a “Students Session” with an Student R&D Project Contest during the main event last November. On 9 March, the two winners of the contest received their certificates and prices, after the ceremony had previously been postponed due to Covid-19.

The two winners where invited to join Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan, Organising Committee Chair of DHD, and Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt, Scientific Committee Chair of DHD for a small ceremony at the ECRI. The first prize of € 200 was awarded to Hamza Maatouk for his presentation titled: “Digital Health Aging Population Telemedicine Education Mobile Technology Telemedicine for old people”. The second prize of € 150 went to Elegbede Adeniyi who held a presentation on “Usage and Effectiveness of Digital Health Technology (DHT) as a Tool for the Management of Mental Health in South-West Nigeria during COVID-19 Pandemic”.

For the Student R&D Project Contest students who where enrolled in Bachelor's and Master's programmes in the domain of Digital Health, and in any stage of pursuing their thesis research were invited to submit their abstracts. Six of the projects were then selected for oral presentation at the "Student Session" during the DigiHealthDay 2021 symposium on 12 November 2021. Each presenter got 15 minutes, including Q&A.

On 14 March, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) and the AOK Bayern, Direktion Passau-Rottal-Inn, once again sealed their cooperation by signing a cooperation agreement at the campus. Both parties are thus extending the contract that has already existed since 2015.

With its study programmes on health informatics and health tourism, ECRI focuses on prevention and improving health. The cooperation with the AOK, which pursues the same goals, is therefore obvious. The two had already worked together in the past and organised a "Health Day" on campus, for example. In the future, ECRI and AOK will jointly focus on offering further low-threshold health promotion and prevention services to inspire students and thus contribute to a healthy and long life.

ECRI already offers company sports or university sports or information events on the topic of health. In the future, the AOK will provide support in this area and together they will develop offers on the topics of nutrition, exercise and stress management. The aim is to promote the health of students and staff on campus. Because the earlier health promotion begins, the more present the topic will be later in professional life. In addition to joint offers, consultation hours on health insurance issues are also planned for students. As part of the cooperation, the AOK will also have space available at ECRI in the future, and not only in the "AOK lecture hall" named after it.

The winter semester at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) will start in October, and with it a new degree programme. In "Building Products and Processes", the university addresses the two megatrends of digitalisation and climate change in the construction sector. Interested students will find out what advantages the degree programme offers and what the content is like at the virtual kick-off event "Building Products and Processes" on 28 March from 4 pm.

The interactive event actively involves the participants and directly addresses their questions and ideas about the new degree programme. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Hainthaler as head of the degree programme and Prof. Josef Steretzeder will tell the students everything they need to know about the degree programme. Veronika Lindner and Robert Hummel, two industry experts, will also be there to provide information about the importance of "Building Products and Processes" for the industry and the future prospects for graduates.

In the new degree programme, students learn to develop, market and process resource-saving, recyclable building products in an engineering manner, which in the best case are reusable, and to manage them in medium and large building construction projects with the appropriate programmes and models. There is already a close connection to local companies during the study programme, which makes "Building Products and Processes" so exciting for those interested. Students can already complete an internship in companies or write a thesis during their studies. This makes it easier to start a career after graduation, because the graduates already have practical experience. With English and German as the language of instruction, the students of "Building Products and Processes" are not only equipped for the German labour market but can work as managers all over the world.

The kick-off event on 28 March will be broadcast on Zoom. Participation is free of charge and without prior registration. The event will start at 4 p.m. via https://th-deg-de.zoom.us/j/86299097440. Further information can be found in the event calendar on the DIT website.

The summer semester starts at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) and the students return to Pfarrkirchen. In order to bring the international young people closer to the culture and make life in Lower Bavaria easier, ECRI is now looking for cultural ambassadors as part of the Host Family Programme.

The programme matches students with locals who then meet at regular intervals. The aim is to give international students an opportunity to make contacts off campus and get to know Lower Bavarian culture. Especially at ECRI, Bavaria's most international campus, the Host Family Programme is indispensable for the exchange with people from other cultures. The process is quite simple: you meet the students casually and as often as you like. The participants decide for themselves whether the first meeting takes place in person or virtually because of Corona. As far as further meetings are concerned, there are no limits: whether it's an excursion to the beer garden, a walk around the Rottauen Reservoir or cooking together, there are many opportunities to share the area and culture with the students.

The cultural ambassadors do not have to be afraid of possible language barriers. Christiane Benesch is one of the ambassadors and meets regularly with two students as part of the Host Family Programme. She has high praise for them: "Hashem and Ersilja already speak excellent German and then I get scolded every now and then that I shouldn't speak so much English with them". She is not only behind the programme because of the exchange. She also finds the Host Family Programme indispensable from the perspective of the students' parents. "If I had children, I would of course be very grateful if my children were in foreign countries and someone was there to look after them a little and offer something like that," she says.

If you would like to gain a little insight into the programme and the process, you can find a short interview with Christiane Benesch in the university's podcast. There she talks about her experiences so far. You can find the podcast at: https://www.th-deg.de/campustalk

Further information and the application form for the Host Family Programme can be found at www.th-deg.de/hostfamily. If you have any questions, Andrea Ebertseder from the Centre for International Affairs at the DIT is available via e-mail at andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de.

The Host Family Programme is a non-profit organisation of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, which is dedicated to the integration of foreign students. In Deggendorf, the network includes people from a wide range of nations, religions and cultures and currently consists of more than 80 host families from Deggendorf and the surrounding area. At ECRI in Pfarrkirchen, the programme started for the first time in the winter semester 2019/20 and since then over 50 students have been placed with host families in the region.

The 9th Day of Research of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) will take place on 10 March. The digital event starts at 1 pm and ends at 3.30 pm. Then the three best posters as well as the best lecture by young scientists from Deggendorf will be awarded.

Anyone interested in applied research at the university can now do so once again for two and a half hours from the comfort of their own desk. Representatives from business, industry and society are equally invited and encouraged to attend. The same applies, of course, to students and prospective students who want to know what topics in particular young researchers are working on at DIT.

A total of ten topics from the areas of Sustainable Materials, Processes and Energy Technology, Intelligent Mobility, Digital Economy and Society as well as Innovative Work and Healthy Living will be presented on 10 March. Each presentation will last just three minutes. "A special challenge for the young researchers," explains press officer Dr Jörg Kunz. He is also in charge of science communication at DIT. "Getting to the heart of complex issues in a concise, understandable and transparent way is not easy," says Kunz. After all, the aim of the Day of Research is not so much to delve into the depths of the respective scientific topic, but rather to create the basis for a two-way dialogue. The same applies to the posters accompanying the Day of Research. These should make it possible to grasp at just one glance what the topic is about. "The very striking approach," says Kunz, "ensures that people can enter into discussions with the scientists in a very low-threshold way." As every year, prizes are awarded to the three best posters. As in the past, the trophy for the winner was designed by the design class at the Zwiesel Glass College and produced in the educational institution's own manufactory.

Registration for the Day of Research is possible until 9 March via the DIT website: www.th-deg.de/tdf-2022. Participation is free of charge.

As the Corona crisis has shown, the tourism industry and health tourism are suffering greatly from the effects of the pandemic. Together with partners from four European countries, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) wants to counteract this with the HealthTour project in order to make the industry more international and promising for the future. The virtual kick-off event on 23 February was attended by the project partners as well as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which supports the project with funding.

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Marcus Herntrei, the HealthTour project is dedicated to the internationalisation of research and teaching in the field of health tourism. Together with the project partners of the University of Economics (VSE) from the Czech Republic, the Budapest Metropolitan University (METU) from Hungary, the Kherson State University (KSU) from the Ukraine and the European Spas Association (ESPA) based in Brussels, the international network in the field is to be expanded and stabilised. Important components are meetings and exchanges on an international level, for example in the form of summer schools or through the mobility of teaching staff and students between the partners.

During the four-year period from January 2022 to the end of December 2025, the project will focus on, among other things, the assessment of quality requirements in the countries of the project participants, joint field research projects and joint international teaching. The focus is particularly on joint research, joint teaching and summer schools for students.

The DAAD supports the HealthTour project through the HAW.International programme. The aim of this programme is to strategically anchor and sustainably implement the internationalisation process at universities of applied sciences at all levels of higher education and across all groups of staff, from students to teachers and researchers to administrative staff.

Hannah Luther has been studying Business Psychology at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) since 2019. In search of a special place for her internship semester, she found what she was looking for in Switzerland. Now the student from Deggendorf is working for a year at CERN, a world-renowned research facility near Geneva.

Since November 2021, the future business psychologist has been completing her internship semester at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or CERN for short. The focus there is on basic research in physics. In particular, the structure of matter is researched with the help of large particle accelerators. Luther herself works in the human resources department, where she supports recruiting. "The best thing," says the 22-year-old, "is the opportunity to meet all these interesting people. Top researchers come here to Geneva from all over the world."

Luther became aware of the possibility of an internship at CERN through DIT professor Dr Patrick Glauner. The former CERN employee confirms the student's positive impressions: "My time in Geneva allowed me to develop excellently, both professionally and personally." In his subsequent career, Glauner has benefited significantly from this time. After taking up his professorship two years ago, he therefore set himself the goal of "establishing a cooperation between the Deggendorf Institute of Technology and CERN". The AI scientist is pleased that these efforts are now bearing fruit with a first intern. DIT President Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber is also proud: "The fact that CERN is interested in our students is impressive proof of the high quality of studies at DIT." The physicist reports on the university's plans for the future: "In the future, we also want to maintain contact with CERN through interns from the technical subjects.

Do some networking and gain more knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence - this is what the first international Summer School at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) offers from 26 July to 3 August. Doctoral and Master's students from all universities can apply for the nine-day intensive programme. DIT’s International Office is now calling for applications.

The Summer School "AI for Industry" deals with the question of how to bring artificial intelligence into industrial applications. Participants will hear lectures, expand their knowledge of the Python programming language and take part in a hackathon - all in English. More information and the detailed programme are available on the university's website: www.th-deg.de/ai-for-industry. Applications are accepted from 1 March to 1 May 2022. If you have any questions, the International Office team can be contacted via e-mail at summer-school@th-deg.de.

The leadership of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology and the entire university community is appalled and speechless by the current situation in Ukraine. There is war in Europe. We see an unprecedented breach of international law and in this respectfully share the perspective and assessment of the German government - and almost the entire world - on this absolutely unacceptable act of unprovoked aggression.

30 percent of our students come from more than 100 countries around the world. We maintain partnerships with 200 universities that are also spread around the globe. Our understanding of culture and values is that peace is created and secured by learning together, researching together, and living together. Therefore, we strongly condemn war and violence as a solution to problems. Our full solidarity belongs to the people of Ukraine and especially to our Ukrainian students who are in great concern for their country, their friends, and of course their loved ones. The Deggendorf Institute of Technology stands with all those who advocate diplomacy, dialogue, cooperation, and peace and solve conflicts exclusively in this way.

For additional information and support options, please visit 
https://www.stmi.bayern.de/mui/ukraine_hilfe/index.php

Our university community is there for you:

• Our multilingual student advisor Olha Boyko-Barea is happy to answer any inquiries about studying at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. Chat to Olha in Ukranian, German, English, or Italian using our mail account: welcome@th-deg.de
• If you are an enrolled Ukrainian student now in financial difficulty, please contact the International Office: international.office@th-deg.de
• If you are a Ukrainian national interested in studying at DIT, you can find information here: Study at DIT as a Ukrainian National
• Find further useful information here:
  https://www.innenministerium.bayern.de
  https://www.uni-regensburg.de/bayhost/ukraine/koordinationsstelle-ukraine/index.html

Let us hope and pray for peace together.

Солідарність з Україною!
 

Дорогі українці! Сім’я університету DIT пропонує вам допомогу:
Якщо у вас є питання щодо навчання в DIT, наша колега Ольга Бойко-Бареа буде рада надати вам допомогу. Ви можете зв'язатися з нею українською, російською, німецькою, англійською або італійською мовами за допомогою цієї електронної пошти: welcome@th-deg.de

Якщо ви з України та зацікавлені в навчанні в DIT, ви можете знайти інформацію тут: Навчання в DIT як громадянин України 

Якщо ви є студентом українського закладу вищої освіти і зараз опинилися у фінансовій скруті, будь ласка, зверніться до Міжнародного офісу: international.office@th-deg.de
 
Додаткову корисну інформацію можна знайти тут
https://www.innenministerium.bayern.de/
https://www.uni-regensburg.de/bayhost/ukraine/koordinationsstelle-ukraine/index.html
 
Разом молимося і сподіваємося на мир!

"Every new language is like an open window" is how Frank Harris (1856-1931) once described the magic of foreign languages. Anyone who knows one or more foreign languages can only agree with this. Those who want to brush up their knowledge or immerse themselves in a new language have the opportunity to do so at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). Intensive language courses will be held from Wednesday, 2 March to Wednesday, 9 March. The courses are aimed at beginners and advanced learners and are also open to university external students.

Whether Spanish, Italian, French or English: the Deggendorf Institute of Technology offers courses for many languages at different levels. All teaching takes place virtually via Zoom or MS Teams. Only the exam on 9 March is held in person at the Deggendorf campus. There are no classes on weekends. The course fee for pupils, trainees and students (also from other colleges and universities) is 39 euros, for all other language enthusiasts 120 euros. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate confirming the level they have attained. Interested parties can find the exact course programme and all other important information at: www.th-deg.de/intensivsprachkurse. Registration is possible through the DIT Language Centre: sprachenzentrum@th-deg.de.

One of the world's leading data scientists teaches at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). Every year, the renowned Chief Data Officer Magazine publishes an internationally recognised list of experts in data science. Listed on it are outstanding experts and now also Prof. Dr. Patrick Glauner from DIT. Along with two professors from TU Munich, Patrick Glauner is one of the only German representatives to make it onto the CDO Magazine list. All three stood out for their intensive commitment in 2021.

Science Minister Bernd Sibler offered his congratulations and emphasised: "In a digitalised world, precise, fast and reliable processing and evaluation of data and information are essential. With your work, you are making a central contribution to shaping our future. With our innovation offensive Hightech Agenda, we have laid the foundation for Bavaria as a science location to further expand its visibility and competitive position in this coveted market."

Patrick Glauner has been Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology since 2020. In spring 2021, he advised the German Bundestag and the French National Assembly on AI as an expert witness. He is pleased that he has been able to successfully place his innovations at DIT on a national and international level over the past two years. He has many more ideas for the coming months and years and is looking forward to their outcome. His professional focus is on machine learning, quantum computing, AI applications in mechanical engineering and innovation management.

For students who are curious about other cultures and want to speak English, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) offers the online conversation platform oConvo. This allows participants to immerse themselves in the English language once a week without having to pack a suitcase. oConvo starts on 21 March and takes place online every Monday from 6.30 pm to 8 pm.

oConvo is open to all students in Grade 7 or above. They should bring basic conversational skills in English and an interest in other cultures. oConvo is about teaching English in an entertaining way and improving language skills. The interests of the participants are taken into account. From making music together, exchanging recipes, talking about local customs to clarifying grammatical questions or idioms. Always in English, of course.

The fun of the language is not neglected, but the necessary seriousness and the demand to learn something at the virtual meetings are no less important. The overall coordination of the platform lies with Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer, the Dean of ECRI. Scientific and methodological-didactic support is provided by Prof. Dr. Michelle Cummings-Koether and Claudia Nikitsin. Students who actively participate in oConvo will be rewarded with a participation certificate at the end of the semester.

Those who meet the criteria and would like to participate in the Online Conversation Platform oConvo can register by emailing elisabeth.mueller@th-deg.de and start their English language journey into foreign cultures.

In October 2021, the new interdisciplinary lecture on quantum computing started at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). With this, the university is further expanding its innovative range of courses. Students from over 20 degree programmes are introduced to and trained in this key technology in a practical way.

In recent years, the topic of “Quantum Computing” has gained momentum in research and industry. “Unlike classical computers, a quantum computer does not work on the basis of binary, but quantum mechanical states,” reports Dr Patrick Glauner, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at DIT. Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt, Vice President Health Sciences and Campus Director of the European Campus Rottal-Inn adds: “By exploiting quantum effects, countless calculations can be solved simultaneously and thus much faster.” Classical computers, Kunhardt says, can only perform a few computations at a time. With quantum computing, however, it will be possible in the future to analyse huge amounts of data in a very short time. For climate models, for example.

Kunhardt and Glauner had already incorporated references to quantum computing into their computer science lectures in previous years. The students’ high interest in it inspired them to offer a joint specialisation lecture on quantum computing. “Quantum computing offers a multitude of possible applications in almost every industry, even explicitly beyond pure computer science,” Prof. Glauner notes and continues: “That’s why we have made the course explicitly interdisciplinary and advertised it university-wide.” As a prerequisite for participation, knowledge of higher mathematics and programming was sufficient.

About 40 students took part in the first run, among them from the degree programmes in computer sciences, business informatics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and mechatronics. One of the participants was the Finnish exchange student Teemu Heino. He is convinced by the new course offer: “In my lecture-accompanying seminar presentation, I dealt with the production of quantum computers and was able to apply my knowledge of mechanical engineering.” Rashed Al-Lahaseh, a Master’s student in Computer Science, is also enthusiastic about the new course. He took the course to understand how quantum computers can accelerate the learning process of an artificial intelligence. With the knowledge they gained in the course, they believe they are well prepared for the future. They would like to further deepen their knowledge in this key technology and use it profitably with a future employer.

More information on DIT’s degree programmes can be found at www.th-deg.de/en. If you have any questions about quantum computing, Prof. Glauner will also be happy to answer them directly at patrick.glauner@th-deg.de or +49 991 3615 453.

Protecting the climate together, finding new solutions to technical questions about hydropower, wind and solar energy in a team and getting paid well for it? The #StudyGreenEnergy network is organising a digital study information day on 27 January at 4 pm to raise awareness of study programmes in the field of renewable energies. The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) will also be represented with two degree programmes.

With the energy transition, our society is facing one of the greatest upheavals since the beginning of industrialisation. The challenges, but also the opportunities for shaping this sector are enormous. For Prof. Dr. Matthias Huber, one thing is certain: “A degree in renewable energies provides the engineering skills to actively shape the national and global energy transition.” As professor of Smart Infrastructure and Energy Economics at ECRI, he knows about the current challenges.

With the Bachelor Energy Systems Engineering and the Master Healthy and Sustainable Buildings, ECRI offers two future-relevant degree programmes. In addition to the typical engineering tools, both also teach holistic competences for sustainable change. And they are English-language and intercultural, with students from more than 80 nations worldwide. Prof. Dr. Tobias Bader teaches Sustainable Energy Systems and Technology Management at ECRI and knows: “An understanding of innovative key technologies together with competences for sustainable development, such as systems thinking, strategic thinking or integrated problem solving are key competences for the global transformation of the energy system”. These are precisely the competences that ECRI teaches in its degree programmes tailored to sustainability, thus preparing students for an attractive job market and solving the pressing challenges of time.

At the international study information day of the “StudyGreenEnergy” network, Volker Quaschning, among others, will give a lecture on climate change and today’s tasks for engineers. Alumni will give insights into their experiences at the universities. In break-out sessions, participants can also get in touch directly with the various universities, ask questions or take part in virtual lab tours. The free virtual event will take place on 27 January at 4 pm. For more information and registration, please visit:

The #StudyGreenEnergy network is made up of members of the university group of the German Solar Energy Society (DGS). In addition to ECRI, the following universities are involved: Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Ingolstadt University of Technology, Kassel University, Erfurt University of Applied Sciences, Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, OTH Amberg-Weiden, Nordhausen University of Applied Sciences, Südwestfalen University of Applied Sciences, TH Aschaffenburg, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, HAW Hamburg, Münster University of Applied Sciences, Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Biberach University of Applied Sciences and many others.

In times of ongoing pandemics, health tourism is having a hard time. The question of whether it still has a future was hotly debated at the European Health Prevention Day from 2 to 3 December in Wiesbaden. Three scientists from the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) were invited as speakers, which underlines ECRI’s expertise in the field.

Under strict conditions, about 50 participants had gathered at the Kurhaus Wiesbaden to devote themselves for two days entirely to the question “Do natural place-based remedies have a future in the age of the pandemic?”. Prof. Dr. Marcus Herntrei, Head of Tourism Studies at ECRI, hosted a thematic block on products in spa tourism and contributed a paper entitled “Experience Health. Planning holidays with healthy content”. Sebastian Markov and Dean Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer were invited as further experts from the campus. They spoke on the topic “The potential of the forest for the development of target group-specific offers. Findings of a representative survey from Germany and Austria”.

This year, the European Health Prevention Day was dominated by Lithuania, which had its own thematic block as a partner country and hosted a “Lithuanian evening” for all participants. The European Health Prevention Day is an international meeting of experts with a focus on relaxation and wellness. The special feature is the focus on local remedies such as thermal water, healing mud, seawater or climate. Topics of the event are marketing, new products and strategy.

An application needs to be well prepared, even for a degree programme. Applicants need to know which deadlines apply, whether an aptitude test is required in advance or, for example, proof of language skills. The Student and Academic Counselling at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is offering the first information event of this year on 19 January. Students can find out how to best prepare for the next application period. From 15 April, they can apply to study in Deggendorf, Pfarrkirchen and Cham. The best way for interested students to come to the “Schüler:innen-Talk” online seminar is via the event calendar: https://www.th-deg.de/de/veranstaltung?id=744087. It is scheduled from 4 to 5 pm.

The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) rings in the new year with a new event format. The series called “ECRI Lunch Talk”, kicks off with the topic of destination branding. The free virtual event will take place on Friday, 21 January at noon and is open to all interested parties. The event is held in German.

The ECRI Lunch Talk is about a topic considered by two experts and invited the audience to actively participate in the discussion. The special feature: The format takes place virtually during the lunch break from noon to 1 pm. The kick-off event is all about destination branding in tourism. Because every place, or destination in the technical jargon, tells a story, brings its own culture and way of life and is defined by its environment and the people there. Destination branding is all about identifying the strongest and most competitive values of the destination in the eyes of its potential visitors. In particular, it is about capturing the “DNA of the destination” and conveying it consistently across all marketing channels and communications.

Claudia Hinnerkopf explains how this is done in practice at the ECRI Lunch Talk. She is Head of Marketing at Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH and knows Bavaria as a destination inside out. The second participant, Prof. Dr. Marcus Herntrei, will contribute scientific findings on citizen participation in destination branding. He is the head of the Bachelor International Tourism Management and Master International Tourism Development programmes at ECRI. The ECRI Lunch Talk will be hosted by Sarah Beham, correspondent at Bayerischer Rundfunk and experienced journalist on tourism in Eastern Bavaria.

Interested parties can register for the free event by sending an e-mail to miriam.bleck@th-deg.de or using the registration form. This can be found under the heading “Veranstaltungen” on the German ECRI website at: https://th-deg.de/ecri.

The ECRI Lunch Talk will take place twice a semester in the future and will focus on different ECRI topics. In each case, lecturers from the campus meet people from outside and look at a topic from different angles.

Mohammad Abu Rezeq is the first prospective founder at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) to receive funding for his start-up idea as an international student. He wants to use a drone and artificial intelligence to facilitate the inspection of solar parks. To build the first prototype of the drone, he has now received the highest possible funding amount of € 7,500 from the Kickstart Incubator Programme.

Mohammad is studying for a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering in Deggendorf and is originally from Jordan. With his start-up idea Squadron, he wants to help solar park operators collect data on their solar cells, which he evaluates for quality assurance with the help of artificial intelligence. Thus, compared to conventional inspection methods, it is possible to detect all kinds of anomalies in the shortest possible time and with more precise results. In July 2021, Mohammad presented his innovation to the Startup Campus team at DIT. Since then, he has been supervised and supported by the start-up advisors and his mentor Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Dorner. The start-up advisors are pleased that he Jordanian is consciously striving to found his company in Germany. This means that the added value can be felt directly. As the first international student to found a company at DIT, Mohammad would also like to take the next step and secure funding through the EXIST start-up scholarship and is currently writing an application for this.

About the Incubator Programme

The Kickstart Incubator is a programme for all prospective founder with innovative technology-oriented start-up projects or services with high customer value. After successfully presenting the idea, the first step is to develop the business model and build the founding team. Selected experts from DIT and the Startup Campus team are on hand to coach and mento the prospective founders. Free access to the StartupLab premises creates a creative working environment and enables exchange with other funding teams. With up to € 7,500 in funding per team, nothing stands in the way of building the first prototype. After completing the incubator programme, the teams are well equipped for the upcoming start-up and ready for subsequent funding such as the EXIST start-up scholarship. More information on the topic of founding can be found here: www.th-deg.de/starting-a-business

The funding is made possible by the funding measure “Entrepreneurial Thinking and Scientific Founding Spirit – Research and Founding Freedom at Universities of Applied Sciences” StartupLab@FH of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

At the beginning of December, a delegation from the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) led by President Prof. Dr. Peter Sperber and Prof. Peter Schmieder, Director of the Bavarian Innovation Transformation Centre (BITZ) Oberschneiding, visited strategic partners of the university in Silicon Valley. In addition, talks were held with potential investors of start-ups in the USA. DIT start-up teams with above-average potential are to be helped to achieve a successful market breakthrough.

On the campus of Stanford University, the DIT delegation, which also included Chancellor Birgit Augustin and Alexander Dorn, responsible for Venture Development at BITZ, first met Justin Lokitz. He is an advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck, the global hub of the University of California Berkeley. Lokitz will act as an active mentor at the BITZ and represent the Berkeley SkyDeck in Oberschneiding. Artificial intelligence and intellectual property rights were the topic of another meeting with WilmerHale, one of the leading US law firms in business law. One of WilmerHale's partners, Daniel Zimmermann, will also support the Silicon Valley School at the BITZ in the future. His expertise in corporate transactions and venture technology issues will be in particular demand.

In order to deepen existing networks and partnerships, talks were also held with the three long-time mentors Prof. Albert Bruno, Geoff Baum and Dr. Tobias Strobl. Bruno from Santa Clara University (SCU) is the founding director of the Center of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Baum, in turn, co-founder of Garage.com, a high-tech capital company specialising in start-up financing, is an adjunct professor at SCU as well as Vice President of Marketing at Acceldata. Finally, Strobl has lived and taught in Silicon Valley for years. He was appointed professor for the "Methodology of Acceleration and Scale" at BITZ Oberschneiding.

Dr. Robert Brancatelli, Senior Associate Director of the Silicon Valley Executive Center and the Leavey School of Business at SCU, praised the intensive exchange with DIT: "The Silicon Valley School is an expression and symbol of the deepening partnership between Deggendorf University and the Silicon Valley Executive Center. The mentoring, intensive support as well as the networking of the venture teams are comparable to other start-up programmes on both sides of the Atlantic, but surpass them in many ways." According to Brancatelli, he knows of very few programmes that are based on a similarly strong bond between science and business.

After visiting the new Discovery & Innovation Campus, one of the largest STEM facilities in the US, DIT President Sperber was impressed. "A whopping US$270 million has been invested here. That is really fantastic!" Sperber also emphasised, however, that the group of now 13 DIT technology campuses could certainly keep up. What happens centrally in a research centre in Silicon Valley is spread over nine districts in Bavaria. The DIT president: "Our technology campuses offer innovation for an entire region. The BITZ Oberschneiding is a great reinforcement in this circle."

INFO │ THE SILICON VALLEY PROGRAM AT DIT

Prof. Peter Schmieder is the founder of the Silicon Valley Program at DIT. He has been cooperating with the elite American university Santa Clara in California for more than ten years. In the years from 2014 to the present, around 60 founding teams went through this programme. "Germany," says Schmieder, "is a country of inventors. However, these inventions, the 'Inventions', all too rarely become real innovations." This is precisely where the Silicon Valley Program comes in. Together with the mentors in California, the founders are given the know-how, concept and strategy to actually bring an idea successfully to the market. The basis for this lies in Lower Bavaria, Schmieder explains: "The experts in Silicon Valley tell us quite clearly that what is being done at the BITZ in Oberschneiding is unique." As early as April 2022, the next teams from Lower Bavaria will complete their "pitch" in California. If they are successful, investors and a top-class network of experts will be on hand.

You can find out more about the Bavarian Innovation Transformation Centre (BITZ) in Oberschneiding at: www.th-deg.de/bitz-oberschneiding-en

Only a third of all Bavarian universities have permanent staff to handle their alumni work. While some colleges and universities continue to cut back on this, the aftercare of former students at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is very much supported by the university management. On Wednesday, 1 December 2021, the State Minister for Science and the Arts, Bernd Sibler, joined the virtual Bavarian regional group meeting of the umbrella organisation for alumni work alumni-clubs.net (acn) for 30 minutes. He took the opportunity to discuss the importance of alumni work with the speakers present.

During the online discussion, Minister of Science Bernd Sibler emphasised: "The knowledge and experience of our 'alumni' are a great treasure for the Bavarian universities, of which we are proud." The alumni work makes this treasure visible and practically usable for the current students as well as for the universities. And the graduates themselves would also benefit from networking with each other. Sibler continues: "In the new Higher Education Innovation Act, we will expand the individual scope of the universities. This will also open up new opportunities and perspectives for alumni work." The new law will expand the possibilities for universities to cooperate with external partners and networks. It also provides the framework conditions for business start-ups and participations. In addition, universities will be able to make infrastructure facilities such as laboratories or equipment available to their graduates for start-up purposes for a certain period of time beyond their studies. This creates new opportunities for networking and cooperation between universities and alumni.

For Ulrike Sauckel, Alumni Officer at DIT, the appreciation from the Ministry is an important step towards establishing alumni work at all Bavarian universities. Sauckel is also the Bavarian regional group spokesperson for the umbrella organisation alumni-clubs.net. In Deggendorf, she says, it works very well that graduates stay in touch with the university after they graduate. In Deggendorf, sustainable alumni work has been carried out for 16 years by the central institution DIT-Alumni, supported by the AlumniNet association, which can count over 1,000 members in its 20th year. The university association offers job application training, seminars for executives and business trips.

Link to the image film of the association: alumninet.th-deg.de/?page_id=4377&lang=de

Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan, Programme Director Master of Digital Health at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), was invited as a keynote speaker and panelist to two international Digital Health congresses organized by Brazil’s vibrant and dynamic Digital Health community. He spoke at the Global Summit on Telemedicine and Digital Health as well as the Brazilian Congress of Telemedicine and eHealth, both taking place in November 2021.

The first event was a pre-meeting webinar on Digital Health Education, a part of the event series titled Global Summit on Telemedicine and Digital Health. In his keynote, Prof. Chaltikyan spoke on the history and evolution of telemedicine and telehealth into eHealth and Health IT, and eventually into Digital Health (with important differences between the concepts and definitions), provided insights into the changing paradigm of Health IT and medical/health informatics education, discussed the novel approach to fostering interdisciplinary specialists capable of driving the Digital Transformation of Healthcare, and presented the experience with Master of Digital Health at DIT-ECRI. The Global Summit 2021 convened on November 9-12 in São Paulo, attracted 2 thousand virtual participants from around the world, provided 100 hours of content in 95 sessions during 4 days, presented by 200 speakers from 24 countries

At the Brazilian Congress of Telemedicine and eHealth, Prof. Chaltikyan was invited to a panel discussion titled “Professional Education Transforming Telemedicine and Digital Health”. The discussion featured also Prof. S. Yunkap Kwankam, the Executive Director of the International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (ISfTeH), Mr. Frank Lievens, the Executive Secretary of ISfTeH, and Ms. Dina Ziadlou, Chair of ISfTeH Working Group on Digital Transformation and was moderated  by Prof. Jefferson Fernandes, Head of Education Program and Board Member at the ISfTeH. The panelists presented their vision and opinions about streamlining Digital Health education internationally and globally, and engaged in a lively discussion addressing the challenges and opportunities of providing professional workforce for Digital Transformation.

In both the keynote and the panel, the ongoing work on the Consortium of Educational Institutions in Digital Health (CONEDIG), an initiative under the auspices of the ISfTeH of which DIT-ECRI is one of the founding members, was also presented and discussed.

Deggendorf Institute of Technology’s ECRI is an academic institutional member of the ISfTeH since 2018.

In microelectronics, we know that the smaller, more efficient and more mobile microchips are, the more diverse their applications. Professor Michael Sternad from the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has found a way to produce microchips with an integrated battery. The mini-battery is powerful and very easy to produce. No one else in the world has ever succeeded in this dimension. The advantage: microchips with a battery can be used autonomously and in a variety of ways. Michael Sternad has now published the results of his scientific work and would like to get in touch with interested parties.

As a result of several years of basic research, which Michael Sternad started at Graz University of Technology, he shows how monocrystalline silicon, the material of a microchip, can be made usable as a battery electrode. "The microchip then not only houses the electronics, but is also part of a mini-battery at the same time," says Sternad. The silicon as the material of the microchip was the challenge here. When it is charged, its structure changes. It shatters into countless particles. Sternad dealt with this and found a way to optimally prepare the silicon for charging. The new batteries can be recharged several hundred times with a small capacity loss of only a few percent. "With this high number of recharges, this has never been achieved before in the world," says Sternad. And the possible applications are manifold. They can be made extremely tiny, down to 0.1 by 0.1 millimetres, in almost any package shape and extremely cheap, around one to two cents each. But the energy density is similar to that of the best commercial lithium-ion batteries. Demand is particularly high from the aircraft industry. Energy-autonomous sensors simply save weight in aircraft because there is no need for wiring. But there are many other examples of applications, such as monitoring blood supplies, fever-detecting plasters or in the automotive sector. Those interested can read about Michael Sternad's research work in the renowned journal "Advanced Material Technologies". He is also available to answer questions in person: michael.sternad@th-deg.de.

Together with project partners, the district of Rottal-Inn has committed itself to improving medical care in the district of Rottal-Inn in the "med4PAN" project. The European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is responsible for the overall management of the project. For this idea, Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer presented Max Straubinger, Member of the Bundestag, and the project team around project leader Prof. Dr. Thomas Spittler with a funding decision amounting to € 3.64 million on 18 November.

In his speech at the handover of the funding notification, Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer highlighted the project as a lighthouse project that can also be applied to many other districts and will sustainably improve medical care in rural areas. The Minister also emphasised that he would continue to personally support the project. For MP Max Straubinger, who was present at the handover as a member of parliament for the district, "med4PAN" is also a lighthouse project. He emphasised the importance for rural areas and how the project will improve the lives of citizens in the event of an emergency or treatment in hospital in the district of Rottal-Inn.

In Rottal-Inn, the district with the most scattered settlements in Germany, the distances between hospitals in an emergency are longer than average and every minute counts for the patient. In order to be able to counteract this problem in the future, the "med4PAN" project is investigating the use of state-of-the-art technologies in medical care in four concrete application cases.

The project starts before patients even arrive at the hospital. By linking the ambulance service and the Rottal-Inn clinics, the care of patients who are in an emergency situation in the ambulance is to be improved. For this purpose, live videos of the patient captured by a 360° camera in the ambulance are transmitted to the emergency room and the doctors can get an idea of the situation before the ambulance arrives. In addition, the project aims to improve teleconsultation communication, allowing specialists from different locations of the Rottal-Inn hospitals to exchange information virtually and thus contribute to telemedical decision support. This will reduce time, cost, burden and stress for all involved and improve patient care. The project aims to facilitate the localisation of objects and people in clinics. For medical staff, this would lead to a great relief, as the required device can be located, found immediately and the patient thus helped more quickly.

In addition to the actual cases in the ambulance and the clinic, the project will also establish a so-called innovation hub at ECRI. Within the framework of this, applications based on state-of-the-art technology will be scientifically developed, tested, evaluated and scaled for further use cases. This includes, for example, the delivery of a defibrillator by drone or the transmission of images of a high-resolution histopathological section to the specialist in real time.

The "med4PAN" project is led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Spittler and supported by Anna Schmaus-Klughammer, LLB (hons.), as coordinator of the project at DIT. Besides the district of Rottal-Inn, the Rottal-Inn Clinics, the Bavarian Red Cross, the Fraunhofer Institute and the companies medDV and becon GmbH are involved as project partners.

Great honour for Deggendorf filmmakers: their short film "Flucht" (Escape) was presented at the beginning of November at the Biberach Film Festival, which is renowned throughout Germany. The project is a final thesis in the Master's degree programme in Media Technology at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT).

"Escape" tells the story of twelve-year-old Jakob, who repeatedly flees from his quarrelling parents into the forest. When one day his life is in danger there, he has to make a difficult decision. The twelve-minute film is the final project of the Deggendorf media technology students Kim Hong (script and direction), Moritz Grötsch (image design), Lea Blöchinger (production, production management), Julian Hofbauer (sound and music) and Nikkash Sutharsan (editing). The film project was supervised by Prof. Jens Schanze. He praises the young talents: "Thanks to their above-average commitment, the students succeeded in producing and completing the film with two child actors under pandemic conditions." Special camera lenses were used for the visual realisation of the demanding drama, creating a special cinematic aesthetic. The invitation to Biberach is highest recognition for the Deggendorf film team. The festival is considered a "family reunion of German filmmakers". Well-known directors such as Caroline Link, Volker Schlöndorff or Fatih Akin have been awarded prizes for their works there in the past, as has Oliver Haffner, lecturer in  DIT's Master's programme in Media Production. The Deggendorf entry was the only short film at the renowned festival that was not produced at a film school.

"Into the bin - and then what?" What actually happens to our rubbish? This question will be explored at the next Children's University at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT).

Plastic in the environment and in the oceans - rubbish is one of the major global problems. But there are solutions. Miriam Augustin from the Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft (ZAW) Donau-Wald comes to the DIT Kinderuni for this topic. She explains what happens to our waste and why it is so important to separate properly. But what goes into which bin? Which waste can be recycled at all and what is made from it? A quiz will show who is already a real recycling professional. Nevertheless, the best waste is that which is not produced in the first place. Waste prevention is the order of the day. Miriam Augustin will give her young listeners important tips on how to do this - in keeping with the European Week of Waste Prevention, which is taking place at the same time. At the end, the children can ask the expert questions.

The children's university is organised by the MINT team of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. Children’s university is currently offered in German only.

By 2022, the most important administrative services in Germany are to be available online. To this end, the E-Government Act was passed in 2013 and the Online Access Act (OZG) in 2017. Authorities, administrations and other public institutions that still need a boost here can find out more on 23 November at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). In a virtual event, experts from the Master’s programme “Public Management” and partner companies of the university will talk about the possibilities of digitalisation in (public) administration.

At the DigiCamp, Ronald Kaiser and Prof Dr Helena Liebelt will provide detailed information about the digitalisation culture in public authorities and public institutions and the threat posed by cyber attacks. In practical examples, Maximilian Gell and Andreas Englmeier will tell about their project experiences, how to approach digitalisation and which tools have proven their worth. Those interested in further education will also receive information on the part-time Master’s programme “Public Management’. Those who are looking for cooperation opportunities with the university can also tie in at the DigiCamp. The detailed programme for the event can be found on the DIT homepage at https://th-deg.de/en/business/digitalisation-in-dialogue. The DigiCamp will take place from 4-6 pm. Participation is free of charge, access data to the virtual will be sent out after registration.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has successfully applied to participate in the "National Education Platforms Initiative" of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In the higher education landscape, there are a large number of higher education information systems for the storage and processing of services and teaching content. However, these are structured very differently and, in addition, documents are currently sent and approved in paper form in time-consuming administrative processes. DIT wants to remedy this situation. A platform that can be used throughout Germany is to be created that digitally stores and recognises educational achievements. The first concept phase for the development of a prototype began in October.

If a student changes degree programmes or wants to pursue a Master's degree after completing his or her Bachelor's degree, his or her previous achievements are important for recognition or admission to a degree programme. Manually managing the documents, however, is very time-consuming and expensive. The idea of the DIT project is to create digital and forgery-proof alternatives for this process, which will ideally be used throughout Germany. This should create more transparency and permeability in the education system. "If this works, navigating through the digital recognition jungle will be much easier," says Prof. Dr Wolfgang Dorner. He is part of the project team as director with his Institute for Applied Computer Science, as is the IT Centre with director Prof. Helena Liebelt and operational director Andreas Englmeier, as well as the Communication & Marketing department headed by Martina Heim. In the first phase, the university's IT centre will use blockchain technologies to develop a digital wallet. The user's educational data is stored in it. The DIT's website team is providing a user-friendly interface for the planned platform. "Imagine having all your degrees, exams, grades that you have achieved in your life stored in one central secure place. No matter where you apply across Germany, your digital wallet is checked, e.g. by another university, and the appropriate modules are simply recognised," Dorner explains. He cites the EDV-Fachschule in Plattling as a regional example: "We already recognise achievements of the EDV-Fachschule Plattling for a computer science degree, which should be simple, automated and not involve a lot of paperwork and administration."

After the first project phase of a total of five months, expert reviewers will examine the nationwide ideas and release the concepts and strategies deemed worthy of funding for a two-year implementation phase.

Sinah Harm produced a promotional film for the Munich-based start-up democy for her Master’s thesis. The start-up offers an app for citizen participation. As part of the advertising campaign “What moves you?”, the film celebrated its premiere this week.

The Master’s thesis has brough Sinah further in many areas. Except for the camera and set sound, she has taken on all the tasks herself, even the catering and the implementation of hygiene measures. For the first time, she has also worked with children and non-experienced people. “The production brought out all my strengths, but also weaknesses, and was therefore very instructive,” she says herself, “you always develop further, you never stop learning, and that’s why my focus will always be on getting better with every project.”

The contact to democy cam about through friends. Sinah liked the idea of the start-up and personally likes advertising films with emotional stories, which is why she decided to work with democy as the topic of her Master’s thesis. Under the supervision of Prof. Schanze and in collaboration with cameraman Thomas Weishäupl, she realised the project. Sinah’s film can now also be seen on Youtube.

Many large corporations and companies rely on the TOEIC® (Test of English for International Communication) to fairly and validly assess the job-related English skills of their employees. Because applicants and staff managers often have two different understandings of “good” English, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is offering the next TOEIC Listening & Reading Online Test in December. External candidates can also take part.

The TOEIC Listening & Reading Online covers the two areas of listening and reading comprehension. The two-hour multiple choice test is taken on the computer. All those who take the test are placed exactly in their personal language level according to their score and always receive a result – there is no such thing as failing. The next TOEIC Listening & Reading Test Online at DIT will take place on Friday, 10 December at 4 pm. The test date on Friday, 3 December, also at 4 pm, is obligatory. Registration is possible until 22 November at sprachenzentrum@th-deg.de. The examination fee is €130 (or €150 if a certificate is required). The number of participants for the exam is limited.

More information on the TOEIC test is available online at https://th-deg.de/en/students/language-electives#exams.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is offering a virtual information event on its Master's degree programmes, which are taught full-time, on Thursday, 11 November. Currently, prospective students can choose from 21 Master's programmes in the fields of business, technology, health and computer science. From 4 pm to 7 pm, the university will present the specific study contents, how to apply properly and which admission requirements apply. Those interested can connect to the online event via a link. There will be a virtual room for Master's programmes in "Technology", "Computer Science" and "Business, Health and Sport". The exact agenda of the information event and the necessary links are available at www.th-deg.de in the event calendar.

Parents looking for childcare can now contact the babysitter exchange at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). It provides experienced babysitters to families in need of childcare.

The babysitter exchange acts as an intermediary platform between students who like to look after children and already have experience and parents who are looking for a babysitter. The DIT's Family Affairs department puts babysitters and parents in touch with each other, who then make arrangements completely independently of the university. The aim of the babysitter exchange is to offer families a complementary service when looking after their children.

Previous experiences with the babysitter exchange have been positive throughout, as Jana Schmid confirms. She is a mother of two children and has been using this offer for several semesters. "The children are super enthusiastic about our babysitter. She has played with them, collected craft materials during a walk in the forest and made things with them. With the big daughter, she baked an extra recipe. That was an experience, of course," says Schmid.

The babysitter exchange is merely a placement platform. For this reason, the university accepts no liability whatsoever.

What does the word "truth" actually mean in a time when more and more data and more and more communication channels offer more and more opportunities to somehow convey virtually any opinion as truth? The already traditional "Deggendorf Forum for Digital Data Analysis" (DFDDA) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Georg Herde (Deggendorf Institute of Technology) asked itself this question. At the 16th forum event on Wednesday and Thursday, experts from tax auditing, tax consultancy and finance discussed the possibilities and limits of so-called artificial intelligence (AI). The motto of the event, which was virtual for the third time due to the Corona pandemic, was: "No signal - is the truth disappearing in the flood of data?"

Only recently, the Deggendorf Institute of Technology had dismissed its first graduates specialising in artificial intelligence, the Vice-President of DIT, Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt, told the audience in a welcoming speech. And he issued an admonition that all speakers at the conference echoed in one way or another: "We must never disregard the human being." At the end of all AI analyses, the critical mind of the human being is still needed, he said.

The guest speaker at the event, Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Philosophy of Science at the Technical University of Munich, also spoke of "Responsible Artificial Intelligence". Mainzer has followed the development of AI and the expectations of AI on an international level and described in his lecture the path from the development of expert systems, which were supposed to support the doctor in diagnosis through purely logical reasoning from medical data, to the imitation of human brain functions and the search and detection of patterns in large amounts of data, to today, among other things, self-learning automats in automotive technology and the decoding of protein structures and thus the identification of viruses.

Mainzer took up the criticism that such systems are "black boxes", you can see what they find out, but not how they find it out. The systems are "trained like a dog. But in the end, you can still get bitten." Mainzer: "You need visibility, explainability." That means: an expert - a doctor, a specialist engineer - has to decide with his "domain knowledge" whether, for example, a medical diagnosis found automatically is plausible or not. The more influence technology has on people and their everyday lives, the greater the challenge for the training of people who work with this technology. Technology design is required; legal, social, ecological and economic criteria must be included in this design from the outset. Machine learning is "a huge success today", Mainzer said in the subsequent discussion. "But in the end, it is statistics" - with the uncertainties that come with it.

Using the example of the judiciary, Dr Tanja Ihden, FH Krems, who wrote her doctoral thesis in Bremen on "the relevance of statistical methods in jurisprudence", described successes and problems of argumentation with statistics. She is a member of the research unit "Statistics in Court", which was founded in 2014/15. According to Ihden, the number of court decisions in which statistical terms can be found has increased many times over in the past decades. The impetus for this comes from the judiciary itself, in almost all areas, whether it is the assignment of a DNA sample to a suspect, or reconstructions of an accident through scenarios, or the question of whether a man on whose computer photos from the borderline area of child pornography, which is not yet punishable, are found, is also very likely to possess prohibited photos. Judges are increasingly confronted with terms such as variance or confidence interval, which they must be able to correctly classify in their judgements, says Ihden. Being able to read statistics and evaluate statistical reasoning has become a key qualification for judges, he said.

Tawei (David) Wang, PhD, Associate Professor and Driehaus Fellow, Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University, Chicago, USA, demonstrated how risky the use of social media by employees can be for a company. His study shows how social media data can be used to find security weaknesses in companies' computer systems. Wang and colleagues used the LinkedIn network for their research, but consider the result transferable to other networks. They extracted thousands of personal data with information on current and former professional activities, areas of responsibility and locations and formed an exposure index for the company from the results. The result was a positive relationship between this index and the number of data breakdowns in the company's computer network.

The challenges posed by growing computing capacities, new processes and new procedures, such as AI, in companies also place new and expanded demands on auditing. Karsten Thomas, Partner IT-Assurance at BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, gave examples of where new, constantly developing tools can also help the auditor to improve the efficiency and quality of the audit. He does not see any fundamental competition between the goals of quality and efficiency. A high degree of automation also reduces the susceptibility to errors and can relieve the auditor. It could also make it easier to recognise anomalies. Thomas presented concrete tools from auditor practice. Outliers in analysed data are a particular challenge. The effort to clarify and assess them is high. There is great hope for AI procedures, but Thomas does not yet see their use at this point. One reason he gave was that, depending on the company, not every anomaly has to be an error, and that it is difficult to obtain training data for machine learning in companies with their individual design of data systems and processes.

A special form of mass data analysis for tax purposes was presented by Markus Ettinger, Diplom-Finanzwirt (FH) in the large and group tax audit of Schleswig-Holstein. The Foreign Tax Act stipulates how transfer prices between related parties or companies and their subcontractors are checked for taxation purposes to see whether they correspond to market realities. Transfer prices between comparable, unrelated third parties are used for this purpose. Ettinger described, according to the title of his presentation, "Visualisation and Benchmark Studies in Transfer Pricing". For this, comparable companies and criteria for comparability must first be found. Using example data, Ettinger described how a combination of machine screening, ideally interactive methods of visualisation and critical scrutiny of each individual step can be used to compile a comparison set on which the tax classification can be based, as long as the boundary conditions remain unchanged.

At the end of the conference, DFDDA Chairman Prof. Dr. Georg Herde posed the question in his own contribution that bridged the various topics of the conference: "Artificial Intelligence - A Solution for Auditing?" He started from the statement: "New techniques are giving AI a strong impetus." But what does AI "understand" about company data as it is available to the auditor? What correlations does it recognise on its own? From structured company data, the auditor extracts a multitude of tables - which, however, interact in a defined way, which is not automatically recognisable in the tables. And even in a flat table, only a human can recognise the meaning of the entries: Which chart of accounts was used? What kind of date is in the date field? Depending on where a posting record is, it can be wrong or right or even meaningless. From these and other considerations, he derived a perspective for developers: the input fields must be strongly standardised, but already an assignment of the attributes to the data fields cannot be done by an AI, but must be queried anew for each client and executed by hand. "There is no automatic testing of a programme logic," said Herde, referring - mutatis mutandis - to an insight made by the British computer scientist Alan Turing in 1937. In addition, framework conditions such as company structures, prices or laws are constantly changing, so that an AI system would have to be constantly retrained. "These and other problems of AI systems are currently not solvable," Herde noted. Research in this area is therefore important and sensible, he said.

His conclusion: "If an AI system does not say how it arrives at a result, then the examiner can only believe the results. Then he doesn't test."

And the DEGGs? It is becoming more and more part of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The AI Centre of the Faculty of Applied Computer Science had already moved in last spring. Now, at the start of the winter semester, up to 120 students can be supervised in presence on around 1,600 square metres of the former medical care centre. In addition, laboratories have been set up for research and work on digital topics. Topics that are also relevant for the further digitalisation of the regional economy.

Prof. Andreas Fischer is the head of the Laboratory for Network Technologies: "Not only classic internet technologies are explored here, but also new types of distributed intelligent applications," explains the DIT scientist. Artificial intelligence algorithms could, for example, help to better plan resources in large-scale data centres, detect anomalies in data traffic or quite practically speed up the forwarding of packets.

Another new addition to the DEGGs is a laboratory for high performance or quantum computing. Prof. Dr. Peter Faber is the boss here. Under his guidance, topics in computer science are served that require extraordinarily high computing power. "Our main focus is on so-called parallel computing" says Faber, meaning that in such cases several variants of a problem are solved simultaneously. For example, an AI can search different areas of a high-resolution image for specific objects at the same time. Parallel processing is also the speciality of quantum computing - the two research fields complement each other perfectly here at DEGGs.

The DeepLearning lab is the realm of Prof. Andreas Berl. Small autonomous vehicles, robotic arms and humanoid robots characterise the first impression. Highly sophisticated AI workstations with access to fast servers in the background allow students to quickly achieve their own successes and thus apply theoretical knowledge directly in practice.

"At the AI Centre, we want to prepare Deggendorf students in the best possible way for the revolutions in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, High Performance Computing and Quantum Computing," confirms Prof. Berl. The three labs offer special practical courses on topics such as network technologies, deep learning and high performance computing or quantum computing. The response has been enormous. Well over 3,000 applicants from all over the world wanted one of the 120 places on the new English-language Bachelor Artificial Intelligence and Master Artificial Intelligence & Data Science programmes. Berl is very pleased about this: "We are proud that the degree programme became known so quickly outside Germany." He also hopes for more applicants from Germany. After all, studying in English boosts career opportunities enormously.

On 16 August, the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy approved the SMARD project - "Simulation of Metal Anomaly Research Detection". It will be funded with a good 0.85 million euros. Of this, 447,000 euros will go to the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). Together with the project partner Mesutronic Gerätebau GmbH, DIT will research an innovative further development in the field of metal detection and integrate it into existing series solutions.

Existing detection concepts for anomalies caused by metal contamination in the industrial manufacturing sector must be evaluated and their concrete implementations tested in detail. There are solutions for evaluating changes in the electromagnetic field caused by metals. However, these solutions are only partially suitable in test environments for anomaly tests with hard real-time requirements, as is the case in manufacturing systems. Existing approaches with threshold-based algorithms are only conditionally suitable for use in the validation of future detection systems for product anomalies due to rigid decision criteria. Other anomaly testing approaches, such as image processing or artificial intelligence algorithms, are not yet established in the field of metal detection. However, the integration of such advanced methods in anomaly environments provides significant added value for safeguarding future systems. Lack of research activity in this context testifies to the relevance of the project.

The aim of the project is to research and develop an AI-based evaluation method for metal detectors in the industrial manufacturing sector. This detection system, developed on the basis of an electromagnetic FEM process and an AI-controlled software analysis, enables improved detection of metallic contaminants in a manufacturing product with simultaneous reliable non-detection of non-contaminated products. The AI-based learning is performed using the electromagnetic simulation results of the FEM software Ansys (EM) Maxwell. In addition, the thermodynamic influences on the overall system consisting of the detection unit and the test product are investigated, analysed and included in the AI algorithm.

On Friday, 12 November, 2021, the second edition of the international Digital Health symposium DigiHealthDay (DHD), will be hosted by European Campus Rottal-Inn, Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT-ECRI).

The international symposium DHD-2021 tries to capture how digital technologies are transforming health and care around the world, featuring keynotes, parallel sessions, impulse talks, and a panel discussion including distinguished experts in the field of Digital Health. Leading international experts from Germany, United Kingdom, United States, India, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Italy and other countries will provide knowledge and information on the future of healthcare during the day of the symposium. The main highlight event of this year is the panel discussion "The Future of Digital Health Data: Achieving the Opportunities, Addressing the Anxieties, Responding to Risks".

Scientific Session, EFMI Session, Student Session, and CONEDIG session are hosted parallel. In the Scientific Sessions, selected academic papers in Digital Health will be presented. The Students Session is the stage for recognising sprouting talents. At CONEDIG Session, The Consortium of Educational Institutions in Digital Health (CONEDIG) will converse on educational reforms, goals, and challenges in Digital Health.

The organiser of the event, Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan, is proud to host honorary Klaus Holetschek - Minister of State for Health and Care as well as honorary Bernd Sibler - Minister of State for Science and the Arts (Bavaria), who will open the event with their welcome addresses. Another milestone for the DHD is the partnership with one of the key Digital Health events in Germany, ‘Munich Digital Healthcare Summit'. For further information visit the DHD-2021 website: https://th-deg.de/digihealthday

The event is endorsed and sponsored by the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care (StMGP), Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI), German Society of Digital Medicine (DGDM), German Telemedicine Society (DGTelemed), Bavarian Telemedicine Alliance (BTA), Armenian Association of Telemedicine (AATM), Town of Pfarrkirchen, Roche, Russian-Armenian University (RAU), People's Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), National Healthcare University of Ukraine (NHU), and DigitalHealthNews.eu (media partner).

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) supervises and supports students in various phases of the start-up process. Also when it comes to making the emerging start-ups better known and building up their network. On 27 October, the DIT Startup Campus invites you to the virtual event “meet the team”. The founding teams will each talk about their business idea for 15 minutes and then want to engage in an exchange with the audience.

Among others, the team ti4f will introduce itself. Ti4f was funded by a start-up scholarship at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology and has already founded a company. The three-member team is still looking for a strategic partner or investor, for example. Thomas Brunner, Constantin Vogel and Hamidreza Abolpourmoshizi are developing an end-to-end digitalised process chain in one-off production. The event starts on 27 October at 4 pm and takes place via Zoom. Not only students, employees and partner companies of the university can participate, but also anyone who is interested in the topic of business start-ups. Registration is possible via DIT’s seminar platform: www-th-deg.de/seminare. The zoom link will be sent out afterwards.

15-minute talks with companies, presentation on dual studies and reports on experience – this is the motto of the Dual Speeddating Bavaria, at which the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) is also represented as one of a total of nine universities in Bavaria. The event is organised by hochschule dual – Bavaria’s network for dual studies. Pupils and prospective students can take part and find out more online between 25 October and 19 November 2021.

The virtual speed dating offers pupils of the 11th and 12th grade, as well as first-year students the opportunity to get in touch with DIT and its partner companies. Eleven practical partners at DIT – including Micro-Epsilon, Zollner, Berger Bau and Continental – will be present and will offer individual short talks about the combined study programme and studies with in-depth practical experience. Registration for a speed date is possible from 25 October via an online portal and will be supplemented by lectures from the universities in the afternoon. In the lecture "Dual ans Ziel! - your opportunities at the DIT" on 25 October from 5 to 6 pm, DIT will introduce itself and draw attention to the wide range of dual study programmes in the fields of business, technology, information technology and health. Speed dates with DIT and the companies will then take place between 8 and 19 November by appointment via video chat or telephone call. The entire programme is free of charge and is intended as a first point of contact on the subject of dual studies. Registration is possible via the following link: www.duales-speeddating-bayern.de.

With Prof. Dr. Simon Zabler, the Faculty of Applied Computer Science at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) gains an expert in the field of imaging techniques with a focus on computed tomography.

The passionate physicist already dealt with X-ray imaging in his Master's thesis and has not been able to get away from it since. For Zabler, computed tomography is not only an interdisciplinary field that combines computer science, mathematics, physics and mechanical engineering, but it is also constantly reinventing itself. This is precisely the attraction of "digital photography with three-dimensional pixels", as Zabler describes computed tomography. He remained faithful to computed tomography throughout his professional career. Whether during his doctoral thesis at the Hahn-Meitner Institute in Berlin or as a PostDoc at the Max Planck Institute in Potsdam, where he watched cellulose drying in wood. Research and teaching have also accompanied Prof. Zabler for a long time. He already taught materials science at the TU Berlin and then set up a research group for X-ray microscopy and scattering at the University of Würzburg.

One of the reasons Zabler chose the professorship at DIT is that top international researchers have the opportunity here to bring their field of research into teaching. He himself has a German-French double degree in physics and is at home on the international stage of science. Zabler is therefore particularly looking forward to building up a broad network at DIT around computed tomography and machine vision in order to carry out exciting and, above all, international projects. In addition, industry and university work together here in Lower Bavaria in an uncomplicated and results-oriented manner. According to Zabler, it is precisely this networking that offers a great opportunity to direct the focus and knowledge transfer in applied research towards the current requirements of industry.

Zabler also pays special attention to the young talents at DIT and how he can make research fun for them and accompany them on their way. In return, students can expect clear communication, accessibility, fair rules, enthusiasm for the subject matter and readable documents from him. Attendance, critical examination of the material and honest feedback are points that Zabler demands of his students.

Honesty is important to the new DIT professor, who describes himself as compulsively honest. He does not look away when mistakes are made, whether by others or his own, and when injustice occurs. The best prerequisites for changing something. Honest as he is, he also admits that he can only explain things really well when he has understood them himself. Even if he is not always the tidiest and most punctual, he is an unteachable optimist at work. He can also be persuaded to do just about anything with chocolate and / or a good cappuccino. It is therefore not surprising that Zabler not only likes to feast in his free time, but also cooks himself. Preferably in company. He is also interested in history and international politics, but one week a year is devoted entirely to the forest. That's when he is out in the forest with the Bergwaldprojekt e.V. and 25 adults, planting trees and re-wetting bogs.

Since 1 October, Prof. Dr. Florian Wahl has held the new research professorship for "Sensor-based AI Systems in Care" at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). In addition to his teaching at the university, the 36-year-old conducts research at the Grafenau Technology Campus (TC). The aim of the new research professorship is to make healthcare more future-proof with the help of sensor technology and artificial intelligence, and thus in particular to counteract the growing care gap between those in need of care and care staff. The professorship was created as part of the Hightech Agenda Bayern's AI competition.

Prof. Wahl's research bridges the gap between the fields of wearable, so-called embedded sensor systems for data collection on the one hand and their evaluation using artificial intelligence on the other. Wahl first studied technical computer science at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences and then completed his Master's degree in "Embedded Systems" at TU Eindhoven. In 2019, he was awarded his doctorate at the University of Passau and received the university's dissertation prize. Since 2018, Wahl has been a research assistant in the "Applied Artificial Intelligence" research group at TC Grafenau.

"My research goal," Wahl explains, "is to enable as many people as possible to live independently and self-determined lives at home for as long as possible." To achieve this, he says, in the future, the assessment of needs and accompaniment of care must be supported via intelligent monitoring. Using sensor technology. In his doctoral thesis, the DIT scientist already developed sensor glasses that measure the heart rate and recognise the wearer's everyday activities. These could now also be used in the field of care, because more than 91 per cent of people over 60 already wear glasses, making it unnecessary to carry additional equipment for recording and evaluating important health parameters.

In addition to researching new types of body-worn and ambient sensor technology and artificial intelligence methods, another goal of the new appointee is to initiate the establishment of an AI care model region. In future, people in need, carers, relatives, doctors, medical supply stores and others will be brought together here to identify the added value of new technologies. Not only own developments, but also products from companies and research results from other universities will be examined, so that synergies from the combination of different methods can be leveraged.

The central focus of Wahl's research professorship is thus on supporting all actors in health care with the help of continuous monitoring of various health markers as well as forecasting health trends. In this way, both decision-making quality, for example the distribution of care places, and care quality, such as quick help in an emergency or a long life at home, can be improved. Ultimately, this enables more efficient management of existing personnel and financial budgets.

If you like the idea of owning your own company but don't quite know what the business idea could be yet, you don't have to give up on this dream right away. The Startup Campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) showed how students can take the first steps towards their own startup at the GROW Startup Workshop. In the 5-day seminar at the end of September, students from different disciplines developed concepts for start-up ideas with innovation potential. The Hans Lindner Foundation and primeAcademy, which are experienced in the field of entrepreneurship, were also present.

In the theory part of the start-up workshop, the students learned how to develop their own business idea and what is important in the process. For example, assessing their own competences and those of others, which creativity techniques help and how to develop further in a team. The week of the event was then used to form teams, develop concepts and, in the end, convince an invited jury. The idea of a mechanical seawater desalination plant by the FLOAT team was the most popular. All teams that took part in the Startup Workshop have the chance to apply for the exclusive "Kickstart Incubator" funding programme. The Startup Campus is on hand to advise those interested in founding a company. They can also draw on the network of start-ups at DIT. Everyone has already met at the start-up regulars' table.

Just under a year before the actual opening, the Technology Campus (TC) Vilshofen is picking up speed. On 21 September, a meeting with msg services ag took place in Passau. As an IT service and IT consulting company, msg services ag is active in a variety of areas. In particular, the topic of security was examined more closely. The first common points of contact were found. Further exploratory talks are already planned for the near future.

"In addition to cooperation within the framework of publicly funded research and development projects, we can also imagine practical training scenarios being developed at TC Vilshofen with the help of msg services ag," says Stefan Anthuber, Operational Manager at TC Vilshofen. In addition, added value for teaching at the university is also conceivable, explains the Scientific Director of TC Vilshofen, Prof. Dr. Martin Schramm: "The Bachelor's degree course in Cyber Security, but also in other IT degree courses, could be enriched by insights into practice on the part of msg services ag."

Cooperation with industrial partners and the associated transfer of knowledge and technology to industry - but also vice versa - is a core task of the Technology Campuses at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). This also applies to the new TC Vilshofen, which is expected to officially launch in September 2022 with the topic of cyber security. The necessary networks are already being set up for this. The TC Vilshofen can also draw on contacts from the ProtectIT Institute at the DIT. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises in the region are to benefit from the Technology Campus.

Data security is an absolute success factor of digitalisation. Without cyber security, not even a private laptop can be operated today. And certainly not Industry 4.0, autonomous driving or telemedicine. This is proven by the thousands of digital attacks on companies, public institutions and private individuals that happen every day. The goals of the research and project work at TC Vilshofen are to harden systems against attacks, to find anomalies and attacks in network traffic, and to develop the necessary response measures to IT security incidents.

At the start of the winter semester, the Host Family Programme of the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) enters the next round. The programme brings locals and students together to promote cultural exchange. Students and host families arrange to meet as often as they like within the framework of the programme for joint excursions, coffee and cake, games evenings or similar. Interested students can register now.

The Host Family Programme enables international students to make contacts outside the campus and to get to know the Bavarian culture and way of life better. Andrea Ebertseder from the Centre for International Affairs at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) establishes contact between students and host families. Previous experiences, such as that of Hashem Alshawabkeh, show that the programme is a complete success for both sides. He is an international student at ECRI and took part in the Host Family Programme last semester. The programme exceeded all his expectations and made the last few months as exciting and enjoyable as possible, he says. Through his host family, he not only learned about important cultural differences between Bavaria and his home country, but also visited some of the highlights of the region, such as the Whitsun race at the harness racing track or the jazz festival in Burghausen.

But not only the international students benefit from the exchange. The programme also offers many advantages to the host families. All the students speak English, but many can also speak German very well. This offers the perfect opportunity to speak English casually and thus deepen their vocabulary. In addition, they get to know the respective country of the students, its inhabitants and their culture. Last but not least, friendships are made and togetherness is enriched.

Further information and the application form for the Host Family Programme can be found at www.th-deg.de/hostfamily. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Ebertseder (andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de) from the Centre for International Affairs at DIT/ECRI by email.

The Host Family Programme is a non-profit organisation at DIT that is dedicated to the integration of foreign students. At ECRI in Pfarrkirchen, the programme started for the first time in the winter semester 2019/20 with six host families and ten students.

After three semesters of distance learning, the start of the winter semester 2021/22 on Monday, 4 October was a welcome occasion for the students of the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) to come back to campus. A comprehensive programme was offered on site for the students present, while everyone else was able to attend the opening of the semester via live stream.

About 40 students came to be welcomed by Campus Director Prof. Dr. Horst Kunhardt and Dean Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer. The rest were connected online. Afterwards, the service facilities of the university were presented, the organisation of the courses was explained and the students were given techniques for self-management during their studies. Finally, the student association RESP e.V. took the attendees on a tour of the campus and showed them the labs, refectory, library and all the stations at ECRI that are relevant for the students.

In the afternoon, the students had the opportunity to exchange ideas with the heads of the degree programmes and to clarify important questions about the respective degree programmes at the World Café. At the end of the day, the students were invited to a small Welcome Back Party in front of the campus building. With music and free drinks, they had the opportunity to get to know their fellow students in a relaxed atmosphere and to exchange ideas before the start of lectures.

The International Office of the university had already made all the arrangements in advance to make the arrival in Germany and the start of the semester as pleasant as possible for the international students. For example, they receive intensive support in finding accommodation or with administrative tasks such as dealing with the authorities. For international students who first have to go into quarantine after arriving in Pfarrkirchen, there is a shopping service offered by the International Office. To support students, there are also international tutors who answer questions, help students and also organise events. Just in time for the start of the semester, they organised a get-together on Tuesday, 5 October to get to know each other. For students who have not yet made it to ECRI, this was also offered virtually.

In total, over 330 new students started their studies at ECRI at the start of the winter semester 2021/22. This brings the campus to over 1,050 students.

Lectures began at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) on 4 October. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the university was filled with life again for the first time on Monday. The new start on the Deggendorf campus was open and cheerful. The semester is planned with face-to-face classes for all students. The 3G rule and mandatory masks apply.

The picture on campus was dominated by the welcome programme for first-semester students. They gathered information from student clubs and departments of the university and got into conversation with each other. Interacting with them were first-semester mentors and students from higher semesters. The beautiful weather invited them to make use of the beach chairs that will acompany the campus for another two weeks. A big attraction was "Deggster", the university's new mascot, whom students showered with high fives and photo requests.

The new students were welcomed outdoors by Science Minister Bernd Sibler and University President Peter Sperber, among others. Sibler emphasised: "As Bavarian Minister of Science, I am very pleased to welcome you here at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology Institute of Technology on your Freshers' Day as you start a new and exciting phase of your lives. You have made an excellent choice with the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, because here the megatopics of the future - digitalisation, AI, care and computer science - are being tackled in a cleverly developed range of courses and with remarkable research projects. With our High-Tech Agenda Bavaria, we are making our universities throughout Bavaria fit for the future so that they can further expand their leading position in research and teaching. I am particularly pleased that you can start your studies in presence, because direct contact on site and personal exchange are indispensable, especially for you as first-year students."

To ensure that this face-to-face teaching remains, DIT currently applies the 3G rule and masks are compulsory in buildings and lecture halls. President Peter Sperber did not rule out the possibility of having to switch to a 2G rule in the course of the semester. He suggested taking advantage of the vaccination offer on campus. Those who wanted to could also get vaccinated directly. A vaccination bus came to the university for this purpose. The inspection service has also started work. Random samples are taken to check the 3G certificates.

On Friday, 8 October, the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) will host the Science Bench for the second time. Professor Dr. Michelle Cummings-Koether will take a seat on the Science Bench between 9 and 11 a.m. and exchange views with the public on the topic of "Intercultural Competence as the Key to Success?".

Science does not always have to take place in the lecture hall. That's why ECRI brings science outside with the Science Bench, more precisely to the town square in Pfarrkirchen. The topic of intercultural competence in particular is an area that is becoming increasingly important in a society characterised by diversity, globalisation and digitalisation. It is an area that affects everyone and can also harbour faux pas alongside opportunities.

Prof. Dr. Cummings-Koether is an interculturalist and deals extensively with intercultural management and communication in an international environment. This includes areas such as project management and leadership skills, as well as soft skills. These are not only important at work or in international negotiations, but can also make a difference at the regulars' table at home. Interested citizens can ask Prof. Dr. Cummings-Koether directly how exactly. During a little chat on the science bench.

Fundamentals of medicine, economics and society, statistics and data analysis. These are just some of the courses offered through the early study programme at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI). Pupils from the 10th grade onwards can register now and get a taste of university life.

All those who would like to attend lectures while still at school can choose between different subject areas and topics in the winter semester 2021/22. Lectures are offered in the fields of tourism, engineering and digital health.  In addition to the traditional lectures, the early study programme also offers general science electives (AWP), such as Business Storytelling. The lectures and AWPs all take place virtually and in the afternoon. Early students also have access to the entire range of courses offered by the virtual university of Bavaria (vhb). Via the vhb platform, they can also take courses, also from other universities, and complete them with a certificate.

An important prerequisite for early study is an interest in English, because the lectures at the international ECRI are all held in English. Those who take up this challenge can take an exam at the end of the semester. If you pass, the ECTS points (credit points in studies) you have earned can possibly be counted towards a later degree programme. If you realise that the effort is too great or that the subject is not right for you, you can easily withdraw at any time.

Registration for the early study programme is possible until Monday, 4 October, by contacting Andrea Ebertseder (andrea.ebertseder@th-deg.de or phone 0991/3615 8863). The early study programme is organised and supervised by the MINT team of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. More information on the early study programme, the application process and the complete course programme can be found on the internet at www.th-deg.de/fruehstudium.

For the first time since the Corona pandemic, a large number of international exchange students have returned to campus at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). They are attending the orientation weeks to prepare for the start of their studies on 4 October. They are being looked after by the International Office team.

Almost 60 of 76 international exchange students who will be studying at DIT for the winter semester 2021/2022 were there. Some of them have been in quarantine for several days. Thanks to the university’s shopping service and welcome packages, however, they survived this well and are now looking forward to their first impressions in Deggendorf. Eight exchange students are completing their stay abroad at the European Campus Rottal-Inn in Pfarrkirchen. The international students, who are in Pfarrkirchen or had to start their semester abroad either in quarantine or from their home country due to the current entry regulations, will participate in the orientation weeks via live broadcast.

The screening of the award-winning film production "Neighbours" by students of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) continues. The second documentary about residents of the Deggendorf Anchor Centre will be presented for the first time on Tuesday, 5 October. Luise Kinseher, known as Mama Bavaria, will host the screening.

The project "Neighbours - Encounters with Residents of the Deggendorf Anchor Centre" was created through a cooperation between the Caritasverband für den Landkreis Deggendorf e.V. and  DIT. People from the facility told their stories, and students from the DIT documented them in professional video portraits. Under the direction of Prof. Jens Schanze, two films were made. The second part will now be shown for the first time. On Tuesday, 5 October 2021, 6 pm, the film presentation will take place in the Kapuzinerstadl Deggendorf, Maria Ward Platz 10. Admission is free. Registration via email to asyl@caritas-deggendorf.de is necessary. A 3G proof is also required.

At the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), Dr Oliver Neumann will take over research and teaching in the field of technology management and management of technical projects from 1 October. New technologies and innovations drive science and business. For new ideas to be successful on the market, professional innovation and technology management is needed, which often goes hand in hand with the management of technology projects. At DIT as a research-strong university, where many current and highly relevant issues are dealt with, Oliver Neumann sees some points of contact from his 10 years of experience in industry.

"Technology and innovation projects are successful when the focus of all activities is the customer benefit and at the same time the technological feasibility and the economic viability of the technology or idea are considered in a balanced way," says the new DIT professor. Neumann has experienced what it means to take these three pillars into account in the project management of technologies and innovations as a project manager at the BMW Group in quality management and as a project manager at Robert Bosch GmbH in product development. Oliver Neumann started on the path towards technology and project management as a student. He studied technically oriented business administration in Stuttgart. This was followed by five years as an academic assistant and doctorate at the Chair of Organisation at the University of Stuttgart. Oliver Neumann's 15 years of experience in science and business now form the basis for the university professorship. He is particularly looking forward to working with students and colleagues in the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Industrial Engineering. The broad spectrum of competences at the faculty is the ideal breeding ground for looking at the same issues through different lenses and thus learning from each other. Neumann would like to concentrate the part of his working time that he will devote to research in the future particularly on Industry 4.0, combined hardware and software projects and the evaluation and measurement of the success of technology and innovation management with a focus on manufacturing companies. The research is to be application-oriented and state of the art. Privately, he spends the vast majority of his time with his wife and two children. Whenever possible, he tries to enjoy live music. Jogging is a particularly good way to clear his head for new ideas.

The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) has appointed Dr. Anke Hoffmann as a professor. The expert for innovative business models in retail and online trade comes to Deggendorf to teach Retail Management and Customer Relationship Management. Most recently, in her professional life, she has been working on digital transformation and the use of artificial intelligence in retail.

Anke Hoffmann was, among other things, Director of Strategic Marketing and Customer Management at Breuninger, Divisional Director of Marketing and E-Commerce at Görtz, and Head of Business Development at mytheresa.com. She had already decided on a career in science before her appointment to Deggendorf. She is transferring from the International School of Management to DIT. The combination of future-oriented teaching and research areas and a dynamically growing, internationally oriented university with a high reputation in such a dreamlike setting is unique, she explains her decision. For her area of research, she is looking forward to practical and application-oriented projects in a network of university and regional companies, especially on digitalisation, digital transformation and customer centricity. Both for this and for related topics such as Change Management or New Work, she could make a valuable contribution with her knowledge and experience.

Professor Hoffmann has recently completed her third studies. At the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, she complemented her diploma and doctorate in economics and marketing with a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economics. She wants to approach her protégés at DIT with the still very fresh experience of being a student herself and with a high academic standard. One can expect from her a high degree of practical relevance and topicality, an active exchange and critical discourse at eye level.