State Secretary Prof. Dr Sabine Döring visits the TH Ingolstadt
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UAS news
On 16 January 2024, Prof. Dr Sabine Döring, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), visited the TH Ingolstadt (THI). The university had invited Prof Döring to gain an insight into the research projects and the large research networks that the THI has established.
Second call for DFG Research Impulses launched
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Funding opportunity
On 7 December 2023, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) approved the first ten projects from the "Research Impulses" programme. Afterwards, the second call for FIP was launched, in which projects are again to be funded for five to a maximum of eight years.
First DFG Research Impulses approved
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Funding opportunity
On 7 December 2023, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) approved the first ten projects from the "Research Impulses" programme. The programme is a new funding instrument specifically for universities of applied sciences (UAS) and was first announced in October 2022.
DFG review board election 2023
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Opportunity for participation
From 23 October to 20 November 2023, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) carried out its 2023 review board elections. Eligible researchers were called upon to elect new representatives for a total of 49 review boards.
Coexistence instead of conflict: How to reconcile photovoltaics with arable farming and biodiversity
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UAS news
Anhalt University has recently inaugurated an agrivoltaics system that allows agricultural land to be used simultaneously for solar energy production and for arable farming. The “AgriPVplus” system developed in the BIODIV-SOLAR project even features a triple-use concept: The project team has erected vertically installed, bifacial solar modules on a test site and is now investigating the cultivation of crops as well as the integration of insect-friendly wild plant strips between these modules.
Official opening of the StartUpLab at EAH Jena
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UAS news
The University of Applied Sciences Jena (EAH Jena) has officially opened its new StartUpLab on 27 June 2023. The ceremony was attended by 170 guests, including Thuringia's Minister President Bodo Ramelow. Moreover, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, sent a video message on the occasion.
DFG funding news for UAS
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Funding opportunity
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has published several UAS-related announcements over the past few days – such as the new call for proposals for individual research grants (“Sachbeihilfen”) for major instrumentation and on the DFG Review Board election. In addition, there is a first summary of the recent call for proposals in the UAS Research Impulses programme.
DFG major instrumentation funding for UAS: Call for proposals 2023
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Funding opportunity
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has launched the third of three calls in its major instrumentation funding programme for universities of applied sciences (UAS). In this programme, the DFG asks for proposals for the structural expansion of existing equipment infrastructure.
Better user experience for video streaming
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Project of the Month
Streaming platforms have become an integral part of our lives, and the number of available videos is steadily increasing. But how can the customers’ quality requirements be reconciled with the increasing costs for storage and data transmission? RheinMain University of Applied Sciences is addressing this question in the VidUX project and developing an algorithm to determine the lowest data rate that still fulfils the quality requirements, thus improving the overall user experience.
EU launches public consultation on research framework programmes
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Short News
In December 2022, the European Commission has launched a broad public consultation on the past, present, and future of the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. Stakeholders from academia, business, and politics, as well as other interested parties, thus have the opportunity to contribute their positions on European research and innovation policy.
Kickstart teams celebrate successes
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Short News
The 35 StartUpLabs that have been founded at several UAS since 2020 are producing their first success stories: young start-up teams have formed within the StartUpLabs, attracting attention to their ideas and products, and collecting prizes.
Better hearing through glasses
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Project of the Month
Many children have problems with spatial hearing. This can lead to them barely understanding their teachers in noisy classrooms, or not understanding them at all. In the VIWER-S project, TH Köln and the Jade University of Applied Sciences want to remedy this situation. The project team is developing a special hearing training with VR glasses and an innovative microphone system for everyday school life.
Future Conference 2022 - Creating Innovations Together
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Event
This was the Future Conference 2022: 2 days, 13 hours of programme, 30 speakers, 30 exhibitors and one award presentation. Check the article to find out more and see photos of the event.
Hard as steel is not enough
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Project of the Month
Modern ploughs dig up around 10,000 hectares of arable land before their steel parts have to be replaced due to material wear. A research project at the University of Applied Sciences Jena aims to extend the service life: with an innovative steel that is harder and more wear-resistant. Soil tillage equipment in agriculture could thus be used much longer, saving energy and resources.
Mooving on to new forms of cattle husbandry
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Project of the Month
Small and agile Jersey cattle could replace the black and white Holsteins as the most common dairy cow breed in the future. Not only is the keeping of Jerseys more resource-efficient, but their milk is also richer in ingredients. So far, however, little is known about these animals. A research project at the University of Applied Sciences in Neubrandenburg wants to change that.
Virtual wind farms reduce misgivings
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Project of the Month
Wind turbines are an important part of the goal to switch to renewable energies in the long run. However, in spite of many advantages, many people are sceptical towards wind farms, especially when a turbine is to be built in the immediate vicinity. So, wouldn’t it be useful to be able to experience the effects of wind turbines at an early stage before they are even built? The Hamburg University of Applied Sciences is investigating this question in the X-Eptance-Explore project.
Bridging the uncanny valley
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Project of the Month
How must robots, intelligent machines, and virtual worlds be designed so that people can accept them and successfully interact with them? The BHT (Berliner Hochschule für Technik) aims to answer this question with its new HumanVRLab, a research lab that is unique in Germany. It was funded via FH-Invest and enables transdisciplinary research between robotics, IT, medicine, and life sciences.
Project BoRSiS – Two solutions laid with one line
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Short News
With the help of innovative underground soil-pipe systems, the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences wants to find regional solutions against the effects of climate change and at the same time improve the microclimate within a region. In this way, communities can be helped with climate adaptation strategies in the future.
How to recycle a house
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Project of the Month
In the Rural Mining project, the HM Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences is investigating how well residential buildings can be deconstructed, reused, and recycled. Prefabricated wood houses serve as study objects, as they can be deconstructed and rebuilt with little effort.
DFG announces major instrumentation funding for UAS
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Short News
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has announced a new funding opportunity for universities of applied sciences (UAS): In three consecutive calls for proposals, UAS may apply for individual research grants (“Sachbeihilfen”) for major instrumentation, provided that the instruments have initially been procured via DFG funds.
Starting aid for a self-determined life
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Project of the month
A striking number of young people who have grown up in youth welfare institutions struggle with homelessness, drug abuse, or experiences of violence. In the HtR_CaL project, Koblenz University of Applied Sciences is investigating the reasons and developing a help concept to support the young people and to pave their way to a self-determined, healthy life.
AdeLe project: Aid concept from Hamburg meets with great approval
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SHORT NEWS
The HAW Hamburg demonstrates how close research at universities of applied sciences often is to people's lives: In the AdeLe project, the university developed a concept for helping disorganized people, which is now being put into practice by a society called Ambulante Hilfe Hamburg e.V. The project has already aroused interest outside Germany as well.
A little helper against sudden falls
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Project of the month
Trier University of Applied Sciences is developing a sensor in the VITASENS project that monitors senior citizens in their homes and sounds the alarm if they suddenly fall or their heartbeat or breathing stops. Unlike many conventional systems, the sensor does not have to be worn on the body, nor does it take pictures of the rooms and the people in them, thus protecting the privacy of the people being monitored and ensuring data protection.
Smooth as a well-oiled bearing
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Project of the month
TeflonⓇ is commonly known as a useful coating for cookware. At Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, however, a team of researchers is looking at a completely different application for the material: In the PTFE Transferfilme project, the scientists are investigating how well TeflonⓇ – also known as polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE – is suited as a solid lubricant for sleeve bearings in machines.
A fingerprint that gets under your skin
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Project of the month
In recent years, the fingerprint has become more and more part of our everyday lives. Many smartphones and laptops now have a fingerprint scanner that restricts access to the device, and modern identity documents also record this biometric feature. In the 3D-Finger project, biometrics experts from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) are currently developing a device that can record three-dimensional fingerprints. Since it also registers deeper skin structures, the 3D prints can hardly be faked.
An audible difference
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Project of the month
How much sound will the new soundproof windows absorb? Will the street noise on my doorstep get worse if there are new traffic lights at the next intersection? And how much will I benefit from the planned noise barrier on the nearby railroad tracks? People often ask questions like these when something is being built or rebuilt in their neighbourhood. With the HEAR project, part of the i_city partnership, a team from Wölfel Engineering GmbH is working on a simple solution to this problem: They want to make noise forecasts audible so that everyone involved can find out how a construction project will affect the soundscape around them before it starts.
Algorithms for medicine
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Project of the month
Algorithms are now everywhere: they determine what we see in social networks or on shopping sites, translate texts, calculate production processes in modern factories and control the first autonomous vehicles. But in medical practice, artificial intelligence (AI) is still not very widespread. The HTW Berlin wants to change this: In the deepHEALTH project, a research team is developing deep learning methods based on neural networks, which are to be used in medical diagnostics and research.
Fighting addiction by your own means
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Project of the month
For various reasons, opiate addicts are often on the margins of society and are treated as such - even by doctors and therapists in the context of psychosocial support. In the Checkpoint-S project, a team of researchers at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences wants to provide them with a smartphone app that will help them to better understand their disease themselves and to talk to their doctor at eye level during treatment.
More comfort for the little ones
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Project of the month
With a contactless monitoring system, a group of scientists from Nuremberg Tech wants to alleviate the difficult start in life for premature babies. In the NeoWatch project, the team around project leader Prof. Dr. Christine Niebler and doctoral student Johanna Gleichauf is developing a sophisticated sensor technology that can monitor the most important vital parameters of the child without touch.
A clean affair
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short news
Sometimes environmental protection produces paradoxical results. Take exhaust gas purification on board ships, for example: although it prevents harmful exhaust gases from being blown into the air, the pollutants often end up in the sea. A team of researchers at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences is developing an innovative membrane technology to avoid this problem.
Intelligent networking of rail and bus
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Project of the month
Bus and train are back in fashion - since the beginning of the climate protests, local and long-distance public transport has become the topic of the future. A team of researchers at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences has been developing modern IT solutions for public transport for years. In its current project VSB-ÖP, the team is focusing on the systems in the background that organize local public transport: How can public transport companies make use of big-data and smart-data approaches or artificial intelligence (AI) to plan their timetables, routes and personnel more successfully?
Much more than just a pastime
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short news
Seniors are forming digital networks: just a few weeks ago, this may have just sounded like a nice pastime for some people. However, in times of corona crisis and a ban on contact, digital skills suddenly became hugely important – especially for the elderly. A text message to the managment of the GESCCO project shows just how much participants in the project are benefiting from their new skills right now.
Between frustration and enrichment
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Project of the month
When people get old or sick, their relatives are faced with the task of organising or taking over the care. Family members who work in the care of the elderly and sick are particularly likely to step in in such cases. In a joint research project, the ehs (Evangelische Hochschule) and HTW (Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft) Dresden have investigated the phenomenon of “double duty carers” and found that they often face special challenges.
The empathetic car
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Project of the month
We have long since become used to cars that think for themselves in traffic, stay in a lane, maintain speed or brake when necessary. However, one thing is often neglected in the research and development of autonomous vehicles: the feelings and unconscious behaviour of humans. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the fields of neurotechnology, networked mobility and robotics at Saarland University of Applied Sciences is working on the question of how autonomous vehicles can better respond to the emotions of their occupants. The simulator was built with BMBF funds as part of the FH-Invest project MIND2CAR, co-financed by Saarland and industry partners.
New research facility commissioned
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short news
On 30 January, Georg Simon Ohm Institute of Technology in Nuremberg (NIT) opened a new research facility which it will use to convert the waste heat from a sewage treatment plant to generate electricity. Dr Peter Pluschke, environmental officer of the city of Nuremberg and first plant manager of Stadtentwässerung und Umweltanalytik Nürnberg (SUN), was also on hand for the facility’s commissioning ceremony.
Smartphone as a microscope
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short news
For more than two decades, the BMBF has been providing targeted support to research at universities of applied sciences (UAS). Now, one example has shown quite well what effect this funding can have: a young scientist, who collaborated in a BMBF-funded project around ten years ago, later founded her own start-up – which is now a cooperation partner in a new UAS project.
When life descends into chaos
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Project of the month
When people live between mountains of paper, clothes or packaging, they are called “hoarders” in layman’s terms, but the technical term for this condition is “disorganised living”. As part of the SILQUA project AdeLe, HAW Hamburg has intensively dealt with the phenomenon and its causes over the past three years, particularly focusing on older people. The project will soon be completed, and on 21 November 2019 the AdeLe team will be holding its final conference in Hamburg.
Achieving more with fewer resources
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Project of the month
EU research projects have to solve complex tasks in interdisciplinary and international teams. Developing an EU project proposal with suitable partners requires significant investment in terms of personnel and time, which UAS often cannot afford. The BMBF is thus supporting UAS in their networking and application processes within the framework of the EU-Antrag-FH funding line. By this means, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development has developed a successful EU research proposal for innovations in agriculture. The first interim results from the EU project LIAISON are now available.
Successful outlook on the future of UAS
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short news
On 5 September, the first UAS future conference concluded in Essen. Over two days, the participants discussed the future of universities, digitisation and internationalisation and future issues such as demographic change and energy transition.
FH-Impuls: LaNDER³ partnership opens research hall
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short news
On 28 August, the LaNDER³ technical centre had its ceremonial opening in Zittau. The members of the impulse partnership invited numerous guests from business, science and society to the opening ceremony of the new research hall.
FH-Impuls: Transfer Workshop 2019
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short news
On 14 and 15 May, the representatives of the FH-Impuls partnerships met at the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt for the Transfer Workshop 2019. According to the motto ‘Strategic Partnerships with the Industry – Involving Industry Partners’, they exchanged views on issues relating to the successful networking of universities of applied sciences (UAS) with companies.
Greater efficiency and safety in food production
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Date:
When it comes to food, the quality has to be right. If the apple juice is too sweet or too sour, production is stopped. Any deviation must be detected immediately. To this end, researchers in the QSFood project are developing digital models – with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
