Supporting Initiative and Participation at the University: Stifterverband Awards Fellowship to Computer Science of Media Students

Ludwig Lorenz developed the concept for »PartiDeck« together with Alina Dieminger, a Psychology student at SRH University Heidelberg, and Johannes Schleiss, who is completing his doctorate in Artificial Intelligence and Education at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. The project involves a collection of best practices on the topic of participation, specifically tools and methods to promote student participation in transformation processes at universities, teaching and relevant committees. »Even before Corona, universities and interest groups had problems recruiting student members or involving students in processes of change. The pandemic has hugely intensified this, however« says Lorenz, describing the situation. »Senate, Faculty Board, Student Council, Committees, Student Government – there are so many ways to get involved. But how can you really motivate students to get involved, how do you reach students other than those who already regularly participate?« 

Increased Participation in Everyday University Life

Within the scope of the fellowship, the team will receive 1,200 euros as well as professional expertise to help implement »PartiDeck« both digitally – similar to a Wiki – and in analogue form; they will then test it with representatives from the University Directorate and University Administration and subsequently collect feedback. The goal is to make participation easy, to generate momentum and to stimulate exchange: the proposed methods can serve as informational material for various status groups or can even be used in the context of workshops and during events.

About the Fellowship

»PartiDeck« is one of 15 projects to be awarded a fellowship. The funding programme aims to systematically empower students as »change agents« and provide them with accompanying support – financially and otherwise – from the Stifterverband in the implementation of their own change projects. On 14 August 2023, the fellows’ four-month funding period began with a joint kick-off event in Berlin. The process and implementation support takes place according to requirements within the framework of workshops, peer coaching and input from experts as well as in the form of access to relevant networks and collaborations. 

15 tandems and trios comprising a total of 37 German and international students from different subject groups all over Germany at Bachelor, Master and doctorate level are being supported. Project ideas range from multimedia games for learning programming skills, to the use of virtual reality in foreign language teaching, to various apps and other technical solutions designed to simplify students’ everyday (digital) lives. Other projects aim to find solutions to social challenges such as accessibility in teaching, student participation or the impact of artificial intelligence on research and teaching.

The selected fellows all share a commitment and motivation to actively shaping higher education and driving change at their universities – and beyond – via their respective project. The fellows’ projects are student-oriented, designed to have a lasting impact on the universities and promote a culture of open knowledge sharing and participation.

Further information on the programme and selected projects: https://www.stifterverband.org/pressemitteilungen/2023_08_14_digitalchangemaker_accelerator 

If you have any questions, please contact Juliane Seeber, Public Relations and Marketing Representative at the Faculty of Media (by e-mail: juliane.seeber[at]uni-weimar.de or by telephone: + 49 (0) 36 43 / 58 37 06).