01-14-2025

Contributing to social transformation through science

They conduct research in different countries around the world, in different scientific disciplines, on different issues. At first glance, the young researchers at the KU's interdisciplinary Transformation Summer Camp have little in common. It is a shared vision that brings them together: With their research and commitment, they want to make a contribution to social transformation at the interface of sustainability and digitalization.

The Summer Camp celebrated its premiere in fall 2023. Twenty young researchers from all over the world came together in Ingolstadt for six days. And with them their scientific ideas and projects to be discussed with each other as well as with scientists from the KU and other experts from science and practice. The range of topics illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of the panel: from the legal regulation of artificial intelligence to sustainable logistics on waterways and digital assistance systems for elderly epilepsy patients.

The summer camp was realized for the first time through funding from the "Ingolstadt Science Excellence Foundation – Ignaz Kögler", whose aim is to support application-oriented research at the cutting edge. 115 interested people from all over the world applied for the first interdisciplinary summer camp. The 20 selected scholarship holders came from Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Colombia, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

Professors from a wide range of disciplines gave the camp participants insights into their research over the course of the week, encouraging them to think in an interdisciplinary way. Prof. Dr. Marcel Oliver, holder of the Chair of Applied Mathematics, used the example of climate research to demonstrate the challenges involved in simulating and modeling complex multi-scale systems. Prof. Dr. Pirmin Fontaine, Professor of Operations Management, shed light on how sustainable mobility concepts can be made possible in the future by closely coordinating different transport concepts in inner-city areas. The program was supplemented by evening lectures by researchers from other universities and experts from the field, including Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kropp from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Rainer Rehak from the Berlin Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. After six days of lectures, workshops and discussions, it was the participants' turn to present their research ideas. As part of a scientific poster exhibition, they presented their topics and showed how they would like to contribute to social transformation with their research.

For the KU, the Transformation Summer Camp is a milestone in the promotion of university graduates and young researchers in an early qualification phase. "No other event has such a strong interdisciplinary and international focus and is aimed specifically at graduates and young researchers", emphasized Prof. Dr. Jens Hogreve, Vice President for Research, at the conclusion of the first camp 2023. In addition, the research focus at the interface of sustainability and digitalization is groundbreaking: "While many current research efforts focus on one of these challenges, studies that explicitly bridge the two are much rarer. With the Summer Camp, we specifically wanted to promote such new research ideas."

In light of the successful premiere, the KU made the format permanent and welcomed international early-career researchers to the Transformation Summer Camp for the second time in September 2024. Once again, two central challenges of the present were linked: the transition to sustainable development and the increasing diversity and heterogeneity of our societies. The attending 18 early-career researchers included a Kenyan lawyer, a Finnish forestry scientist and a Russian sociologist – linked by their thematic interest in diversity and transformation. Complementing the research workshops, the camp offered the participants workshops on the method of design thinking, on the conceptualization and design of scientific posters, and on knowledge transfer.

"As a committed University, one of our main goals is to combine high-quality research and social responsibility", emphasized KU President Prof. Dr. Gabriele Gien at the start of the 2024 camp. The interdisciplinary and international research camp aims to make a contribution to successful social development and to finding solutions to the world's most pressing problems. Vice President Jens Hogreve adds another aspect: "Our vision is to further internationalize research at our University and attract more international early-career researchers. During the camp, we were able to demonstrate the attractiveness of the KU and inspire some participants to pursue an academic career here." It has already been decided that the camp will continue in 2025. The aim is then to link current environmental and health issues more closely together.

Participant testimonials

Four Summer Camp participants present their research project here, with which they traveled to Ingolstadt in autumn 2023. What motivates them to pursue their research topics? And how did the workshops and lectures at the KU help them? Although their backgrounds and ideas are very varied: Qazi Muhammad Yasir, Carolin Winter, Rodrigo Silva and Thi Thu Ha Troung all returned home after six days of Summer Camp at the KU with lots of new knowledge and new international acquaintances. They brought their research ideas home with them – clearly summarized on posters they had created themselves and with many new ideas for further developing the topics.

Qazi Muhammad Yasir

My research topic:

My research topic aims to investigate the effects of climate change on changes in snow cover as a function of land surface temperature in northern Pakistan.

What motivates me to research it:

The motivation to investigate this topic stems from the fact that we have witnessed devastating floods, landslides and other disasters first hand. This underlines the urgency of better understanding their causes in the future.

This is how the Summer Camp helped me with my research:

The Summer Camp provided invaluable insights into different areas of research, idea development, critical thinking, practical implementation of the research idea, teamwork and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. For me personally, it was a lot. The different perspectives of the other participants and the supportive environment at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt have greatly enriched my learning experience.

Rodrigo Silva

My research topic:

The evaluation of virtual reality devices as a training tool for nursing schools in Germany.

What motivates me to research it:

It is extremely important to me to promote the use of the opportunities and positive aspects of digital solutions in order to be able to address current problems that threaten the healthcare system, such as the shortage of nursing staff.

This is how the Summer Camp helped me with my research:

Great! The exchange of very different perspectives brought extensive input to my research, such as further gaps in rural areas where digital solutions, such as drones, can enable better care. Such cases have inspired me to expand my research topic (VR as a training tool) to other areas, such as distance learning or teaching.

Carolin Winter

My research topic:

During the Summer Camp, I focused on power dynamics within humanitarian relief operations, as the current distribution of decision-making power runs counter to the efforts of local relief operations and thus impairs the empowerment of local stakeholders.

What motivates me to research it:

My primary motivation is to understand the humanitarian sector and its dynamics. The humanitarian sector is very diverse due to its large number of stakeholders. Behavioral patterns and working methods are therefore often linked to strong convictions and interests. However, this represents a major challenge for cooperation in the sector and for the implementation of specific objectives. For this reason, I focus my research on the actual problems of cooperation in order to build bridges between the different perspectives and interests.

This is how the Summer Camp helped me with my research:

The Summer Camp helped me with two aspects of my research. On the one hand, I was able to gain new ideas for my own work from the varied presentations. Insights at the intersection of digital transformation and sustainable development are particularly relevant for humanitarian operations, as they require not only a strategic but also a practical adaptation of working methods along humanitarian supply chains and a holistic perspective. Secondly, I was able to discuss my research ideas with an international and interdisciplinary group of participants, whose diverse perspectives gave me new food for thought.

Thi Thu Ha Troung

My research topic:

The aim of my research presented at the Research Camp is to explore how cultural heritage managers use their skills to promote tourism and conservation through sustainable digital strategies, integrating cutting-edge technologies such as virtual reality, while considering the impact on personal and physical connections to cultural heritage.

What motivates me to research it:

The inspiration for this theme for me lies in the transformative potential of digital tools for the preservation, exploration and improved accessibility of cultural heritage, as well as the challenge of maintaining personal and physical connections to heritage in the digital age. Furthermore, the application of the Dynamic Capabilities Framework, traditionally used in strategic management to understand adaptability and innovation, to the context of cultural heritage management provides a compelling starting point for investigation. This allows us to examine how these organizations can manage the complexity of digital transformation in a way that respects and preserves their cultural heritage.

This is how the Summer Camp helped me with my research:

The camp's focus on the intersection of sustainability and digital transformation provided a rich, interdisciplinary learning environment. The international setting of the camp offered insights into how different cultures approach the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation and sustainability. This global perspective has enriched my research approach and made it more inclusive and sensitive to different contexts. The presentation of my research proposal and the constructive feedback from experienced researchers also helped to refine my research questions and objectives and make my study more robust and focused.