2. Milestone: Development of new degree programmes 

At the same time, new degree programmes in the computer science-related field have already been successfully launched. The 3-year bachelor’s degree programme “Data Science” started in the winter semester 2022/2023 with just under 60 students. “Considering the short lead time, we are very satisfied with the response. Its roots in the fundamentals of computer science and mathematics are a unique selling point, and it is at the forefront of university degree programmes offered in the field. Until now, specialised master’s degree programmes have dominated the market.” Already in the coming summer semester, a second degree programme will be added in the area of “Data Sciences.” “The subject matter and demand represent an absolute boom area for the current and future labour market,” Peterseim continues. “That's why it’s important that we teach a range of core competences orientated by the teaching of the fundamentals of the digital age.”

Graduates will be widely employable in the business sector and financial and insurance institutions and, of course, in high-tech research. In Bavaria, for example, car manufacturers and medical technology companies are potential employers. 

Content-wise, it is about processing data, extracting information from it, and training self-learning Artificial Intelligence systems to be able to make predictions. Students are taught mathematical and computer science methods that can process extremely large amounts of data, such as weather data, that a human being can barely comprehend.

3.    Milestone: First research project obtained

The first third-party funded projects are already underway at the centre. For example, at the intersection of mathematics and medicine, the improvement of medical imaging processes is being researched; at the intersection of mathematics and material sciences, new high-tech materials are being investigated; and in high-performance computing, the efficient use of supercomputers is being improved. The goal and next milestone is now to link such projects and launch initiatives for large-scale collaborative research. Daniel Peterseim is confident: “Augsburg has many years of high-level research in many scientific and technological fields. With the new professorships as bridges, we have, in the broad sense, the capacity to become a leading research location in Germany, with the centre as a supporting pillar. This is a process whose fruits will be reaped in research over the next few years. In teaching, they are already tangible.”

Networking: Internationally attended symposium

The first symposium, which took place on the 19th of October 2022, presented two of the four main research priorities of the centre. For the life sciences, Prof. Ester Segal, a scientist from TECHNION in Israel, spoke about how data collection and processing can be linked to modelling in the field of living matter. Prof. Gerard Vignoles from the University of Bordeaux presented a topic on fibre-reinforced composite materials. The symposium showed the conceptual links that exist between the two disciplines, which excellently represent the synergies aspired for at CAAPS.