2023-07-07 11:08:00
The modular courses will start in the fall, with the first doctoral course being offered at the end of 2024 and the first master’s course in 2025. She does not want to withdraw institutes from the JKU.
The question had repeatedly arisen in Upper Austria as to whether parts of the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) – above all Sepp Hochreiter’s renowned AI institute – would migrate to the IDSA. Lindstaedt rejected this on Friday. She sees “no approach” for this in the coming years. It’s regarding leveraging synergies. “The idea is that we concentrate on the interdisciplinary intersections. The depth of computer science will remain at the JKU,” the IDSA is dedicated to interlacing instead.
There will soon be talks with the prospective JKU rector Stefan Koch regarding the cooperation. Lindstaedt can well imagine that the IDSA, which will initially be located in the JKU Science Park and will later move into its immediate vicinity, will share facilities such as the library or canteen with the JKU, but she is skeptical regarding joint administration. Because the IDSA is not subject to the University Act, a joint personnel position is therefore problematic.
By spring 2024 she wants to set up a core team “like in a start-up”, the job advertisement for a head of administration has already started and Lindstaedt is “overwhelmed by the number and quality of the applications”, 40 in number. Other key positions that have not yet been precisely defined are to be advertised in the fall.
“Opportunity of the Century”
She sees the “opportunity of the century” in the IDSA. They want to conduct “interdisciplinary basic research” that relates to computer science and artificial intelligence, and work at the interfaces to the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences, “systemic thinking” is the focus, she outlined the content of the program. One will not build up all disciplines in depth, but will seek cooperation with other research institutions. Learning should take place in projects instead of lectures, English is spoken, “cool technologies” including holograms should make hybrid learning a matter of course, according to the vision of the founding president. The IDSA should be a “living lab for teaching and learning technologies”.
Starting in the fall, a Founding Lab will be held jointly with Ars Electronica. The first step is a “Summer School” from August 23 to September 13, in which 75 students and 15 fellows can take part. This is followed by a “fall term” for 25 students, which includes six modules with twelve ECTS credits that have yet to be determined. According to Lindstaedt, there are already “hundreds of applications” from “top scientists and artists” from all over the world, the participants are selected by a specialist jury, she explained the admission conditions.
The results of the founding lab are to be included in a strategy paper. By Christmas, two main topics should be identified, each with three to four professors, and with which the call for applications can be launched at the beginning of 2024. The aim of the founding president is to establish a core university with up to 30 female professors by 2027, who will supervise a maximum of 400 international students in doctoral and two master’s courses.
“The establishment of a new university is an opportunity, but also a challenge,” said Claudia von der Linden, chairwoman of the founding convention, “there is a lot to do”. The IDSA has a model character, the focus is on transformation topics for digitization.
Polaschek: Rapid founding was “right decision”
Again and once more there had been criticism of the extremely short lead times for the project. “The decision to found the university was the right one and a good one, and so was the decision to found it quickly,” Minister of Science Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) is convinced. The IDSA will “bring new impetus to our country”. He scattered roses to Lindstaedt: She was an “experienced university manager”. Provincial Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) emphasized the importance of Upper Austria as an industrial region and export country and expects momentum from the IDSA. The way since it became known in 2020 that the university should be founded was “not an easy straight line”, but the schedule was also “more than sporty”. And the mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger (SPÖ), who recently thought aloud regarding a postponement, is satisfied with the “soft start” that has now taken place.
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