License for Digital Competence

We recently awarded 35 students with their "License for Digital Competence". In the weeks prior, the participants demonstrated their ability to analyze and solve practice-relevant problems in interdisciplinary teams.

They mastered the challenges of communication and collaboration in virtual environments, organized their teamwork effectively and test various digital tools. So they have laid an important foundation for their future digital studies and work life.

We congratulate all graduates on their achievement!

We recently took part in an exciting workshop on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). We would like to use the insights gained from the workshop to further develop our "License for Digital Competences" course in order to not only teach our participants digital skills, but also to make a contribution to a more sustainable future.

© Josefine Marquardt

A first point of contact is with Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In our course, we place great emphasis on promoting digital skills, which are essential in today's world of work. We want to ensure that all participants have the opportunity to navigate the digital world and continuously develop their skills. We lay the foundations to ensure that students are motivated and inspired to participate in the knowledge community beyond the course and develop an awareness of lifelong learning.

We also see a link to Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. We use gender-sensitive language in our course and present women in strong leadership roles within our case study. Our course prepares women in a targeted manner for the (digital) demands of the job market. In the future, we plan to develop further case studies in the STEM field so that women can test themselves in these areas before starting their careers. Introducing women to technical and digital topics at an early stage can boost their self-confidence and increase their career opportunities in the long term.

There is another important link to Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Our course provides targeted support for students who are about to start their careers. By teaching digital skills, we build a foundation that increases their access to and opportunities in the job market. By preparing participants for the demands of an increasingly digital world of work, we help ensure that they are not only better qualified, but also able to contribute to productive and sustainable work structures. Our approach aims to promote fair working conditions and support long-term economic growth through well-trained young talent.

Finally, our course also addresses Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. Our current case study on the development and integration of autonomous buses raises participants' awareness of the challenges and opportunities of improving connectivity between rural areas and urban centers. Through these topics, we aim to raise awareness of sustainable mobility and promote innovative solutions.

We look forward to integrating these aspects into our course and working together with our participants towards a more sustainable future.

Using the example of autonomous driving to strengthen digital skills and interdisciplinary collaboration

In the winter semester 24/25, the case study "ConnectDresden" is the starting point of our course. Participants take on the role of recent TU Dresden graduates and form a new team that is involved in the planning of an autonomous bus network in Dresden as part of a joint project.

© Malte Janzen

The case study accompanies the participants over several weeks. In various tasks, they are confronted with complex and unstructured challenges they have to solve digitally. The tasks include researching and creating digital content, solving technical problems, maintaining a presence in digital media and dealing with false reports. During the course, participants acquire digital skills through practical experience, which are essential in today's job market.

The highlight: the complex tasks can only be solved in a team. The topic of autonomous driving offers the opportunity to bring together different specialist disciplines and train interdisciplinary cooperation. Thanks to the expertise from different subject areas such as IT, engineering and social sciences, students can examine the topic comprehensively from a technical, social and ethical perspective and develop creative, innovative solutions.

Participants also learn to reflect on themselves, to recognize their own role in the team and to understand its influence on the success of the group. In the course of the case study, the students take on increasing responsibility as we as mentors gradually withdraw from the process(fading).

The experiences from the course prepare participants for interdisciplinary projects in an increasingly networked and digital working environment.

In fall 2024, we will conduct a survey among TU Dresden students as part of our project to determine their needs with regard to career entry. The aim is to ensure that our offers reflect the actual needs of students.

Various subject areas are examined, such as

• Preparing for career entry through their studies.
• Possible disadvantages when entering professional life.
• The relevance and promotion of digital skills and other aspects such as project management, networking and self-reflection during studies.

The results of the survey will be used to further develop our courses so that they prepare students for the demands of the digital job market. In the long term, the results will also be incorporated into the development of degree programs and contribute to their further development.

Overall, the survey is an important milestone in achieving our central project goal: to provide students with support for their entry into professional life while meeting the demands of the increasingly digitalized job market.

The three-day workshop "Digital Empowerment for Women in Science" is behind us. Together with 17 participants, we explored various digital tools and strategies that can support not only day-to-day work, but also the implementation of long-term goals. The initial feedback from the participants speaks for itself:

• "Nice exchange and great boost" - The workshop not only provided valuable impetus in terms of content, but also a refreshing and motivating atmosphere.
• "Cool new tools" - Many participants appreciated the variety of new, useful tools that they can now integrate into their daily work.
• "Nice atmosphere" - The relaxed and open atmosphere created space for lively discussions and creative exchange.
• "It was good to see the perspective of others" - The exchange with the other participants offered new insights and helped to broaden one's own perspective.

© Anne Jantos

At the end of the workshop, not only were the learning objectives achieved, but new perspectives and approaches for the future were also gained. The workshop showed how digital tools can be used effectively to organize tasks, communicate and strengthen one's own network. Above all, however, everyone learned to appreciate the value of exchange and collaboration.

Our student employees Riyam and Malte joined the team in June. Malte will support us with data collection and project management, and Riyam will play a key role in organizing the mentoring workshop in September.

© Sven Ellger/Malte Janzen

We are looking forward to working together!

We are pleased to announce an exciting development in our efforts to promote and support young female academics.

As part of the mentoring program of TU Dresden's Service Center Studies, we held a kick-off event where we had the opportunity to give a presentation and gather important topics and needs of our target group. This exchange gave us valuable insights into how we can tailor our program to effectively address the needs of young female scientists.

© KickOff Mentoring

A highlight of our cooperation will be the implementation of a 3-day workshop on "Digital Empowerment", which is planned for September 2024. This workshop aims to equip participants with the necessary digital skills and tools to succeed in today's fast-paced scientific landscape. From developing technical skills to strengthening digital communication, workshop participants will learn how to effectively utilize digital resources to achieve their research goals and advance their careers.

The Studium Generale at TU Dresden offers students a broad, interdisciplinary education with content from outside their degree program. It comprises over 120 courses per semester, which are offered by faculties, (student) initiatives and civil society organizations.

In order to be able to offer our AQUA and Studium Generale courses, we first analyzed the organizational requirements and derived the following framework conditions for us:

Course structure: Our course extends over 12 weeks and will largely take place online, so no physical rooms are required. No block courses or weekend courses are planned. The course starts with enrollment via OPAL and can optionally be continued on other platforms such as MS Teams.

Grading: Upon successful completion, students receive a certificate and 5 ECTS credits. Credit is awarded depending on the faculty, e.g. via a certificate of achievement. In certain degree programs, students must register for credits in the examination system.

The detailed report can be found here. The results should help other lecturers to implement similar courses.

We celebrate our project launch and present the vision of LiDiCo on our first poster:

© Maike Krohn