Innovative university - EMPOWER joint project
Doctoral candidates
In Germany the right to award a doctorate is usually reserved for universities or equivalent institutions. The acquisition of the doctoral degree is also possible at "Universities of Applied Sciences" through cooperative doctorates with doctorate-granting partners. At our University of Applied Sciences the amount of cooperative doctorates increased over the last few years.
How do these cooperative doctorates come about? First, the doctoral topic should be introduced to professors of our university. In case of a positive response, a joint request is made to a professor at a university with whom the dissertation is supervised together. Parallel to this, the doctoral candidates elaborate on their topic by writing an exposé. If the university professor is willing to take on the supervision, the doctoral committee of that university will be asked to accept the candidate as a doctoral student.
The doctoral candidates do not necessarily have to have been part of the student body of our university. External candidates are expressly encouraged to apply.
EMPOWER - Living cooperation and shaping innovation
The EMPOWER joint project, which HWG LU has joined forces with four other universities of applied sciences in Rhineland-Palatinate, is also funded by the "Innovative University" funding initiative. The joint project will run for five years (2023 to 2027) and aims to
- initiate cooperation projects together with partners from society, science, business and culture
- develop innovative solutions for current and future issues
- to provide the region and its stakeholders with inspiration and impetus, thereby strengthening and advancing regional innovation.
To this end, each university contributes a transfer topic in which it has extensive expertise:
Mainz University of Applied Sciences | CONNECT
CONNECTIVITY
The megatrend topic of connectivity, which is occupied by Mainz University of Applied Sciences in the EMPOWER network, is not limited to a purely technological understanding of digitization, but rather encompasses networking based on digital infrastructures and is the dominant pattern underlying social change in the 21st century... More at https://empower-rlp.de/connect
Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz | HEALTH
HEALTH
...with the aim of strengthening participation and promoting resources is the future topic of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz in the EMPOPWER university network. The health megatrend now permeates all areas of our everyday lives, defines entire lifestyles and should be viewed less and less as a small-scale consideration of an individual or a specific ailment, but rather as a complex holistic structure of effects. More at https://empower-rlp.de/health
WORMS University of Applied Sciences | SECURE
CYBER SECURITY
In this thematic area, the Center for Technology and Transfer at the University of Worms initiates projects to develop secure innovations for society, business, science and culture. This sub-project takes an extended security perspective and deals with the central issues of a 21st century society permeated by digitalization and globalization. In particular, it deals with the significance and renegotiation of dealing with and taking responsibility for security. More at https://empower-rlp.de/secure
Bingen University of Applied Sciences | SUSTAIN
SUSTAINABILITY
In the future topic of sustainability, Bingen University of Applied Sciences addresses the three areas of urban ecology, processes and energy. The focus is on questions such as "How can municipalities pursue sustainable urban development?", "What does sustainable, needs-based production of feedstuffs, recyclables and materials look like?", "What infrastructures need to be created in order to generate sustainable electrical energy?" The megatrend topic of connectivity is not limited to a purely technological understanding of digitalization, but rather encompasses networking based on digital infrastructures and is the dominant pattern underlying social change in the 21st century... More at https://empower-rlp.de/sustain
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society | NEW WORK
NEW WORK
This research area focuses on the future of the world of work. The focus is on very different issues. The Institute for Employment and Employability (IBE), which is part of the HWG LU, deals with the flexibilization of working hours and location as well as new spatial concepts, agile forms of organization and changing management structures and principles. Lifelong employability is also the subject of research. More at https://empower-rlp.de/work
Pooling expertise and creating synergies at university level
Because they initiate sustainable change processes, universities can explicitly contribute to change in the economy, culture and society. With this in mind, EMPOWER aims to address overarching, socially relevant issues in the region and develop innovative solutions together with external partners. To this end, the participating universities pool their knowledge, experience and complementary skills and develop significantly greater innovation potential through cooperation. The various specialist disciplines come together in the network, new, interdisciplinary topics and projects can be developed and existing resources such as laboratories, workshops or personnel can be used synergistically. Professors from the university in Ludwigshafen share their expertise and skills with colleagues from the network and work in tandem in some sub-projects under the umbrella of other future topics.
First milestones reached
The EMPOWER joint project was launched on January 1, 2023 and will run until the end of 2027. Many activities have already been initiated and milestones achieved since the start of the project. In addition to an overarching overall project structure, both internal and cross-university formats have been established to promote cooperation and networking among the more than 100 EMPOWER employees at the partner universities.
The acquisition and integration of several dozen cooperation partners has also been an important success in terms of external objectives. In terms of external perception, the focus in the initial phase of the project was on establishing communication channels and ensuring EMPOWER's presence at relevant events in the region.
HWG LU stands for the megatrend topic NEW WORK
In terms of content, the HWG LU is contributing to the EMPOWER network, which is based in Ludwigshafen at the Institute for Employment and Employability IBE, with a focus on "New Work". Institute Director Prof. Dr. Jutta Rump and her team deal with issues in the context of digital, economic and ecological transformation, the flexibilization of working hours and location, new spatial concepts and agile forms of organization, changed management structures and principles, and the promotion of lifelong employability. The IBE team develops solution concepts for various stakeholders. Corresponding analysis tools are also being developed in collaboration with other EMPOWER partners and evaluated in model companies, and a New Work experimentation room is being set up. A broad public participates in the findings via transfer journeys in companies.
A detailed description of each of the 33 socially relevant projects in the EMPOWER network can be found at empower-rlp.de, including information on objectives, methodology/approach, transfer areas and a list of all project participants.
The HWG LU not only contributes to the network in terms of content with the megatrend topic of New Work, but is also responsible for important overarching organizational project tasks at EMPOWER with event and communication management. The central management and coordination of the entire network as well as knowledge management, on the other hand, are located at Mainz University of Applied Sciences.
The importance of EMPOWER for HWG LU
While the total funding volume for the network is 13.3 million euros, the share going to Ludwigshafen is 3.2 million euros. This makes EMPOWER the largest third-party funded project for HWG LU in the history of the university.
In addition to the positive effects resulting from the collaboration with the network partners, the funding from the "Innovative University" program gives HWG LU the opportunity to
- strategically develop and implement its profile in the transfer of ideas, knowledge and technology
- optimize transfer structures
- strengthen networking with the regional environment
- strategically align established transfer instruments and
- to establish and expand innovative forms of cooperation with business, culture and society.
As a major transfer project, EMPOWER also contributes to the university strategy, in which an increase in research and transfer activities and the number of research players at the HWG LU is just as important as greater visibility of research and transfer activities and potential. With its transfer-oriented goals, regional anchoring and various forms of cooperation and exchange with business and society, the EMPOWER joint project also reflects the university's mission statement, especially with regard to the (self-)understanding of science and research.
Further information on the EMPOWER joint project can be found at: empower-rlp.de
