Press release: AI-supported teaching enables tailored interdisciplinary learning
No. 80 - 16.05.2025
Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education funds Göttingen University’s teaching projects
The University of Göttingen has been awarded two prizes in the “Lehrarchitektur” competition organised by Germany’s Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education. The foundation has awarded funding both for the University’s individual project proposal “GAIA: Individual Learning Paths through AI” and for the collaborative project proposal “Campus in Transition”, which was submitted jointly with the Universities of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. The funding will run for up to six years starting in October 2025.
The Generative Artificial Intelligence Agent (GAIA) project developed by Göttingen University creates a personalised teaching system. GAIA is based on generative AI and enters into an individual dialogue with students via text or voice to provide them with tailored support in their learning processes. GAIA supports students in all phases of the learning process: in preparing course content, working on assignments, reviewing content during the learning process, and preparing for exams. Following a pilot phase in selected courses, the system will be gradually integrated into courses across the University. “GAIA enables us to harness the potential of artificial intelligence and lay the foundation for a personalised teaching structure at the University of Göttingen. This means that we will be able to better respond to the individual needs of students,” says Professor Max Wardetzky, Vice-President for Student and Academic Services at the University of Göttingen. The funding requested for GAIA for the funding period from 2025 to 2031 amounts to 6.6 million euros.
The shared application “Campus in Transition” is a strategic alliance between the Technical University of Braunschweig, Leuphana University Lüneburg and the University of Göttingen. Its goal is to develop a flexible teaching structure that will enable students to pursue individual, interdisciplinary educational paths across institutions. The project pools resources and combines the complementary strengths of the three partners to develop a model that will serve as a nationwide example for future university collaborations. “This joint project is about fundamentally increasing flexibility in student and academic services, creating new opportunities, daring to experiment, and learning from these experiments together,” explains Wardetzky. Göttingen's share of the joint application “Campus in Transition” for the entire period amounts to 3.5 million euros. The joint application will receive a total of around 12.9 million euros in funding.
A total of 227 applications were received by the foundation. 80 applications were selected for funding by the selection committee, consisting of 68 individual applications and 12 joint applications.
Contact:
Professor Max Wardetzky
University of Göttingen
Vice-President for Student and Academic Services
Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen
Tel: +49 (0)551 39-21025
Email: vizepraesident-lehre@uni-goettingen.de