IT:U sets off on a successful start to the first winter semester
Location decision is a key factor for the digital competitiveness of our society.
LINZ: The steep ramp-up of IT:U, the Interdisciplinary Transformation University Austria, is on track: just one year after the operational start, two new doctoral programmes have been launched – one of them jointly with the Johannes Kepler University Linz. Eleven high-calibre founding professors were recruited from the international scientific community into IT:U and began their teaching and research activities in October. This means that IT:U is ideally positioned for its first regular winter semester. A total of 90 employees are now working purposefully on the content-related and organisational development of the new University of Technology in Linz.
‘In just over twelve months, we have achieved what other new universities have taken several years to do. This has also been confirmed by international experts. The IT:U team is doing an excellent job of setting up the university in coordination with the federal and state governments,’ emphasizes Founding President Stefanie Lindstaedt.
Location is a key success factor for IT:U
The issue of IT:U’s location is now proving to be a major unplanned challenge. The location of the new IT:U campus is not arbitrary, but a key success factor for IT:U to meaningfully fulfil its mission.
‘We want to make IT:U a high-performance training and research centre for ‘digital transformers’ who use AI tools and the latest systems from a wide range of specialist disciplines to develop solutions to socially relevant problems.’
There are therefore important aspects that the new technical university believes must be taken into account when selecting a location: strong infrastructure facilities, technical/digital, as well as logistically good international transport links.
IT:U is focusing on a completely new teaching concept, project-based personalized learning. This requires flexible learning spaces, hybrid and digital learning environments, innovation labs and maker spaces and smart buildings that are considered benchmarks for sustainability and digital transformation. Not every site allows for this essential innovative design.
‘IT:U is a network university. Local proximity to cooperation networks, industry hubs and research partners, together with the other requirements, suggests a central urban conurbation with international potential as the location for the IT:U campus,’ Stefanie Lindstaedt is convinced.
The previously planned location of IT:U near Johannes Kepler University was already politically defined before IT:U was founded and would have fulfilled many of these requirements.
‘The proximity to Johannes Kepler University and the associated close links to research, teaching and infrastructure have clear strengths. The short distances are already a great benefit,’ emphasizes Stefanie Lindstaedt, referring to the joint doctoral program for Digital Transformation in Learning, the planned joint computer centre and the synergies in the use of the canteen, library and other facilities. The creation of an overarching student community through the merging campus was also a key argument in favor of the previously planned location.
When selecting the future IT:U location, it is therefore important to maintain the closest possible proximity to Johannes Kepler University. ‘Both universities would clearly benefit from this,’ Stefanie Lindstaedt is convinced.
Right on schedule – IT:U continues on its development path
After the foundation phase, IT:U is now moving into the take-off phase as planned. The operation and development path of IT:U will continue according to plan. Research and teaching operations have started and IT:U is currently working on a Master’s curriculum, which will start in the winter semester of 2025.
‘IT:U is a future-oriented project for Austria with a strong impact on our society. We therefore need overarching alignment and swift, optimal decision-making around the location, so that we can maintain our development path as planned in the long term,’ emphasizes Stefanie Lindstaedt.