Newsletter of the Department of Computer Science (Summer Semester 2023)

State of affairs on the development of "Theoretical Computer Science"

Prof. Zweig has moved to a professorship in the AI initiative of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Prof. Künnemann will unfortunately leave us in the winter semester. As a result, two professorships in Theoretical Computer Science will be vacant in the winter semester. The department has taken into account the concerns of the students regarding the coverage of teaching content of Theoretical Computer Science by having already decided in the departmental council to release the two professorships for advertisement in Theoretical Computer Science. We hope that the positions will be filled again for the summer semester 2024.

Prof. Stefanie Roos introduces herself

Prof. Stefanie Roos accepted the appointment at RPTU on Dec. 12, 2022, and started in the summer semester of 2023.

Video portrait Jun. Prof. Sophie Fellenz

The video portrait of Jun. Prof. Dr. Sophie Fellenz is part of the campaign "Female scientists of the RPTU introduce themselves". The aim is to introduce women in science, their way there, their experiences, motivations and goals. How is it possible to combine science and career, research and teaching, family and free time? The project is a joint project of the Equality, Diversity and Family Office and the Central Equal Opportunity Officer of the Senate of RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.

Click here for the video portrait: https://rptu.de/s/omdxrn

Overview of all video portraits: https://rptu.de/s/uxnmgh

Unfortunately, some colleagues are also leaving us this year:

• Jun.-Prof. Shoya Ishimaru, has accepted the call to a tenured research professorship (Full Professor without teaching duties) at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan. The department congratulates him on this success!
• Caroline Frey, Secretary AGen Sotware Engineering, Softwaretechnik and Digital Farming. She is moving to the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE).
• Dr. Klaus-Peter Becker and Daniel Jonietz. Dr. Klaus-Peter Becker, who has worked for our department since 1993, first as an external lecturer and later as a teacher for subject didactics, will retire at the end of this summer semester. Likewise, we already said goodbye to Mr. Daniel Jonietz in the past winter semester; he, too, was active for the department as a lecturer for subject didactics.
  The department would like to thank Dr. Becker and Mr. Jonietz for their work!
  

Welcome to the summer semester

On 20.04. the computer science student council organized the Semester Opening Fete. With this event, the students of RPTU were welcomed back to the summer semester 2023. With three quarters of a year of preparation and the support of the managing director of our Department, the event was successfully held. In the process, 1,500 guests were able to celebrate into the night with a live band and two DJ's.

In order to carry out the event, more than 30 computer science students in main responsible roles, together with many other students from all faculties and employees of the university. worked together. The strong cohesion of the student body has been demonstrated this time again by the many helping hands from all departments. by the many helping hands from the entire student body. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in this team effort to revive the culture on campus! on campus again!

- Three events - one date

Friday, 30.06.2023, was completely dedicated to "computer science" on the Kaiserslautern campus of the RPTU.

Between 9.30 a.m. and 3 p.m., students were able to find out about career opportunities for computer scientists. at the FIT e.V.'s Computer Science Practice Day. In the foyer of Building 42, 14 well-known companies presented themselves as potential employers for graduates. Insights into everyday working life, discussions with company representatives and the opportunity to possibly find out more about internships and working students were offered, and the opportunity to build a bridge from the theory of everyday student life to the practice of professional life. professional life.

Immediately afterwards, the department invited this year's graduates to a champagne reception. to a champagne reception on the occasion of the annual academic celebration. After the musical intro by Peter Brucker, Dean Prof. Dr. Christoph Garth welcomed this year's graduates with their families, the members of the faculty this year's graduates and their families, the members of the faculty present and all the other guests. and also extended a warm welcome to the new members of the faculty. The event was moderated by Prof. Dr. Marius Kloft (Machine Learning WG). Afterwards, Prof. Dr. Leo van Waveren (AG Fachdidaktik) had the floor and highlighted in a short contribution the situation and the current importance of subject didactic support for prospective teachers - especially in the technical subjects.

Then it was on to the highlight of the events - the academic tributes to the Bachelor's and Master's graduates and doctoral students. Bachelor's and Master's graduates as well as doctoral students of the Department of Computer Science. A total of 69 Bachelor's and 125 Master's students as well as 36 doctoral candidates were honoured this year. This means that more than half of all graduates were present.

Following the Annual Academic Celebration, members of the department met with their guests at the first ever Sommerfest der Informatik of Computer Science in the amphitheatre in front of Building 46. In the sunshine and pleasant temperatures, our professors with their working groups and their barbecue skills and our student council provided delicious crêpes and drinks for the physical well-being of the visitors. The beautifully laid tables were well occupied until late in the evening - as were the steps of the amphitheatre, from where one could listen to the music of peterbrucker live - all in all a thoroughly successful day!

Such a festival can only succeed thanks to the tireless commitment of individual department members in the run-up and the many helping hands on such a day.Many helping hands on such a day: a big THANK YOU to all helpers and especially to the AJF organising team!

• The DFG-DACH application "Part manufacturing under reduced workforce restrictions (PartRe²Work)" by apl. Prof. Ebert and Prof. Aurich together with the TU Vienna was approved.
• Prof. Zweig has a cooperation project with the "Partnerschaft Deutschland" to evaluate the guidelines, which the BMAS has given itself for AI projects.
• Prof. Liggesmeyer received this year's German Award for Software Quality. The prize was awarded by the Arbeitskreis Software-Qualität und -Fortbildung (ASQF), the Fachgruppe Test, Analysis and Verification of Software of the Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI-TAV) and the German Testing Board (GTB) for the third time.
• Dr. Ann-Kathrin Schmuck (MPI-SWS) will receive a W2 tenure-track professorship at the MPI starting in July.

“How does a robot actually work?“ – This question was a burning question for the preschoolers at the Kita Spielwerk. Together with educator Heidi Louis and her colleagues, robots were painted, tinkered with and also programmed. The Beebot and the Ozobots of the FB were used under the guidance of Prof. Bieniusa. The final event was a visit to the Robotics Research Lab of Prof. Berns on April 28, 2023. There, Ashita Ashok and Jakub Pawlak presented the humanoid robot Emah and patiently clarified the many questions of the young visitors. „That was a particularly exciting and great excursion!“ – was the unanimous opinion of the preschoolers.

Report by Prof Bieniusa on the MINT project at the Pestalozzi School

As part of the first MINT project of the Pestalozzischule elementary school, the Chair of Software Engineering offered a 2-day workshop on the topic of thermal insulation, in which 39 4th grade students participated. Under the guidance of Elena Yanakieva and her team, the students first received an introduction to the concept of algorithms and programming with the microcontroller Calliope Mini. Then, house models built from cardboard were equipped with a heat source and a self-made and programmed temperature sensor and insulated with an insulating material. In frosty temperatures in the schoolyard, the participants were able to monitor the effect of the insulation in real time with the help of measurement series. "Teaching informatics skills in the context of science education can make an important contribution, the teaching of computer skills in the context of science lessons can make an important contribution to promoting science-specific working methods and at the same time enable basic computer education despite the current lack of curricular anchoring," explains Prof. Bieniusa. Within the context of the BMBF project GENIUS (https://www.genius-schule.de) in cooperation with the didactics of biology and the University of Constance. The project will also investigate the conditions for successful science-informatic teaching.

Prof. van Waveren, head of the AG Fachdidaktik der Technik at our department and member of the Center for Teacher Education speaks on the topic of teacher education „What do teachers learn?“ in a SWR3 podcast on 08.05.2023.

For the doctoral colloquium of the summer semester 2023, the doctoral students of the FB Informatik met on June 15, 2023, who had initiated their PhD projects in the previous year, together with Prof. Grimm, Prof. Kloft and Prof. Bieniusa at the Hotel Blechhammer. The eleven lectures focused on various aspects and applications of machine learning. During the lunch break and afterwards, the discussions were continued in an engaged way - we are looking forward to the results of this work. This event was also made possible by the financial support of the FIT e.V.made possible - a big thank you for this! The abstracts of the presentations and further information about the doctoral program of the FB can be found at. https://phd.cs.uni-kl.de/events/talks/

Especially to inspire young people for scientific-technical topics, the working group didactics of Prof. Leo van Waveren offered a workshop on 22.04.2023 on the garden show area in Kaiserslautern under the direction of Mr. Michael Becker on the handling of microcontrollers, in which about a dozen young people participated.
Here is the link to the project website: https://rptu.de/zfl/projekte/digitallz/llluedu/teilprojekte-fulll

New foundation of a forum of non-scientific employees of the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau

On 04.05.23 the first meeting of the forum of the non-scientific staff (NWP) took place in KL via video conference. The foundation of the forum was initiated by Julia Kleine, Iris Haffner, Matthias Graff and David Jung. "The forum is intended to open up the possibility to better communicate with each other as well as with other groups at RPTU. to discuss university policy issues and to coordinate the interests of all employees in technology and administration." (Quote from the presentation)

The main point was TOP3 'Possible structure and functioning of the forum'. In the first attempt, the forum will be staffed with various members/representatives from technology and administration from the different areas (Senate, FB, secretariats, administration, ...). These active members of the forum should serve as an interface to their respective areas. Independently of this, however, all members of the non-academic staff can take part in the meetings of the forum. Daniel Sponheimer has agreed to attend meetings as an active member on behalf of our department. If you have any requests or questions about the forum, or if you have any suggestions that could be discussed at the meetings, please feel free to contact him.

2nd Meeting of the Forum for the Non-Scientific Staff of the RPTU in Kaiserslautern

On 13.07. the second meeting of the Non-Scientific Staff Forum (NWP) in KL took place via videoconference. Future meetings of the forum will also be held by videoconference. The minutes of the meetings, as well as invitations to meetings and, if necessary, other documents/presentations will be sent out via a status group-specific mail distribution list. If you belong to the non-scientific staff and have not received the invitation to the second meeting, please contact forum-nwp-kl@rptu.de so that you can be added to the distribution list.

Probably the most interesting point of discussion at this meeting was the problems in the upgrading process for staff in the secretariats. Both the secretariats network and the staff council are already working on the issue. Due to the problems and delays described at the meeting, our senate representatives will take the issue to the next senate meeting and try to speed up the process.

As far as already found/named, the active members from the different areas have briefly introduced themselves at the meeting. There is not yet an active member from every area in the forum. In addition, if possible, there should be deputies for the already known active members. If you are interested in this for FB Informatik, please contact Daniel Sponheimer by email. But even if you are not an 'active member' or would like to become one, you are of course welcome to attend the meetings of the forum as a non-scientific staff member. The meetings will take place once or twice per semester. If necessary, there will be additional meetings.

The next meeting of the Forum NWP is planned for the end of October. A special agenda item will be the presentation of the mission statement of the science-supporting area of the RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau. If you have any further requests regarding the agenda, please contact forum-nwp-kl@rptu.de.

Offer for lecturers who want to design their teaching moving or outside in the open air

Long periods of sitting in lectures or at the computer drain a lot of energy. In order for students to remain optimally productive even during longer lectures, a targeted integration of movement is suitable. At the same time, exercise strengthens health. CampusPlus has recently started offering the rental of a silent headphone system for teaching. With this headphone system, lecturers and students can design their teaching in a moving way and new possibilities for outdoor teaching arise.

More information about the rental can be found on our website: https://zsgw.rptu.de/en/campusplus/campus-offers/kaiserslautern/bewegte-lehre

Save the Date - Announcement KIF Meeting in 2024 at RPTU in Kaiserslautern

From 08.05.2024 to 12.05.2024 (Ascension weekend), KIF 52.0 (Conference of Computer Science Departments) will take place at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau on the Kaiserslautern campus - according to current planning in buildings 46 and 48.

At the KIF meeting, 200-250 computer science students and alumni from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are expected. The topics are diversified from cultural exchange to different aspects of teaching to political topics.

The university management and the student council have already been informed about the date of the meeting and support has been promised. An application for funding was submitted to the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) an application for funding was submitted - based on a cost calculation that was prepared with the help of KIF e.V..