Under shared leadership by Prof. Jarke, FIT cooperates closely with the Information Systems group (Informatik V) at RWTH Aachen University. Three FIT scientists hold professorships for Cooperation Systems (Wolfgang Prinz), Life Science Informatics (Thomas Berlage) and Media Informatics / Media Processes (Thomas Rose) in Informatik V.
Informatik V focuses on formal analysis, prototypical development, and practical testing of meta-information systems. Project clusters focus on Internet Information Systems, Electronic Commerce, Database and Meta-Database Technology, Information Systems in Chemical Engineering, Process-Integrated Information Systems, and Information Systems on Cultural Sciences.
A significant element in the institute‘s linkage to universities is the involvement in the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-IT) that was founded in 2003 as a joint venture of RWTH Aachen University, Bonn University, several Fraunhofer Institutes in Birlinghoven, and the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. Fraunhofer FIT cooperates with B-IT in research-integrated English-language master programs in Media Informatics and Life Science Informatics aimed at the top tier of international students.
Spearheaded by FIT senior researcher Prof. Volker Wulf, who also holds a professorship at Siegen University, there is a close, strategic cooperation with their Media Informatics group on a firm contractual basis. It allows outstanding students from Siegen University to work towards their Master theses or Ph.D. theses in applied research at Fraunhofer FIT. Permanent links through former Fraunhofer FIT researchers or honorary professorships also exist to the universities of Duisburg-Essen, Koblenz, Ilmenau, Weimar and Heerlen (The Netherlands).