University Linkages

Under shared leadership by Prof. Dr. Stefan Decker, Fraunhofer FIT cooperates closely with the Information Systems group (Informatik 5) 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), respectively, in Informatik 5. Informatik 5 focuses on formal analysis, prototypical development, and functional testing of meta-information systems. Project clusters focus on Internet information systems / studies of community systems, and technology-enhanced learning, knowledge graphs and meta-database technology, robotics, and the application fields medicine, cultural studies, and e-mobility.

Prof. Dr. Wil van der Aalst, who holds the Chair of Computer Science 9 / Process and Data Science at RWTH Aachen University, also heads a research group at FIT. In addition, Fraunhofer FIT works closely with the RWTH Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (Prof. Dr. Andreas Ulbig) and the RWTH Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems (Prof. Antonello Monti, PhD).

A significant element in the institute's linkage to universities is the involvement in the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (b-it), which was founded in 2003 as a joint venture of RWTH Aachen University, Bonn University, several Fraunhofer institutes in Birlinghoven, and the Bonn-Rhine-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.

Fraunhofer FIT has its main offices in Sankt Augustin and Aachen. Branch offices and project groups are affiliated with Bayreuth University (Prof. Dr. Maximilian Röglinger, Prof. Dr. Torsten Eymann, Prof. Dr. Jens Strüker, Prof. Dr. Ricardo Büttner) and Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Björn Häckel), Siegen University (Prof. Dr. Volker Wulf), University of Münster (Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoeren), University of Hohenheim (Prof. Dr. Henner Gimpel), FernUniversität in Hagen (Prof. Dr. Christian Beecks), Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Nils Urbach), and the Universities of Applied Sciences Hamm-Lippstadt (Prof. Dr. Harald Mathis), Niederrhein (Prof. Dr. Christoph Quix), and Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (Prof. Dr. Britta Essing, Prof. Dr. Alexander Boden).

Permanent links through former Fraunhofer FIT researchers or honorary professorships also exist to the universities of Bamberg, Duisburg-Essen, Heerlen (The Netherlands), Ilmenau, Koblenz, Luxembourg, Münster, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and to several universities of applied sciences in our region.