540011 SE Research Seminar (2023S)

We live in a time of growing social, economic and overall societal challenges. Universities (and science in general) are increasingly challenged to make an active and targeted contribution to shaping society, to get involved in solving problems. Why does this require a new concept? How can knowledge be used for the benefit of society? What systematic implementations of the "third mission" exist? How is third mission measurable? What are the challenges, limits and development perspectives? How can universities specifically address the expectations and needs of society and business in this regard? What does this mean for individual scientists and especially for young scientists?
The aim of the seminar is to become more familiar with the concept, to reflect on it and to concretize its personal relevance. The seminar will first discuss conceptual and fundamental questions before we try to work out in small groups what the "life of the third mission" can mean in the context of our own research and teaching.
The second part of the seminar consists of the practical application of what has been learned in the context of an event in cooperation with the VDS CoBeNe. On 31.01.2024, the day before the annual conference "CoBeNe PhD Academy" (01.02. - 02.02.), a workshop for secondary school students will take place, to which school classes from partner schools of the University of Vienna will be invited. The main goal of the planned workshop is to increase young people's interest in science. In particular, it is intended to encourage them to consider studying or science as a career, regardless of their own socio-economic background and the education level of their parents. Furthermore, the PhD students of CoBeNe are given the opportunity to reflect on their third mission and to make their research accessible to a broader public, i.e. pupils and teachers, in addition to the scientific audience. The workshop will be prepared during the seminar. A debriefing after Jan. 31 will conclude the seminar.

Seminar language: English/German, depending on the group of participants