In November 2018 Ulrike Cress was elected deputy spokesperson of the TRC. She is the Executive Director of the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) in Tübingen and teaches at the University of Tübingen, as a full professor in the Department of Psychology. As Head of the Knowledge Construction Lab, she researches social and cognitive processes that are relevant for the joint construction and usage of knowledge. Her research foci include Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Mass Collaboration, Social Software, Knowledge Management, Embodied Interaction, as well as Design and Evaluation of Media-supported Learning and Working Environments. She has conducted numerous projects on web-based learning supported by national and European funding entities.
Ulrike Cress is Co-PI of the LEAD Graduate School (Learning, Educational Achievement, and Life Course Development; Graduate School GSC 1028), and a member of the Tübingen School of Education (TüSE). She heads the Leibniz-Science Campus, a research collaboration where researchers from the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien and from the University of Tübingen work together in 16 projects. Since July 2018 Ulrike Cress has been serving as the Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of Deutsche Telekom Stiftung.
3 questions to Ulrike Cress
What makes the research environment in Tübingen unique?
The extraordinarily close cooperation between the university and non-university research institutions. We jointly founded a Leibniz Science Campus in 2010, i.e. we initiated the close cooperation between a Leibniz Institute and a university. Since then, researchers from the IWM and various faculties of the university have been closely working together on numerous cooperation projects and are jointly supervising doctoral candidates. This form of close cooperation between a Leibniz Institute and a university set an example as numerous other Leibniz Science Campuses were established in Germany in the following years.
Which advantages has the collaboration within the Tübingen Research Campus (TRC) offered you?
The TRC provides a platform for exchange between the various research institutions and creates the basis for joint activities: This ranges from launching a website with information for international researchers to increasing the visibility of Tübingen as a location for cutting-edge research to collaboration within the framework of the Excellence Initiative or the construction of a guesthouse. The TRC provides visibility to our accumulated expertise. Every institution benefits when the strength of Tübingen as location for ground-breaking research, consisting of the university and the non-university research institutions, becomes visible both internally and externally.
How would you describe Tübingen to international researchers?
Tübingen is small and tranquil, has a lot of student flair. Maybe the short distances between the different research institutes enable collaborative, interdisciplinary research at the highest international level.
