IU: International University Establishes New AI Research Institute

“Technology isn’t the bottleneck. What matters most is that people learn to use artificial intelligence responsibly, critically evaluate its results, and make informed decisions. This is precisely where we see one of the greatest research needs in the coming years,” explains Prof. Dr. Kamal Bhattacharya, Vice President for Research and Transfer and Professor of Computer Science at IU International University.

“With the AI Research Institute at IU, we are now laying the scientific foundation for understanding how these competencies develop in the context of long-term AI use and how education can specifically foster them. After all, it is precisely these skills that can be scientifically researched, taught, measured, and further developed,” Bhattacharya continues.

AI Research Under Real-World Conditions

With approximately 130,000 students in digital and hybrid learning environments, IU offers the opportunity to study human-AI collaboration under real-world conditions across disciplines, learning contexts, and over extended periods of time. This makes it possible, for the first time, to empirically examine long-term developments in judgment, problem-solving ability, and professional competence—rather than merely short-term effects of use.

“Whether you’re a nurse, a marketing manager, or an educator: In the future, the crucial question will no longer be whether people use AI, but when they can trust it and when humans must consciously make the decision. We therefore want to do more than just examine what AI is technically capable of. We want to understand how its long-term use affects human learning, judgment, and professional competence, and how this results in verifiable benefits for students and society,” says Institute Director Prof. Dr. Thorsten Fröhlich, Professor of IT Management and Big Data at IU International University.

Future-Oriented Research Areas

The institute focuses its research on four central thematic areas:

• Human-AI Competence: What competencies do people need to use AI in a targeted manner and critically evaluate its results, rather than delegating judgments without reflection?
• Learning, Teaching, and Assessment: How can AI provide personalized and scientifically sound support for learning, feedback, and assessments while simultaneously preserving human decision-making authority?
• Work, Professions, and Organizations: How does the sustained use of AI transform professional roles, expert judgments, and organizational decision-making processes?
• Responsible Human-AI Systems: What design principles lead to fair, transparent AI systems with an appropriate balance between support and automation? 
  Four Research Projects at Launch
  Four research projects are already underway as the institute launches:
• Fairgrade investigates how AI can support the academic evaluation of theses. The goal is to make evaluation processes more transparent and consistent—while ensuring that the evaluator remains the final authority at all times.
• AI Reflex investigates how a self-developed AI chatbot can support the professional self-reflection of distance learners at IU. The project analyzes user experience, interaction patterns, and the pedagogical integration of the chatbot into the teaching and learning process in distance education.
• Adaptive Learning investigates how personality traits influence interaction with AI-based learning environments and how this can lead to more personalized and effective learning opportunities.
• DigiLearn investigates which learning strategies lead to success for distance learners and how personality and life circumstances influence academic success. Based on these findings, scientifically grounded measures will be developed to provide targeted support to students and prevent them from dropping out.

Research with Direct Benefits for Academic and Professional Life

The AI Research Institute combines academic excellence with concrete practical relevance. Students are voluntarily involved in research projects in compliance with data protection regulations and in accordance with scientific and ethical standards. The insights gained are directly incorporated into the further development of AI-supported programs at IU as well as into the design of future work and educational processes.

About the AI Research Institute

The AI Research Institute at IU International University brings together interdisciplinary expertise in artificial intelligence, computer science, education, the social sciences, and business. As one of a total of three IU Research Institutes, it is designed for the long term and combines research, teaching, and practice with the goal of making scientific findings directly applicable to education and the workplace. The institutional framework of the IU Research Institutes is designed for research groups that typically receive five years of funding. In this way, IU creates the conditions for sustainable research with a long-term perspective.

The founding team includes: 

•    Prof. Dr. Thorsten Fröhlich 
•    Prof. Dr. Tim Schlippe 
•    Prof. Dr. Christina Buschle 
•    Prof. Dr. Karin Thier 
•    Prof. Dr. Florian Heßdörfer 
•    Prof. Dr. Svenja Krämer 
•    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristina Schaaff 
•    Prof. Dr. Marc-André Heidelmann 
•    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Florian Simroth 
•    Prof. Dr. Mario Herrmann 
•    Prof. Dr. Immanuel Ulrich  

For more information, visit: https://www.iu.de/forschung/projekte/ai-research-institute/ 

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Related Links

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