Information on individual educational components (ECTS-Course descriptions) per semester

Application deadline: September to 31.10.2024. 

Send the written expression of interest (content: Who am I? Why am I interested in research in this area?) to guido.kempter@fhv.at .

Students will be selected for the research project on the basis of a personal interview. 

Acceptance or rejection must be made by 15.11.2024 at the latest.

If you are accepted, the research project will be listed together with the other courses on your A5 portal under "Grades" from December. With 12 ECTS, the entire Contextual Studies are thus defined and booked.

In the event of rejection, other courses for the summer semester 2025 with 3 or 6 ECTS in the compulsory elective area are available for selection on the A5 portal until 30 November 2024. 

Scheduling takes place with those responsible for the research project. 

Course costs: For any intended visits to scientific conferences, the travelling expenses or participation fees incurred will be borne by the students. 

SDG 3 - human health, SDG 4 - lifelong learning and SDG 13 - climate protection

Participating students are required to have an academic interest and the ability to work independently and ask questions. Selection is therefore based on a letter of application and an associated selection interview.

The prerequisite for attending this course is the willingness to carry out the project started in the summer semester over two semesters with 6 ECTS credits each and to continue it in the following winter semester. If the student is unsuccessful, the Contextual Studies will be continued in the winter semester outside the course.

The continuation of the research project as part of a Master's thesis is strived. The aim is to publish the research results in the form of a publication, a research report, a conference paper, a video or similar.

Due to the required prerequisites, students are not entitled to admission to the course.

Fundamentals of scientific work, introduction to research design and research planning, applied research and development methods in the field of technology-supported supply systems for people with impairments, human-machine interaction in industrial plants and digital media in learning and working environments.

General learning outcomes of research projects:

• Students produce a scientific paper by developing, independently working on and answering a research question.
• Students know the cornerstones and milestones of a research project (research question and objectives, theses, falsification, experiments, quality criteria, etc.).
• Depending on the research centre or group, students learn about different research methods - from qualitative/quantitative methods, understanding and operating programmes and production facilities to the use of specific IT tools, etc.
• Students can integrate relevant aspects of research ethics and data protection into research projects.
• Students can present research content in the context of team meetings, events or publications.
• Students know their expertise and passion for research and are aware of their next steps in deepening their research expertise, including PhD options.
• Students know elements of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Specific learning outcomes of research projects:

Students familiarise themselves with aspects of current research projects in the Human-Centred Technologies Research Centre.

The detailed, scientific learning outcomes are agreed and documented individually with the students before the start of the course as part of the formulation of their research questions.

In collaboration with an interdisciplinary research team, consisting of computer, design and social scientists, students are working on a research project in the field of technology-supported supply systems for people with impairments, human-machine interaction at industrial plants and digital media within learning and working environments. The work is carried out within the framework of European research programs (such as Joint Program Active & Assisted Living) or national research programs (for example, information and communication technology of the future). Through these projects, they acquire (1) experience from transnational R & D cooperation in different scientific disciplines, (2) deepened methodological knowledge, which is not standard in the core curricula, and (3) deepened expertise that prepares them well for later scientific activities (eg Master Thesis, Dissertation).

An additional learning outcome is the competence for the transfer of research results obtained into the practice, which is an result from the integration of regional enterprises and social organisations into the ongoing R & D projects. In their research, the students deal with the premises of their hypotheses and their actions as well as the validity and the effects of their findings. The students gain self-experience and professional experience tby means of free ideas, in interaction with others, in self-organisation and in the implementation of ideas and applications.

Activation: The students take responsibility for the research and learning process by contributing their own views and raising questions in the jointly discussed research project.

Action orientation: Students will recognise the discrepancy between their current state of knowledge and the state of their goals when taking the topic into consideration. At the same time, the focus is on the methods and skills necessary for dealing with the question, so that a targeted acquisition of the necessary procedures can be carried out by the students.

Deliberate implementation: Agreement for framework conditions and practices that make the research project possible and promising. These include common rules and expectations, milestones, dealing with failure and restart, as well as the agreement, for which the students assume responsibility and accountability.

Embedding: Contact persons in the R & D team, including their availability, and in particular mentors are named. There are conditions under which a sufficient contact with the students is guaranteed and which enable exchange tas well as continuous feedback.

Support is given by researchers at the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences by means of coaching, instruction, participation in discussions and seminars, as well as by self-study.

Degree of achievement in the discussion of defined learning and work objectives with reference to the previous knowledge of the student. Documentation of the learning results and project implementation.

Publication of the research results in the form of a presentation in the winter semester, a publication, a research report, a conference paper, a video or similar.

The course "Research Project: Human-Centred Technologies" in the winter semester is the continuation of the course of the same name from the summer semester. 

Döring, N. & Bortz, J. (2016). Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation in den Sozial- und Humanwissenschaften. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978- 3-642-41089-5

Jost, P. & Künz, A. (Hrsg.) (2015). Digitale Medien in Arbeits- und Lernumgebungen. Pabst Science Publishers Lengerich.

Kahaus, H. & Krause, N. (2017). Fundiert forschen. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-15575-9

Kempter, G. & Weidmann, K.-H. (Hrsg.) (2012). Technik für Menschen im nächsten Jahrzehnt. Pabst Science Publishers Lengerich.

Kempter, G. & Hämmelre, I. (Hrsg.) (2017). Umgebungsunterstütztes Leben. Pabst Science Publishers Lengerich.

Simonis, G. (2013), Konzepte und Verfahren der Technikfolgenabschätzung. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-02035-4

Specific literature is arranged separately in each project, depending on the specific question.

• Self-organised learning and independent work according to the standards of the respective research unit
• Collaboration and presence in the team and participation in working groups
• Coaching and guidance
• Experiments, field research, laboratory work, etc.
• Moderation and presentation techniques
• Project completion in the form of a publication, research report, poster, video, etc.

Students deepen their research questions in R & D projects, for which the Research Center Human-Centred Technologies has obtained funding in the course of highly competitive international calls. Experiences and insights from the research process are recorded in a logbook. As learners, they get the time to discover their own strengths in research and development as well as to move beyond the boundaries of their own discipline. In the actual research process they apply a scientific approach in survey and analysis as well as a constructive handling in the discussion with the interdisciplinary R&D team. Coaching, instruction, participation in discussions and seminars as well as accompanying self-study are part of the study programme.