Prof. Dr. Andreas Will
Head of Department
In the EU Horizon 2020 funded project ScreenME-net, internationally renowned universities in the field of media entrepreneurship will develop expertise in this field together with Tallinn University. The project consortium involves Jönköping International Business School (Sweden), Aarhus University (Denmark), Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (Finland), Munster Technological University (Ireland), Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Belgium), Tallinn University (Estonia) and Technische Universität Ilmenau. From 2021 to 2023, these partners will jointly advance a research center for screen media entrepreneurship within 36 months, as well as develop formats for excellent teaching and the promotion of young researchers in the field. The project is being carried out within the EU's Horizon 2020 framework program for research and innovation. A total of 439 projects were up for selection in the "H2020-Widespread-2018-2020" call, of which 77 (17.5%) were finally selected. The project leader at Technische Universität Ilmenau is Dr. Britta M. Gossel.
Contact: Dr. Britta M. Gossel ( britta.gossel@tu-ilmenau.de)
On May 1, 2019, the CerDee project at the Technische Universität Ilmenau was launched as part of the INTERREG program of the European Union. Together with seven Central European institutions from six different countries, the project aims to network leading knowledge institutions, museums, educational institutions and creative professionals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises with a ceramics and porcelain background in Europe over the next three years. Furthermore, educational opportunities are to be created in order to strengthen entrepreneurial skills in the target group of ceramics professionals.
Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Andreas Will (project manager) and Nigar Zahan (project manager), the Media and Communication Management Group will contribute especially in the areas of strategic public relations and external communication. In cooperation with the other project partners, a platform for knowledge transfer will be developed at the Technische Universität Ilmenau.
CerDee is co-financed by the EU within the framework of the INTERREG V-B program for Central Europe through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, 80 %).
Contact: Nigar Zahan (nigar.zahan@tu-ilmenau.de)
The topic of reasoning has become increasingly important in many university locations in recent years. Although there are many contact points for those interested in founding a company, the topic has not yet found a place in teaching everywhere.
Although entrepreneurship education is increasingly taking place at universities, previous studies such as the Gründungsradar or the EXIST accompanying studies have shown that by far not all potential has been tapped. Whether and to what extent entrepreneurship education takes place in technical and scientific disciplines (MINT subjects) was not known until now. A team of scientists from the Institute, led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Will and Britta Gossel, has addressed this question and analysed a total of 1361 MINT study programs at 58 universities in Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia on the basis of 2220 study program documents as part of a full survey.
The results and detailed information on the study can be accessed and downloaded from the project website.
The study was funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for the New Länder (Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy).
Contact: Britta Gossel (britta.gossel@tu-ilmenau.de)
Since July 2016, the group has been a partner in the QUALITEACH project, which is part of the BMBF-funded quality offensive in teacher training at the University of Erfurt. In the sub-project "Competence and Development Centre for Inclusion in Teacher Education", an interdisciplinary team from the fields of special education, educational science, educational psychology and media management is developing a concept for the integration of inclusive topics into teacher education at the University of Erfurt. The department is involved in developing an e-learning environment for the project.
At the beginning of the winter semester 17/18, the new eLearning platform VideoLeb was launched. 360° videos form the core element of the platform, which are intended to introduce students virtually to "real teaching situations" via VR headsets. Using high-resolution 360° cameras, several Thuringian school classes were videographed in advance and the resulting material was then integrated into the eLearning platform
Since February 2016, the group is a partner in the EU project 'Ceramics and its Dimensions'. The project is funded by the EU Commission from 2014 to 2018 as part of the "Creative Europe" program and coordinated by Porzellanikon in Selb. It encompasses all facets of ceramics and connects museums, universities and research institutes to provide a holistic view of the past, present and future of ceramics. The Media and Communication Management Group is responsible for both internal and external project communication and evaluation.
Traditionally, teaching at German universities has been based on the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practical application. But practice is more. - It is an incentive and an object of academic reflection, a touchstone of scientific results and an important link between studies and career. These considerations were reason enough for the Institute for Media and Communication Science at the Technische Universität Ilmenau to create the event "CampusProjects" as part of the Project Management seminar. In an appealing and professional setting, the students present their project results in final presentations. The aim is to promote cooperation between students of applied media science and "real" clients from the region and thus build a strong bridge between university and practice.
The mysteries of the world are difficult to explain, but the professors at TU Ilmenau rise to this challenge every year. In exciting lectures for students aged eight to twelve, they take a foray into the modern world of science. On top of that, there are fascinating experiments to marvel at. It is not only the lectures that make a day at the Kinderuni of Ilmenau an experience. To get an insight into student life with all the trimmings, the young students are enrolled and receive student ID cards. Of course, a stopover in the cafeteria is also a must, where you can recharge your batteries for the next lecture. Packed with new knowledge, the children begin their journey home after an eventful children's day - according to the motto "Ilmenau makes children smart!"
Starting something new! An idea always creates something new. And it also could be the beginning of a new business. auftakt. Das Gruenderforum Ilmenau wants to support entrepreneurs in this early stage.
auftakt. strives for bundling and thereby strengthen the support of entrepreneurs at TU Ilmenau by realizing a coordinated and comprehensive support. In this way the entrepreneurial potential of TU Ilmenau gets completely released.
The Media and Communication Management Group is co-initiator and active supporter of this initiative, whose existence and operation are close to our hearts.
Further information (available in German only)
In 2015 the Media and Communication Management Group (FG MKM) started a research cooperation with the German Journalists' Association (DJV). Against the background of the eight future theses of the DJV and especially the thesis "Journalists become entrepreneurs" the FG MKM conducts a joint study with the DJV under the direction of Prof. Dr. Andreas Will. Journalists, who are in training as well as in the first years of their professional life, are to be interviewed about the changing professional role perception, entrepreneurial self-perception, competence requirements for the profession and teaching contents in the training as journalists. Based on the results, proposals for a future-oriented journalism training will be developed.
The German Journalists' Association (DJV) represents the professional and media policy goals and demands of full-time journalists of all media in Germany. The association has around 36,000 members from all areas of journalism.
Contact person/ Project management: Dipl.-Medienwiss. Britta M. Gossel
In the series "Discussion Papers People - Markets - Media - Management" edited by Prof. Dr. Andreas Will, two first partial publications on the project have appeared and are available online at
The aim of the joint work was to expand the internal work processes at Volkswagen in the area of new media. The main topics were the integration of Web 2.0 applications into daily work in the Group and research into process-oriented Web 3.0 technologies. Students of the "Applied Media Science" course of study were given the opportunity to work on current issues in the field of new media together with employees of Europe's largest automobile manufacturer in several research seminars.
Further information: Press release
The ZIM cooperation network "Microsystems on the basis of multifunctional material composites" (MS Multi Mat) aims to bring together medium-sized companies and research institutions in the context of microsystems and multifunctional material composites. This involves various topics from component design, tool planning, prototype development to small series production. The network is funded within the framework of the program ZIM - Zentrales Innovations Mittelstand and bundles competences of partners from science and industry.
The members of the network currently include four research institutions (including institutes of TU Clausthal, TU Braunschweig, TU Ilmenau and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft), eight SMEs from all over Germany as well as two associations and one GmbH. Projects for the development of innovative products, processes or technical services are to be promoted, in a particular market-oriented manner. At this point, competencies in the fields of market definition, market research and market introduction are often in demand. In the future, the FG MKM will become a new project partner for these topics in the cooperation network.
Contact person/ project management: Dipl.-Medienwiss. Britta M. Gossel
In the VerPEL project, the networking of Thuringian research institutes, educational institutions and companies was the main focus. The first concrete goal was to convey physical, economic and ecological interrelationships in the field of regenerative energies with the help of didactically prepared learning environments enhanced with virtual elements. The intended research project in the network was thus primarily assigned to the research topic of learning software/information technology - with borrowings from media technology and communication science. The project was supported by the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Technology and Labour with funds from the European Social Fund.
Contact person: Dr. Daniel Schultheiss
In cooperation with the solar village Kettmannshausen and the TCC Medienwerkstatt (Zella-Mehlis), the virtual children's laboratory "Prof. Solarius" will be developed, tested and made available for the German-speaking countries. The project is supported by the initiative "Ein Netz für Kinder".
This will be used to develop a media-pedagogically sound learning software for children in grades 3 to 6, which opens up scientific and technical aspects of renewable energies on the basis of experimentally-discovering learning. As a first experiment, the real "SolarBiker", which has already been successfully tested more than 500 times, will be virtually assembled and used for virtual experiments.
At the Ilmenau Media Forum, notable speakers from science and practice will discuss current topics of media research. In addition, media-specific research projects of TU Ilmenau as well as the media offerings of student associations will be presented.
In 2006, the "Explosive power of digitalization - changing the media world" was an exciting topic of lively discussion. The focus of the Media Forum 2008 was on "Individualized use of media".
How do media innovations change communication in society? This question was the focus of the 55th annual conference of the DGPuK in Ilmenau. The conference is organized by the IfMK under the auspices of the departments Empirical Media Research / Political Communication and Media and Communication Management.
Since 2007 the family fair Kinder-Kult has been held in Erfurt. Every year, 10,000 children, parents and teachers visit this leisure event. Under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the Thuringian State Chancellery, there are games, sports, fun and science to touch in two exhibition halls with the help of many Thuringian associations, institutions and companies. The aim of this event is to show how many interesting leisure and employment opportunities Thuringia has to offer for 6 to 14-year-olds. TU Ilmenau has been involved with an experimental temple and a media camp since the fair was founded. The aim is to bring the world of science and media closer to children and young people. Every year several departments of the university and many student initiatives participate in Kinder-Kult. The department is supported by a student project team each year in the organization and coordination of the fair area for TU Ilmenau.
The "Young Entrepreneurship Research Colloquium" (YERC) is an event for young researchers in the field of entrepreneurship research. Under the motto "Entrepreneurship Research. Discussing today the awareness of tomorrow" young scientists on their way to a doctorate, habilitation or professorship are invited to present and discuss their current research. The YERC is intended to distinguish itself from traditional conference formats.
Further information: Call for Papers
