In 2002, the setting up of ‘internal TU collaborative, multi-disciplinary research projects’ – TU Collaboration Centres, for short – provided a funding channel that was also intended to support current ‘bottom-up’ development in research. The ‘Multi-Faculty Collaboration Centre’ channel was designed to act as the first level of cross-subject/cross-faculty collaboration among research groups at TU Wien, also including researchers from other universities where relevant, as a springboard for research collaboration projects.
Inter-faculty Collaboration Centres
The Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (CAIML) has the aim to bundle and strengthen research activities in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning both in their foundations as well as in applications and to establish TU Wien as a center of excellence for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The center consists of three thematic pillars: (i) methods of symbolic AI, (ii) methods of machine learning, and (iii) explainable AI and AI aspects in the context of digital humanism. The CAIML board comprises twelve internationally renowned researchers in the faculties of Informatics and of Mathematics and Geoinformation of TU Wien.
For more information, please visit the website of Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning., opens an external URL in a new window
Cybersecurity encompasses security, privacy, safety, accountability, trust, fairness and other civil rights, which are cornerstones of a digital society.
The societal and industrial relevance of cybersecurity is witnessed among others by
- the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which mandates the principle of security and privacy by design, i.e. the state-of-the-art in security and privacy is to be integrated since the early design phase in digital technologies
- the societal, political, and economical impact of hacks and cyberattacks in times of peace and war
- the demand for solutions to protect critical infrastructures and cyber-physical systems, which is amplified due to global conflicts, energy crisis and climate challenges
- the growing role of cryptocurrencies in the international economy
- the importance of fairness and robustness in AI-driven systems
- the lack of experts in the field
Cybersecurity is an inherently interdisciplinary field, which cross-cuts all disciplines in computer science and additionally spans over other fields, such as electrical engineering (networks, hardware, robots), physics (quantum computing and cryptography), mathematics (statistics and data science), and law.
TU Wien has a strong expertise in this domain, as witnessed by the number of prestigious grants (e.g.: 6 ERC grants and 2 WWTF research group for young investigators), large scale projects (e.g.: 3 Christian Doppler Labs and 1 FWF Special Research Program), as well as dedicated bachelor, master, and doctoral programs.
The goal of the TU Wien Cybersecurity Center is to consolidate and expand the inter-faculty expertise and initiatives in place, thereby establishing TU Wien as an internationally leading center of excellence for research, teaching, and societal outreach in cybersecurity.
Mehr Informationen bei Univ. Prof. Matteo Maffei und Univ. Prof. Dr. Tanja Zseby
The Center for Geometry and Computational Design has noted the increasing demand for research and teaching at the interface between technology and design. Research groups from the fields of Geometry, Computer Graphics, Interactive Systems, Mechanics of Materials, Construction Management, 3D Design, Modelling and Digital Architecture are working together on new methods and digital tools for the design process. These should closely link computer-aided modelling of form to function and production, thereby significantly shortening the product development cycle. The fields of application are numerous, extending from industrial design through construction to new digital production methods. Among the activities of the Center, founded in November 2014, is an intensive research programme that forms part of the ‘Computation Design’ doctoral programme.
Der Trend der Urbanisierung, Fragen des Umweltschutzes, die fortschreitende Digitalisierung aller menschlichen Lebensbereiche und die demografische Entwicklung hin zu einer älter werdenden und kulturell-durchmischten Gesellschaft stellen globale Herausforderungen dar. Die technisch nachhaltige sowie sozial verträgliche Ermöglichung und Organisation der zukünftigen Mobilität von Menschen und Gütern spielt dabei eine zentrale Rolle.
Das Fakultätsübergreifende Kooperationszentrum Mobilität und Digitalisierung (kurz „Zentrum für Mobilität und Digitalisierung“ = ZMD) wird sich interdisziplinär und systemisch mit dem Trend der Digitalisierung und Automatisierung im Verkehrs- und Mobilitätssystem beschäftigen.
Ziel des ZMD ist es, den Standort an der TU Wien zu einem offenen, interdisziplinären und internationalen Kompetenzzentrum im Bereich Mobilität und Digitalisierung zu entwickeln. Zusätzlich werden am ZMD forschungsgeleitete Lehrkonzepte erarbeitet und angeboten, um die in Zukunft benötigten Fachkräfte für Wirtschaft, Verwaltung und Forschung adäquat auszubilden.
Angesiedelt ist das ZMD zwischen den Fakultäten Architektur und Raumplanung, der Fakultät für Bau- und Umweltingenieurwesen und der Fakultät für Informatik. Damit werden bestehende Kompetenzen gebündelt und eine Vielzahl relevanter Bereiche (Raumplanung, Stadtplanung, Verkehrsplanung, Verkehrstechnik, Soziologie, Recht, Informatik, Kommunikationstechnik, Infrastrukturbereitstellung und Erhaltung) mit Bezug auf Digitalisierung (Stichwort automatisiertes Fahren, Connected Vehicle, Mobility-as-a-Service) im Personen- und Güterverkehr direkt eingebunden.
Kern der Forschungsausrichtung ist die partizipatorische Gestaltung und evidenzbasierte Technologiefolgenabschätzung der Digitalisierung im Verkehrs- und Mobilitätssystem, als Entscheidungsbasis für die Verwaltung, Politik und Planung, aber auch für die Wirtschaft für mehr Richtungs- und Investitionssicherheit.
Die entstehenden Synergien werden genutzt, um zukünftige technische, ökologische und ökonomische Fragestellungen frühzeitig in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Industrie, öffentlicher Verwaltung und Wissenschaft zu beforschen, durch Partizipation betroffener Stakeholder innovative Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten zu entwickeln und durch eine systemische Technologiefolgenabschätzung Handlungsempfehlungen zur Erreichung der gesellschaftlichen Ziele abzuleiten.
Inter-University Collaboration Centres
Technical innovations shaped modern medicine to a significant extent – and more and more medical sub-disciplines are finding themselves enriched, enhanced and improved by technology and engineering science. It was for this reason that an inter-university collaboration centre was founded between TU Wien and the Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Wien) to cover the field of engineering in medicine (the Vienna Center for Engineering in Medicine – ViCEM).
This collaboration centre intends both to expand and to accelerate this valuable process. This creates a requirement on the one hand to carry out research and teaching at a top international level and on the other hand to secure and extend the universities’ leading scientific role in the national context in the fields of engineering and medicine, as a competent partner for public institutions and for business. In putting this into effect, collaboration partners at TU Wien and at the Medical University of Vienna are able to build on years of tried and tested ad hoc collaboration in research at the level of individual working groups. There also exist valuable teaching partnerships, above all as regards the very successful inter-faculty Masters in Biomedical Engineering at TU Wien, which receives significant support from colleagues at the Medical University.
The added value provided by all of this collaboration derives primarily from the complementary expertise of individual research groups, through whose integration outstanding coverage of the applicable topic is achieved. The central aims of ViCEM in particular are now to integrate and network together the above-mentioned ad hoc collaborative working groups for specific topics drawn from TU Wien and the Medical University of Vienna, and to strengthen internal and external awareness of the numerous joint activities of researchers from TU Wien and the Medical University. This will lead to the identification of new issues at the interface between engineering and medicine and hence to the establishment of new points of contact between the two universities. The Collaboration Centre also sees itself as the principal external open crystallisation point for inter-disciplinary approaches for the whole of Vienna (as a reinforcing aspect of the theme ‘Vienna as centre of the life sciences’) and indeed for the whole of Austria (in conjunction with existing successful organisations such as the Austrian Cluster of Tissue Regeneration and the Austrian Association for Biomedical Engineering). This should further secure and strengthen Vienna’s worldwide reputation as a site for science, engineering and medicine.
Partial differential equations are of fundamental importance to many scientific disciplines. Examples include the development of modern aerofoils and the simulation of nano-technological components such as lasers and quantum transistors. In the life sciences, too, differential equations are playing an ever greater role, for example in the modelling of cell dynamics in tissues, the optimisation of escape routes in public buildings and in the pricing of financial derivatives.
In Vienna in recent years, an enormous expertise in the field of partial differential equations has been built up and the intention is to combine, strengthen and deepen this expertise under the auspices of the Center. Additional aims include the establishment of a point of contact for inter-disciplinary research topics and the provision of support for science events.
The Cooperationcenter CompMat (Computation of Materials) is a platform for common activities in research and teaching at the boundary of two major research activities of the TU Wien: those are Computational Materials Science and Engineering and Materials Science/industrial technologies.
Computational Materials Science is a research field, where the TU Wien is a world leading institution. The research groups involved develop and apply computer codes for designing materials and their properties. Our activities span a vast length scale from quantum mechanical applications on the atomic scale up to computer simulations of industrial materials on a macro scale.
For more information, please visit the website cooperation center CompMat , opens an external URL in a new window