On 7 March 2024, the CAIS team and companions from academia, politics and administration will celebrate their farewell with a farewell party. Since its foundation in November 2016, Michael Baurmann has established and expanded CAIS as Scientific Director, initially as an independent research college and, since April 2021, as an institute for digitisation research.
Under his leadership, CAIS has established itself as a research institution dedicated to the diverse opportunities and challenges of digital change. Michael Baurmann has played a central role in establishing the centre as an innovative place for interdisciplinary research and social dialogue and in networking it nationally and internationally.
Since its foundation in 2016, the CAIS has enabled visiting academics from all over the world to work on projects on the social, political, economic, media or cultural effects of digitalisation as CAIS Fellows in Bochum. In 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia included CAIS in its institutional funding programme. Since then, Michael Baurmann and his team have developed CAIS into an independent research institute. There are now 65 employees researching and working at CAIS in Bochum.
Michael Baurmann’s tireless commitment to the dialogue between research, business, politics and society has made CAIS an important scientific voice in the debate on the digital future. “The digital transformation is a highly dynamic field for scientific research, characterised by disruptive developments and ever new social opportunities and risks. CAIS aims to meet this challenge by actively contributing the results of problem-oriented scientific research to the public dialogue on a human-centred design of the digital society”, says Prof. Dr Michael Baurmann.
As the new Scientific Director, Prof. Dr Christiane Eilders has been strengthening the management of CAIS since 1 October 2023. Together with the Commercial Director Tim Pfenner and a yet-to-be-filled computer science professorship, she will form the future CAIS Executive Board.
Managing Director Tim Pfenner thanks Michael Baurmann for his commitment and contribution to research in the field of digital society: “Without Michael Baurmann and his dedication, CAIS would not exist. I would like to thank him for seven years of trusting collaboration. His ideas and his pioneering spirit will continue to shape CAIS for a long time to come.”
Programme of the Farewell-event
- Welcome – Dr Christina Reinhardt (Chairwoman of the CAIS Supervisory Board), Prof Dr Christiane Eilders and Tim Pfenner (CAIS Management Board)
- “Courage for the extraordinary – from the idea to the institute” – Thorsten Menne (Ministry of Culture and Science)
- Message of greeting (video) – Nathanel Liminski (Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media and Head of the State Chancellery)
- Greeting – Prof Dr Anja Steinbeck (Rector of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
- “Michael Baurmann at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf: annual rings of a lasting impact” – Prof Dr Gerhard Vowe (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf & CAIS)
- “On trust, digitalisation and steaks” – Dr Christina Reinhardt (Chairwoman of the CAIS Supervisory Board), Prof. Dr Christiane Eilders and Tim Pfenner (CAIS Management Board)
- “Trust and friendship in science – a vote of thanks” – Prof Dr Michael Baurmann
Afterwards we look forward to a get-together with finger food and drinks. The event will be accompanied by music from the Joker Quartet.
The Farewell will take place in the event centre of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (in the immediate vicinity of the canteen behind the Audimax). You can find directions and a map of the campus here.
About the CAIS
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been funding the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in Bochum as a central institute for digitisation research on a long-term basis since April 2021. By proposing evidence-based solutions, CAIS contributes to shaping digital change in the interests of people. CAIS was founded as a research college at the beginning of 2017 and has been awarding fellowships to national and international guest researchers in the field of digitalisation research ever since. The first research programme “Digital Democratic Innovations” was launched in October 2021, and the second research programme “Educational Technologies and Artificial Intelligence” has been running since mid-2022. In April 2024, the third research programme “Design of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence” will begin its work. The research programmes interlink the disciplines from social sciences and humanities to computer science and test research results in practice.