Science Senator Katharina Fegebank and TU President Prof. Andreas Timm-Giel presented a new project for the digitization of university teaching at the HAMBURG INNOVATION PORT today, for which TU Hamburg is receiving funding of around 2 million euros. In this project, freely available digital teaching content will be developed on the topic of sustainability – including algae biotechnology processes, which will be tested in an on-site research facility.
With the competition “Strengthening university teaching through digitization”, the Innovation in University Teaching Foundation had called on universities throughout Germany to submit relevant projects and apply for funding. Out of a total of 264 applications, four projects from Hamburg were successful, including the project “Open T-Shape for Sustainable Development” – a joint project of the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), HafenCity University (HCU) and Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU). It was initiated by Prof. Sönke Knutzen, head of the Institute for Technical Education and University Didactics at the TUHH.
The aim of the project is to provide students, but also interested parties outside of universities, with the opportunity to further educate themselves on topics such as the environment, climate and sustainability via online content. The freely accessible and openly licensed educational content is to be based on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and can be created and used across universities. The partners in the joint project are coordinating both the technical design and the concept for the media and technical implementation of the digital learning offerings. These are then available to the public digitally on the HOOU education platform.
One of the research topics that is being prepared with teaching content as part of “Open T-Shape for Sustainable Development” is a project on algae biotechnology by the TU Institute for Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, which operates laboratories in the HAMBURG INNOVATION PORT. Here, Leonard Francke, Sarah Löhn and Dr. Nils Wieczorek are conducting research in the Bioresources field on the cultivation of algae using a floating microalgae reactor they installed in the channel behind the building. The potential uses of the harvested algae are many, for example in the form of sustainable and healthy feed for fish in aquacultures. Another possibility is the extraction of bio-based color pigments for the food industry or the chemical industry.
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Source: TUHH