iLab Success Story Continues

One of our incoming students referred to the iLab (Interdisciplinary Lab) as “a brilliant idea” when it was introduced at the St. Pölten UAS in the winter semester 2018/19. Both international and Austrian students have since appreciated it as an innovative elective module that is unique in the German-speaking area – the (international) interest is unbroken.

Obviously, we are thrilled! In the winter semester 2020/21, we are lucky to welcome 18 students to the iLab, among them seven incoming students from France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Estonia. When it comes to our own university, students enrolled in Media Technology, Social Work, Data Science and Business Analytics, Media Management and Digital Design have opted for the programme.

This means that the third time around, the iLab not only lives up to its claim of diversity in terms of culture and language but also features a high degree of interdisciplinarity once again.

A Well-Received Idea

The iLab is in high demand. The high quality of the concept is reflected in the students’ excellent work throughout the semester as well as its unbroken popularity. Furthermore, distinctions such as the recently awarded “Ars Docendi” prove the future-oriented character of this new form of teaching and learning.

What is particularly gratifying is that the iLab has now gained further momentum with the E³UDRES² project that features the St. Pölten UAS as the only Austrian university hosting a European University. “The first direct consequence is that we can now offer the iLab not only in the winter semester but also in the summer semester from 2021”, says a happy Alois Frotschnig, Chairperson of the UAS Board and initiator of the iLab.

• Read more about the European University in our news: St. Pölten UAS becomes a European University.

NEW: Participate in the iLab in the summer semester as well

• The application period starts now.
• Click here for detailed information on the iLab at the St. Pölten UAS.

We are looking forward to hearing from you and receiving your application!

A Successful Start to the Winter Semester

Despite the coronavirus and in compliance with the currently valid hygiene regulations, a total of 18 students were able to start their iLab winter semester on site in St. Pölten on 2 September 2020. “The three workshop days at the beginning of the semester form the basis of our collaboration, both at the social and content levels”, explain Kerstin Blumenstein and Katharina Auer-Voigtländer who, as lab masters, accompany the students during their iLab semester and offer them assistance.

First meeting of iLab students at the beginning of the semester | Copyright: Katharina Auer-Voigtländer

A sense of community and team spirit are essential for the success of the project work as well as the participants’ personal development. “The outdoor team training at the Viehofner Lake in mid-September served to further strengthen the ties in the iLab team”, the lab masters emphasise.

In addition to the project goals, the students’ personal further development and the promotion of intercultural exchange play an important role in the iLab.

Unique Learning Environment

In the next couple of months, the students will address current social challenges from an interdisciplinary point of view, thereby gaining a broader perspective of the specialist discipline underlying their studies. The focus is not only on the successful completion of the individual projects but especially on the acquisition and honing of professional and interdisciplinary competencies.

So-called “decision gates” ensure that only the most promising ideas make it to the next project phase which has the project teams work intensively on exactly these ideas throughout the rest of the semester.

An initial eight socially relevant problems were narrowed down to six in Gate 1 on 22 September when the first partial results were presented to a jury of four. The students are now working on the remaining six projects and will introduce their proposed solutions in Gate 2 on 20 October.

We wish the teams a very successful semester!