Doctoral studies at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL)

Jelena Bleja(Opens in a new tab) , Daniel Heß(Opens in a new tab) , Nargiza Mikhridinova(Opens in a new tab)  and Jonas Sorgalla(Opens in a new tab) , doctoral students and research assistants at Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL), talk in an interview about doing a doctorate with and at the institute. A total of 25 doctoral students from Fachhochschule Dortmund are currently involved in cooperative doctoral procedures with partner universities at IDiAL. In the interview, the four doctoral students give an insight into the institute and its working methods.

IDiAL is short for "Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains". At first glance, digitalization is a term that is well known and yet difficult to grasp, because it describes much more than just decent cell phone reception in rural areas and sensible digital infrastructure, for example in federal, state and local government administration. The name of the institute stands for a broad application domain that has set itself the goal of simplifying and improving working and living environments with the help of technology. According to Jonas Sorgalla, the challenge here is that many different disciplines and areas of application have to be brought together. However, it quickly becomes clear that this is also an opportunity, as the projects are extremely diverse and researchers can move between disciplines.

The research projects at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) go far beyond what is commonly understood by digitization - i.e. converting an analogue process into a digital one. Daniel Heß explains this using an understandable example: if you wanted to digitize a vacuum cleaner, the result would be a robot vacuum cleaner. Research at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) goes beyond this. Here, the digitized vacuum cleaner could be integrated into a larger system in which it is assigned various tasks instead of cleaning the home as its only application. For example, the vacuum cleaner could detect deviations in the rhythm of the person living in the home in question and decide to have these deviations checked by a doctor or another responsible person.

The focus here is on digital transformation as a far-reaching process that affects society as a whole. Designing digital processes and integrating them into a system is only one part of the big picture. According to Nargiza Mikhridinova, other parts include ensuring that people can handle it. This is less about the technology and more about the effects of the technology developed.

In this broad application domain, the digitalization of working and living environments, different disciplines are brought together. This is also reflected in the hardware applications developed: while some projects also deal with hardware concepts, the focus is almost always on the overall system - i.e. the combination of hardware and software. Just as important in these research projects, which encompass the whole of society, are doctoral students who are at home in project management and business informatics, for example. The key to being able to penetrate complex and application-oriented research projects lies in the interlinking of the individual disciplines. The researchers work together in an international research community. There is a lively exchange between doctoral students from different research institutions, with researchers from Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) abroad being integrated into research groups, but also researchers from other institutions working at Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL).

Nargiza Mikhridinova describes: "Our large network is EuroPIM - European Partnership for Project and Innovation Management. And there are two parts to it, project and innovation management. Different disciplines and areas can come together and conduct research."

"Many professors and IDiAL staff are closely associated with the Master's in Digital Transformation. This is an international Master's study program that was initiated by the professors at IDiAL and which we can then use very well for our research work, because digital transformation is precisely the topic of IDiAL," adds Jonas Sorgalla.

The Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) also gives doctoral students the opportunity to gain their first teaching experience with the linked study programs and in summer and winter schools. This also trains young academics who may go on to conduct research at the institute in the future. One way to achieve this is to apply for advertised doctoral positions. However, future doctoral candidates often already work as student or research assistants at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) during their Bachelor's and Master's studies. By working with doctoral candidates on research projects, you get to know the working methods and can then start your doctorate at IDiAL fully aware of all the hard and soft facts.

The Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) is exceptionally well equipped with hardware thanks to the robotics laboratory. There are several robots there that come together from various research projects and then remain there for use by doctoral students. "The existing robots are often prototypes that can continue to be used after the end of projects and would otherwise be difficult to finance," explains Daniel Heß. Another robotics lab is located in Sonnenstraße, but is involved in teaching and is therefore not permanently available. With a few exceptions, the laboratory at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) is always available and can be used for research projects. These are mostly interdisciplinary and all attempt to answer the following questions about the future: How will we digitize our working and living environments in the future beyond simply replacing analogue processes with digital ones? How do we see our working methods and the world we live in in the future? At the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL), work is carried out in a mixture of basic and strongly application-oriented research, always with the aim of having designed a functioning, usable tool at the end of a research project. Such a tool does not necessarily have to be a piece of hardware. Part of this research is, for example, the question of new strategies in project management and research into the usability of designed products or applications. What incentives can be created for the end user to use a new tool so that the innovative power of these future issues does not fizzle out due to lack of use?

According to Jelena Bleja, the exchange and mutual learning in interdisciplinary, national and international research groups are the great added value of the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL).

In addition to a good infrastructure and exceptionally good hardware and software equipment, the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) also has the advantage that there is an unusually strong exchange between researchers. In addition to official formats, such as a doctoral student seminar, in which doctoral students present their topics and research work and actively exchange ideas about methods, exchange often takes place in personal contact. Due to the physical proximity between the offices and the individual doctoral candidates, informal exchange among the staff of the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) is common practice. This is a decisive difference to large faculties, where offices may be further apart or where a larger number of different groups of people study, research and teach.

In addition to the exchange on research issues among doctoral students, there is also a lively international exchange: Nargiza Mikhridinova makes it clear that researchers at the institute not only come from other countries, but also from other cultural backgrounds and may therefore also bring a different horizon of experience with them, which can be enriching for joint research work.

However, it is not only questions of research and work that play a role at IDiAL. Friendships develop among the doctoral students. In addition to working friendships, contacts are also formed that go beyond a preference for robots or project management.

IDiAL is well networked in the region. In addition to its integration into Ruhrvalley, a research and innovation network of three universities in the Ruhr region, it also has very close links with the local authorities. Some of the doctoral students at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) give lectures at scientific conferences in the city of Dortmund, as Jonas Sorgalla did last year. There are also numerous links to other colleges and universities. For example, with the university in Odense (Denmark), where a working group is working on a topic that overlaps with a research topic at the Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL). An intensive exchange then takes place there, including with doctoral students in the early stages of their doctorate, or for students who can network at other universities at an early stage.

Jelena Bleja also sees the strong regional, national and international network as helpful when it comes to choosing a supervisor for her own doctorate, but also later on in the doctorate when it comes to finding partners for research projects and collaborations. This not only means networking with other universities and colleges, but also contacts with Business Studies and various companies that can be brought on board for the realization of research or development projects. This results in a lively exchange of ideas, where feedback can be obtained and implemented very quickly. At the same time, IDiAL remains part of Fachhochschule Dortmund and is also integrated into its infrastructure. This ensures a high degree of independence against the backdrop of the strong shoulders of Fachhochschule Dortmund.

The Institute for the Digital Transformation of Application and Living Domains (IDiAL) is also financially and scientifically secure. With current third-party funding of around 3.3 million euros and acquired third-party funding of around 2.2 million euros (2021), the institute has almost 50 percent of the annual third-party funding available at Fachhochschule Dortmund. This immense sum offers the institute the opportunity to conduct extraordinary research in the field of digitization. A total of 25 doctoral students work together with numerous research assistants and professors on many different research projects and publish a considerable number of publications each year. IDiAL is also constantly growing and expanding its already strong university network and partnerships.