About the network

On the one hand, we focus on the use of information and communication technologies in the context of various sciences, and on the other hand on the necessity of taking the "human factor" into account in the development and implementation of ICT products and services.

Technical developments have revolutionized the search for and processing of information in recent decades. In almost all areas of life, human activities and processes have been shifted to virtual spaces. The availability of enormous amounts of data of all kinds, the representation of human culture in binary formalizations and the use of data in a wide variety of ways are leading to far-reaching changes in our social and individual lives.

Boundaries are being crossed, new opportunities opened up, but uncertainty and risks are also being increased. We are only at the beginning of these comprehensive and, in part, disruptive and unpredictable changes.

The network's efforts are aimed at strengthening interdisciplinary cooperation in three key areas:

Events: Networking with the (inter)national scientific community, workshops (expert panels; internal, national and international), symposia and the invitation and hosting of external guests.
Teaching: Joint teaching activities within the framework of existing curricula (especially at doctoral level) and the establishment and expansion of an HFDT junior research group.
Research projects: Participation in (inter)national competitive calls for projects and implementation of interdisciplinary research projects.

©Uni Graz/HFDT

Mission statement (full version)

Chair:

©Uni Graz/Staudegger

Barbara Reiter

At the HFDT, I am fascinated by the diversity of our discussions and questions about the digital transformation of academic work in particular and social change in general. It is no longer a question of purely technical-technological issues; rather, we must increasingly and repeatedly ask how we can and want to deal with digitalization. Only an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach can do justice to the complexity of this topic - and this is precisely what I see being realized in our network.

In teaching and research, in addition to questions of digitalization, I am also concerned with the classic questions of philosophy: how should I live? What is a good life?, but also feminism, didactics, humanization, education, aesthetics, film, chance and serendipity.