Fourth Interfaculty Research Day on September 24, 2026

Dear colleagues, dear students,
dear university community,

After three very well-attended and inspiring events, the University-wide Research Day will take place for the fourth time this year on Thursday, September 24, 2026. We would like to share an exciting day with you all and facilitate scientific exchange between the faculties, departments and WittenLab.

AI is increasingly permeating our lives and our research. On the one hand, this enables innovative approaches, completely new ideas, some things are becoming simpler - and on the other hand, many things are becoming more complex and occasionally less transparent. In research in particular, questions of originality and integrity need to be asked and answered anew. This determines the research output, scientific theses such as doctorates and habilitations, and has created a different publication culture. Unfortunately, in addition to efficiency gains and new research opportunities, there are also negative effects. Submissions to scientific journals have increased by 30% in some cases following the introduction of AI, and at the same time, editors are increasingly reporting AI-generated reviews. Taken together, there is a risk that we will increasingly delegate science to AI in an environment dominated by "publish or perish" and jeopardize the reputation of science as such. Guidelines such as "Good Scientific Practice", which is also relevant for university students, play a special role in countering this development. Beyond the boundaries of individual disciplines, we want to address the topic of "scientific integrity" from a wide variety of perspectives in workshops .

Above all, however, the Research Day thrives on the exchange of information about current research projects. For the first time, individual researchers will present their projects in short videos. As in previous years, everyone will have the opportunity to present their results to the entire university in order to receive feedback, find new cooperation partners - or perhaps also to practise presenting in a collegial and constructive environment. As with previous Research Days, there will be prizes for the best posters and science slams!

If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, we look forward to receiving your abstract, in which you briefly describe a research project you would like to present. A scientific committee will select which of the submitted abstracts can be presented as a poster and which can be presented orally. In addition to scientific precision, please note that your abstract and your presentation should also be comprehensible across faculties and disciplines in order to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange. Abstracts that are of high scientific quality AND generally understandable will receive a higher rating from the reviewers!

Please take advantage of this opportunity for university-wide exchange and submit a structured abstract on current projects with concrete results by 23.07.2026 at the latest.

For submission and for further details on the structure of the abstract, please use the attached Word file and send the abstract as a PDF to TdF@spam protectuni-wh.de. Selected submissions will receive special recognition, e.g. by being selected for an oral presentation or rewarded with a prize.

We look forward to your exciting topics!

Yours

Prof. Dr. Petra Thürmann
Vice President for Research