Retrospective
Retreat of the Research and Transfer Committee with Professors and Colleagues Interested in Research
On the 13th of February 2026, the research and transfer professors and colleagues interested in research met for this year's closed meeting of the Research and Transfer Committee.
This year's closed meeting of the Research and Transfer Committee was opened by Prof Dr Peter Heisig in his role as Vice-President for Research and Transfer.
Prof Dr Frank Heidmann and Prof Dr Tobias Schröder then gave short presentations on the topic "Turning point in research". The focus was on current threat scenarios, ethical dilemmas and the question of how universities can position themselves and assume social responsibility in an increasingly fragile world. Prof Schröder focused on the topics of knowledge security and cyber security. He would like to see university members adopt a sensitive attitude towards these issues and threats and used current examples to illustrate the need to embed aspects of resilience and security in research and teaching. Prof Heidmann then broadened the focus to include geopolitical dynamics, ethical dilemmas and social responsibility. University of Applied Sciences Potsdam projects such as MOSIDI (merging open and proprietary data, e.g. on flood risk areas) or DIGENTI (digital decision table for disaster management) show how research can develop practical solutions for social crises, but also that many technologies can have both a civilian and a potentially military benefit (not intended by the researchers). The two contributions led to a broad discussion on value-based research and the dependence on funding.
In further thematic blocks, the group discussed its stance on the topic of "disciplinary versus inter- and transdisciplinary research" (tenor: understand basic research to applied research as a continuum, all forms are necessary and cross-fertilise each other) and what conditions are needed so that those interested in research and transfer can exchange ideas even better (e.g. low-threshold exchange formats, physical proximity of projects).
This was followed by an insightful and productive exchange in small groups on the "4 Ds" of decarbonisation, digitalisation, demography and dual-use, from which initial joint project ideas emerged.
The closed meeting was documented with the help of graphic recordings by designer Anna Albert.
