Research

Media and the Public Sphere

This research area draws upon the social sciences and humanities perspectives within communication and media research in Germany. It examines the recursive relationship between (media-mediated) communication, (mass and social) media, and society — with particular attention to processes of change (mediatisation, digitalisation). Elements of the communication process (e.g., communicator, medium, message, reception, appropriation, effect) are analyzed within organizational and public communication on the micro, meso, and macro levels.

Media Culture and Media Education

This research area conceives the human being as a communicative entity that interacts directly and through media, thereby participating in culture and society in multiple ways. The underlying concept of media ranges from primary media to digital “quaternary” media, reflecting a broad understanding that integrates perspectives from educational science, social and school pedagogy, and media and communication studies. Media are thus not only instruments of communication but also systems that enable and prefigure understanding itself.

Research focuses on how social and cultural participation, learning, and educational opportunities are linked to media interactions in an increasingly digital society — how forms of expression and learning change, how new social inequalities and discriminations emerge in dealing with media, and what new ethical questions arise in this context.

Aesthetics and Communication

This research area addresses artistic, design-related, and media-communicative phenomena of contemporary culture — particularly in relation to linguistic expression, the cultural technique of writing, auditory elements, (moving) images, and their intermodal interplay. Fields of study include artistic and creative productions, broadly defined to encompass popular culture, digital media, and the interconnectedness of environment, technology, and human experience.

Digital and media transformations are analyzed as complex societal, economic, cultural, and systemic processes, linked both to aesthetic experiences and to design dimensions. Accordingly, the latest developments in media technology and media design play a key role, as they are compared with emerging social practices whose aesthetically informed implications are explored by the researchers.

Digital Society

The ‘Digital Society’ research area focuses on the design, acceptance, and impact assessment of digital transformation. Over the past decade, digitalisation has influenced and reshaped nearly all technical systems and services, transforming artifacts (products, services, communication media), entire industries, and social life as a whole. This transformation entails disruptive changes that must be analyzed, evaluated, and actively shaped. It cannot be understood or managed solely from a technical perspective; instead, it requires an interdisciplinary approach within the framework of socio-technical systems — one that explains, predicts, and designs processes to ensure long-term success.

Human-Machine Interaction

In the ‘Human–Machine Interaction’ research area, systems are conceived, designed, technically developed, and evaluated from the user’s perspective in an interdisciplinary context.

While classical research focuses on the usability of interactive systems — from desktop computers and mobile devices to complex machinery — newer approaches also address user experience and the long-term psychological and social effects of technology.

The interaction and cooperation between humans and intelligent technical systems across diverse application fields represent a highly dynamic research area, often involving substantial technical and experimental components.