Millions in funding to improve computer science teaching in schools

Thanks to funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation, a doctoral programme in computer science education – the only one of its kind in Germany – is being established across six university sites in five federal states. The aim is to strengthen research, professional development and supra-al networking in computer science education in the long term, thereby addressing the shortage of teachers in schools and enhancing computer science teaching across the country. The programme’s deputy director is Associate Professor Dr Michael Rücker from Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

On Monday, 21 September, the »CZS KID – College for Computer Science Education« was officially launched in Berlin; it is funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation with twelve million euros. It is the largest private initiative for computer science education in Germany to date. This doctoral programme focuses on research into the development of computer science skills in school education. It is being run in collaboration with the Heidelberg Institution of Higher Education, the University of Heidelberg, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, the University of Koblenz, the University of Paderborn, the University of Münster and the German Computer Science Society. The German Computer Science Society is responsible for its management.

The aim of the programme is to establish research into computer science education. Together, the partners aim to inspire young researchers to take an interest in computer science education and to strengthen the discipline and its associated community throughout Germany.

Dr Felix Streiter, Managing Director of the Carl Zeiss Foundation: »Computer science education has never been as important as it is today: it plays a crucial role in Germany’s economic performance and is, at the same time, the key to social participation for everyone in our increasingly digitalised world. New approaches are needed to teach such complex and rapidly evolving subject matter in a way that is relevant to today’s world. With the new research group, we aim to help ensure that there are enough well-qualified computer science teachers in the future.«

Anna Sarah Lieckfeld, Managing Director of CZS KID: »Many federal states have now made Computer Science a compulsory subject. This is an important step, but there is a nationwide shortage of teachers to deliver the subject comprehensively and to an adequate standard. To train the computer science teachers of tomorrow, we also need a sufficient number of qualified researchers and lecturers. This is where our teacher training programme comes in, and we are deliberately collaborating across state borders and disciplines within computer science education.«

Doctoral candidates at the CZS KID receive training that encompasses both depth and breadth of subject knowledge. The research group enables them to engage in extensive exchange across different locations and provides them with the necessary freedom to develop and pursue their own ideas and research approaches, and to build up their individual expertise. To ensure that the results of their research are firmly embedded in society in the long term, there is a particular focus on science communication and knowledge transfer.

About the Carl Zeiss Foundation

The Carl Zeiss Foundation promotes science and teaching in the STEM disciplines: Mathematics, Computer Science, natural sciences and technology. As a partner in scientific excellence, it provides the freedom for both basic and applied research. The Foundation was established in Jena in 1889 by Ernst Abbe and is today one of the largest private foundations supporting science in Germany. It is the sole owner of Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG. Its funding activities are financed from the dividend payments of the two foundation-owned companies.

About the German Computer Science Society (GI)

The German Informatics Society (Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V., GI) is the largest professional association for Computer Science in the German-speaking world. Since 1969, it has represented the interests of computer scientists in academia, society and politics, and has championed digitalisation for the common good. With 14 departments, over 30 active regional groups and countless specialist sections, the GI serves as a platform and voice for all disciplines within Computer Science. The GI has adopted Ethical Guidelines which serve as a guide for its members. Further information can be found at www.gi.deExternal link