News

From March 5th to 6th, members of the University Research Focus Education for the Future came together in Wandlitz for a two-day retreat dedicated to collaboration, exchange, and focused work. Combining research inputs with several interactive working sessions, the retreat provided valuable momentum for advancing the project and kicking-off new collaborations.

An initial pitch session highlighted the wide range of ideas and collaborations already emerging within the group. In particular, the interdisciplinary nature of the University Research Focus became evident, with researchers from different fields contributing diverse perspectives on digital media use and its effects on adolescents and young adults.

The program was complemented by inspiring inputs on topics such as fake news, hate speech, algorithms, and chatbots by Prof. Dr. Roland Verwiebe and Prof. Dr. Stefan Stieglitz, as well as a presentation of the PhoneStudy app by Dr. Yannick Terhorst from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, which enables the collection of smartphone usage data in a data protection–compliant way. Beyond the sessions, time spent outdoors in the surrounding forest offered space to reflect and recharge. We look forward to taking the next steps together.

A new year brings fresh energy to the University Research Focus “Education for the Future”. At the beginning of the year, project members gathered on the Golm campus for a day-long workshop to map out the next steps for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The session began with an opportunity for participants to get to know each other and identify overlapping and complementary research interests. Building on this, they worked in small groups to develop initial research questions and project ideas based on their respective expertise.

To establish a shared foundation for future work, the group also discussed a preliminary model outlining the relationships between individual and contextual factors, digital media use, and its effects.

Overall, the meeting laid important groundwork for the months ahead, and we look forward to the developments that 2026 will bring.