The tourism industry has suffered greatly in recent years from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Now creative solutions are needed to strengthen the industry and breathe new life into it. At the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI), students are therefore working on innovations in health and wellness tourism together with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). The kick-off was a Design Thinking Challenge with students from both universities. The resulting tourism innovations were presented at a final event on 12 May at the Pfarrkirchen campus.

For the two-and-a-half-day kick-off of the cooperation, ECRI students from Health & Medical Tourism met students from Business Administration with a focus on Tourism from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Oberstorf at the beginning of April. The aim was to develop innovations in health and wellness tourism in small teams in a design thinking challenge. For this purpose, the students were mixed into eleven groups, so that students from Pfarrkirchen worked together with students from Lucerne.

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Georg Christian Steckenbauer and Prof. Dr. Marcus Herntrei on the ECRI side and Prof. Roland Lymann and Lisa Fickel of the HSLU, the students first gained insight into market and trend analyses. These formed the basis for the work in the groups. During the Design Thinking Challenge, the teams were to develop innovative ideas from which the tourism industry can benefit. Creativity and knowledge were in demand. Already during the kick-off, ideas emerged from areas such as improving the quality of sleep, nutrition and well-being, emotional health as well as gamification for fitness.

In joint lectures, the ideas and innovations were expanded by students from both universities. In the end, prototypes were to be developed from the creative proposals. At the final presentation, the groups presented these together with their concepts and presented the work of the past weeks to the professors from Pfarrkirchen and Lucerne. In the final step, the prototypes including concepts will be submitted by the students to the "Shark Tank of Wellness Student Competition". This is a global competition for students. Of the international submissions, three teams will be shortlisted and invited to the "Global Wellness Summit". This will take place in Tel Aviv in November. There, the finalists will be allowed to present their innovations to the investors, the so-called Wellness Sharks.

On Thursday, 5 May, the Impact of Diversity Award was presented at the DRIVE. Volkswagen Group Forum in Berlin. The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) made it into the top 3 in the University Award category with its project "In 80 Nations around the World", beating off numerous competitors.

With the submitted project, the university portrays students and employees from a total of 80 nations who study and work at the international European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen. Special emphasis is placed on celebrating similarities and learning to love differences. This not only demonstrates the diversity of ECRI, but also actively shapes interculturality and internationality in the region. The university is supported in this by the Rottal-Inn District Office.

In addition to DIT, the Anti-Discrimination Office of the University of Marburg made it to the finals in the University Award category. The winner was the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Representatives at Bavarian Universities (LaKoF) with its Bavaria-wide project "Become a female Professor".

A total of over 200 submissions were received for the Impact of Diversity Award. In the first step, the public voting, over 50,000 people took part. Afterwards, 48 jurors from science, business, associations and initiatives selected the winners. The Impact of Diversity Award is presented to 14 award winners who have made outstanding contributions to the topics of diversity and inclusion.

Artificial intelligence - how deep is it already in our lives? Professor Dr. Patrick Glauner will explore this question in the first "Science Hour" at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT). The Science Hour is a new offer at DIT. All interested listeners are invited to come to the university, listen and discuss. The first edition will take place on Wednesday, 18 May at 6 pm at the campus in Deggendorf and simultaneously online.

For the premiere, Prof. Glauner will be answering questions on the topic of artificial intelligence. The AI specialist is known in his field far beyond Lower Bavaria. He has advised the German Bundestag, the French National Assembly and the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies as an expert on political issues relating to AI. The renowned Chief Data Officer Magazine lists Glauner as one of only three Germans on its internationally recognised list of experts in data science. In his lecture at the Science Hour, he will show what AI actually is and where it already has an impact on all of our lives. The various research approaches at DIT will be discussed, as well as the countless career prospects offered by this field. A special treat for the first Science Hour: After the lecture, anyone who wants to can visit the DIT's Deep Learning Lab in Degg's.

 "With the Science Hour we are addressing all citizens in and around Deggendorf. We welcome them to the university and create the unique opportunity to experience DIT up close. This way, anyone interested can get an insight into what it's like at the university and what topics our professors deal with," Angelika Hable from DIT's MINT team advertises the new offer. She is particularly looking forward to the lively discussions that arise when people of all ages question a topic.

The Science Hour is organised by the MINT Team of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology. The event is free of charge, registration is not required. The Science Hour will take place in lecture hall B.004 at the DIT. If you would like to join online, you can find the link at www.th-deg.de/sciencehour.