A Year Full of Delights

A Year Full of Delights

Team
In December, I always take the time to sit down and reflect on the past year and on what my team and I have accomplished. As I now sit at my desk and review the past year’s events, I am interrupted by my stomach, which is growling. And on my desk before me is a nicely wrapped bag of mixed Christmas cookies. Every year around this time, local schools, kindergartens, sports clubs, etc. have bake sales to collect money for a good cause. I am always happy to help with such efforts, and so, of course, I bought a package. And here it is right in front of me, while my stomach is growling … Maybe just a peek inside my stomach tells me ... Maybe try a cookie ...…
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A Heartfelt Welcome to our New Colleague Sricharan Sammeta

A Heartfelt Welcome to our New Colleague Sricharan Sammeta

Team
We’re happy to extend a warm welcome to a new addition to our extended team, Sricharan Sammeta, who has just started this September for the Educational Computer Science unit of DIPF and will be working closely with us. Sricharan completed his Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at the Technische Hochschule Rosenheim, where he focused on applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve complex engineering and data-driven challenges. Over the past years, he has worked on projects that involved implementing core machine learning and AI concepts - from deep learning and generative AI to MLOps and multi-agent LLM systems. His work has focused on transforming advanced AI methods into scalable, real-world applications using platforms like AWS and GCP. During his time at DIPF, Sricharan plans to develop AI-powered tools designed…
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A Big Welcome to our New Colleague Hruday Kumar Kolla

A Big Welcome to our New Colleague Hruday Kumar Kolla

Team
We’re delighted to welcome Hruday Kumar Kolla to the Educational Technologies team at DIPF! Hruday joined us this September as an AI Software Developer, working under the guidance of Prof. Hendrik Drachsler. Hruday brings a rich background in artificial intelligence and software development. He completed his Master’s degree at the University of Siegen, where he also conducted his thesis at Bosch, focusing on unsupervised AI for defect detection. Over the past four years in Germany, he has explored a wide range of AI use cases, gaining hands-on experience across industries. Before joining DIPF, Hruday spent over a year at Mercedes-Benz in Sindelfingen as an intern and working student, developing AI-based web applications and working on cloud deployment strategies. Now at DIPF, Hruday is excited to apply his expertise to the…
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A Warm Welcome to our New Colleague Leon Camus

A Warm Welcome to our New Colleague Leon Camus

Team
We happily introduce Leon Camus, who has joined our team this September as a doctoral researcher. Leon’s research journey began during his Bachelor's studies, where he explored short answer grading in educational contexts. He continued this line of work during his Master's in Computer Science at TU Darmstadt, focusing on the implementation and enhancement of short answer grading systems with integrated feedback mechanisms. Throughout his academic career, Leon has gained extensive experience in digital learning environments—designing, extending and applying them in various educational settings. His expertise spans natural language processing, educational technology and automated assessment. Building on his foundation in natural language procesing, his PhD research focuses on automatic annotation of textual data. We look forward to accompanying you on your academic journey and welcome you to the EduTec team!
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Zhifan Sun Joins the Team

Zhifan Sun Joins the Team

Team
We happily announce that Zhifan Sun has joined the EduTec team as a PhD candidate. Zhifan will be working in the ML2MT project (From Machine Learning to Machine Teaching – Making Machines AND Humans Smarter). Zhifan has a Master of Science in speech and language processing from the University of Edinburgh. Before joining our team, he collected further academic experience as a research intern at the UKP Lab of the Technical University of Darmstadt. His research interests include Natural Language Processing (NLP), linguistics and applying NLP to educational technology. We look forward to working with you in the years to come. Welcome, Zhifan!
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Daniele Di Mitri Joins German UDS as Professor of Multimodal Learning Technologies

Daniele Di Mitri Joins German UDS as Professor of Multimodal Learning Technologies

Alumni, Job announcements, Team
As of April 1st, 2025, Daniele Di Mitri has taken on a new position as a Professor in Multimodal Learning Technologies at the German University of Digital Science (German UDS). This newly established private non-profit university, located in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, is dedicated to pioneering digital education. In this role, Daniele will be setting up a new research group focused on multimodal learning technologies and coordinating the new master's program in Advanced Digital Realities. German UDS represents an innovative model in higher education, offering fully digital bachelor's, master's and MBA programs. Every course is delivered online, allowing students from anywhere in the world to access a German education through a flexible, MOOC-like structure that supports self-paced learning. This approach aims to redefine higher education by embracing digital transformation, reducing geographical…
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Job Adverts: 5 Student Assistant Openings in CORE Project

Job Adverts: 5 Student Assistant Openings in CORE Project

Team
In the context of the CORE project we are looking for 5 student assistants to join the EduTec team: 1 student assistant for 10 hours weekly for 6 months with the possibility of extension to help us with the following tasks: Development and testing of hypotheses related to the CORE dataset Datamanagement Support in managing online surveys Applications are possible till May 2nd. For more information, check out the position description on the DIPF website. 4 student assistants for 10 hours weekly for 6 months with the possibility of extension to help us with the following tasks: Development of the existing infrastructure for the CORE project Datamanagement Support in managing online surveys Applications are possible till May 2nd. For more information, check out the position description on the DIPF website.…
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Best Senior Reviewer Award Presented to Hendrik Drachsler

Best Senior Reviewer Award Presented to Hendrik Drachsler

Award, Conference, Team
At the LAK 2025 conference in Dublin, Ireland, Hendrik Drachsler was honored with the Best Senior Reviewer Award. We congratulate Hendrik for this high level of recognition for his outstanding contributions to the scientific peer-reviewing process! The Best Senior Reviewer award is not just a statement of appreciation, it represents a commitment to academic integrity, knowledge exchange and high-quality research. At a time when the peer review process is under increasing pressure, recognizing and valuing reviewers is a crucial step in maintaining the credibility and advance of Learning Analytics as a discipline. Especially in fast-moving fields like Learning Analytics and AI in education there has been a rapid increase of academic publications, which has created a large bottleneck in the peer review process. Many journals and conferences struggle to find…
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A Warm Welcome to Our Guest Researcher Paola Pavone Salafia

A Warm Welcome to Our Guest Researcher Paola Pavone Salafia

Artificial Intelligence, Team
We are pleased to announce that Paola Pavone Salafia, a doctoral researcher from the University of Macerata (UniMC) and the European University of Rome (UER), will be joining us as a guest researcher from 10.03 – 10.06.205. Paola's work focuses on the use of advanced technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), in education to foster inclusive and innovative teaching practices. Her research aligns closely with our ongoing studies on learning disabilities, educational accessibility and teacher agency, particularly in the context of AI-supported teaching methodologies. Paola's research aims to explore how AI can enhance personalized learning for students with special educational needs, as well as investigate the role of AI as a “dual teacher”, which works alongside educators to enrich teaching experiences. Paola will join the HyTea project led by Daniele Di Mitri…
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Saying Farewell to Dana Kube

Saying Farewell to Dana Kube

Team
With one laughing and one crying eye we bis our farewell to Dr. Dana Kube. A crying eye, because after over 6 years of being an integral part of our EduTec team, we must sadly say goodbye. Dana originally started working at DIPF for the German Education Server. We luckily were then able to win her over to our EduTec team to work with us in the AR4STEAM project. Later she contributed with her exceptional project management skills to the IMPACT and ALI projects. Besides her expert collaboration during the various project phases, she supported us with her public relation work at digital conferences and events and her valuable contributions to research transfer initiatives. We will miss not only her meaningful expertise in social science research and educational technologies, but…
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