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Future project: Promote sustainability in education and research!
The KU Ingolstadt is launching a new doctoral college to shape the future with a focus on people, digitalization and sustainability. Applications until September 15, 2025.
Future project: Promote sustainability in education and research!
Today, on June 14, 2025, the church universities in Bavaria launched a new doctoral college with the title “Actively shaping the future – focusing on people”. Jointly supported by the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU), the Catholic Foundation University of Munich, the Munich University of Philosophy and the Evangelical University of Nuremberg, the college aims to promote science and research for the living and working world of tomorrow.
Support comes from the Hanns Seidel Foundation, both non-material and financial, and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space. Socially committed young scientists can now apply for doctoral scholarships. The application deadline is September 15, 2025, while the program start is scheduled for April 2026.
Research focus and topics
The doctoral college has a wide range of topics, including digitalization, sustainability, demographic change and geopolitical challenges. The aim is to create an interdisciplinary forum that promotes creative research approaches and combines theory with practice.
Research questions that the college would like to address include the connection between social criticism, politics, progress and future viability. In addition, necessary skills for a humane living and working environment as well as approaches to reducing social inequalities and discrimination are examined. Another focus is on the role of education, society, economy and politics in transformation processes.
Key areas of research
The thematic focus of the college is divided into different areas:
- Digitale Transformationen
- Nachhaltige Lebens- und Arbeitsmodelle
- Innovationen in der Bildung
- Soziale Gerechtigkeit, Frieden, Demokratie
The target group of the college are graduates of social sciences, humanities, cultural sciences, education and health sciences. A particularly supportive supervision model involves supervision by a tandem of two professors from the cooperating universities.
Sustainability in the education system
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) sees sustainability as a central theme in the education system. This perspective extends from early childhood support to university research. The BMBF relies on programs to integrate sustainability into all levels of education.
In higher education, the aim is to support sustainable research and interdisciplinary courses. In addition, training regulations in vocational training are being revised to anchor sustainability aspects. The focus is also on the development of sustainable apprenticeships and practical qualification offers.
By integrating sustainability into curricula and training offerings, the BMBF creates synergies between states, municipalities and external partners. This is intended to strengthen the participation and responsibility of learners and teachers and promote a long-term change in values in society. Innovative projects, such as the Green Economy learning venues or digital ESD platforms, already offer practical solutions to promote sustainable ways of thinking and acting.
With this initiative, the universities in Bavaria, in collaboration with the BMBF, demonstrate a strong commitment to the challenges of the future. The doctoral college is an exemplary model for interdisciplinary research that not only sets academic standards, but also responds directly to the social and ecological demands of our time.
For further information about the doctoral college and how to apply, please visit the website Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Information about sustainability initiatives in education can be found at sustainability-economics.de and contribute to digitalization in research tu.wien.at.