Author: advo

The University of Bremen in Germany starts the 28th Informatica Feminale – the International Summer University for Women in Computing. It will be on place in Bremen from August 20 to September 4, 2025. Computer scientists from academia or industry and women working inter-disciplinarily in the field are cordially invited to develop and submit course offers for the summer university 2025.

Course offers can be submitted until February 10, 2025.
> Download Call for Contributions (pdf)

We invite interested lecturers to two online info meetings: on Tuesday, 21 January 2025 from 7:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, 22 January 2025 from 12:00 a.m. (both German time). The Zoom link will be mailed after your registration at ifis-summerschools@uni-bremen.de.

Topics from the broad field of Computer Science, ICT, and Informatics (theoretical, practical, technical or applied computing) are welcome.

The Informatica Feminale is an open, explorative teaching and learning environment. Topics such as entering higher education, developing a student career, transition into labor market and lifelong academic learning are addressed. Courses on elementary skills are in demand from undergraduate students. Combinations of theory and practical units – including excerpts to deepen regular courses – are of great interest. Special topics from all areas are also particularly welcome. Courses to strengthen the social skills of female students are also included.

Inter/national lecturers and students meet at the Informatica Feminale in Bremen to exchange and to use the summer universities as a place for experimentation, with the intention to develop and imply new impulses in computer science and informatics. The summer university is aiming at the professional networking of students and the advanced training for computer scientists on an academic level.

Lecturers could take the summer university as a test field for new teaching formats, to integrate topics such as sustainability into their computer science courses and to get experience with highly engaged and interested participants. Furthermore, a special training program for lecturers will be arranged. The Informatica Feminale is part of the regular course program at the University of Bremen. Teaching assignments can be given to lecturers.

The women’s network Informatica Feminale and its sister Ingenieurinnen-Sommeruni are a place to exchange about technical and social developments, which we meet in our every-day life and which are designed by ourselves as technical experts. Proposals from the field of computer science and its interdisciplinary subjects are welcome.

An important topic will be digital sustainability with focus on ecological and social impacts of digital technologies. Desired courses could address for example protection of natural resources and optimization within ICT systems and infrastructures, green coding, energy efficiency, recycling and circular economy, regulations and standardization, human rights and labor law in production processes, participatory design, development and consumption of ICT products or services that better serve the common good. We also welcome offers that teach basics about the sustainability goals of the agendas 2030 in UN and EU as well as about the cross-sectional dimension of gender equality.

We especially invite teaching offers, which deal with applications of technical know-how in areas of life and work (for example within care, education, health, food, household, mobility, social networking, publicity, sports, militarization, etc.) from feminist perspectives. Submissions on topics such as gender, equality, technology and ethics are highly welcome.

A program committee will decide on the contributions. We particularly encourage international lecturers to apply. Course languages are German and English.

Companies with gender sensible organizational concepts and successful personal management strategies to promote women engineers to a broad spectrum of leading positions are invited to present their best practices to the participants of the Informatica Feminale. There will be various chances to meet graduates of computer science and engineering at both the parallel summer universities Informatica Feminale and Ingenieurinnen-Sommeruni. Concurrently, we are offering multiple possibilities for sponsorship.

Please forward this Call for Contributions to interested colleagues, co-workers and students.

Hint:
In parallel to the Informatica Feminale, we will organize the Ingenieurinnen-Sommeruni, the Summer University for Women in Engineering. Your are invited to submit your course also there.
>Call for Contributions for the Ingenieurinnen-Sommeruni.

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• Women professors who are looking for motivated students to experiment with new concepts of teaching
• Women researchers who prepare independent courses and would like to teach in a pleasant atmosphere
• Women practitioners who would like to share their work experiences or to gain teaching experience for a university career
• Women researchers and practitioners from different fields who deal interdisciplinarily with computer science
• Students who would like to offer subject-specific discussions of experience
• Experts offering orientation for students being in the course of their studies or preparing for the transition to working life.

Interested lecturers who apply for the first time for the Informatica Feminale in Bremen should give a short overview of their professional background. Furthermore, we ask for some personal information in the course submission form, which might be used for advertising the summer university in the program on the website.

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Please send us your teaching offer via our course submission forms. Submission deadline: February 10, 2025

TEACHING only on Campus

Following the situation in January 2025, we are planning the Summer University on place in Bremen. We do not look for offers for online courses . We welcome multi-day offers or (only on one Saturday) one-day workshops. All teaching will be on campus in the rooms of the University of Bremen.

Before filling in the form, please read our information concerning
– planning,
– teaching methods and course types,
– participants,
– teaching times,
– requirements and
– teaching assignment
carefully.

TEACHING LANGUAGES

In 2025 we wish again to gain the interest of international participants with courses in English and in German. More languages combined with these are welcome, too. You can offer your teaching only in German or only in English or combine these with other languages.

If you want to teach your course mostly in German, please use our
> submission form in German language.

If you want to teach your course mostly in English, please use our
> submission form in English language.

Other languages can be integrated in both of these forms.

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What you need to know about planning your course offer

On the following pages we would like to outline the general conditions for teaching at the Informatica Feminale and to give you advice on submitting a course. You can also find this information in the submission form for course offers.

The most important facts, to develop a course offer, are summarized in a planning guide. We recommend all lecturers to read it as well as our schedule with fixed teaching blocks before applying.

For questions and further information please contact:

University of Bremen
Informatica Feminale
P.O. Box 330440
D-28334 Bremen
Germany
Phone +49 (0)421 218-64469
Email: if@informatica-feminale.de

or
Veronika Oechtering
Phone +49 (0)421 218-64463

Henrike Illig
Phone +49 (0)421 218-64467

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We are looking for courses that cover the whole range of informatics/computer science: theoretical, practical, technical and applied informatics, as well as courses that cover interdisciplinary topics.

Undergraduate students highly request courses that train basic skills such as experimental work and context skills. Combining theoretical and practical work – especially to deapen knowledge from regular courses – is very interesting for the summer university. Any engineering topics on advanced level and soft skills training are welcome as well!

Lecturers could take the summer university as a test field for new teaching formats, to integrate new topics or methods into their computer science courses and to get experience with highly engaged and interested participants. Furthermore, a special training program for lecturers will be arranged. The Informatica Feminale is part of the regular course program at the University of Bremen. Teaching assignments can be given to lecturers.

The women’s network Informatica Feminale and its sister Ingenieurinnen-Sommeruni are a place to exchange about technical and social developments, which we meet in our every-day life and which are designed by ourselves as technical experts. Proposals from the field of computer science and its interdisciplinary subjects are welcome. Some examples:

We especially invite teaching offers, which deal with applications of technical know-how in areas of life and work (for example within care, education, health, food, household, mobility, social networking, publicity, sports, militarization, etc.) from feminist perspectives. Submissions on topics such as gender, equality, technology and ethics are highly welcome.

Additionally, a related topic is digital sustainability with focus on ecological and social impacts of digital technologies. Desired courses could address for example protection of natural resources and optimization within ICT systems and infrastructures, green coding, energy efficiency, recycling and circular economy, regulations and standardization, human rights and labor law in production processes, participatory design, development and consumption of ICT products or services that better serve the common good. We also welcome offers that teach basics about the sustainability goals of the agendas 2030 in UN and EU as well as about the cross-sectional dimension of gender equality.

Teaching languages are German and English.

We invite scientists, to take the summer university as test field for changed teaching formats and to get experience with highly engaged and interested participants. This open situation surprises our new lecturers every year and gives motivation to the teaching at their home universities.

Joint courses offered by two lecturers have proved their worth during the past summer universities; this can be a chance to promote interdisciplinarity.

Please note: We cannot accept courses that deal with single commercial products. It is recommended to focus on general concepts instead.

Further explanations are available in the submission form or via email (if@informatica-feminale.de).

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The following teaching methods and course types are possible:

• Course
  Teacher-centered teaching alternates with practical exercises or presentation by the participants during the course.
• Project
  The participants work on a topic that is related to a larger project.
• Lab
  Skills are trained with practical tasks.
• Workshop
  All topics are worked out and developed with the consultation of the participants.

Several course types may be combined.

When you prepare a course, you should make clear which participants you want to reach and what prior knowledge you are expecting.

Teaching is expected in a gender- and diversity-sensible way. We will offer online trainings on these topics for specific groups of lecturers.

We will group all courses into categories of time and topic. The length of your course can vary (according to our block scheme). We will arrange the schedule by taking other courses into account as well.

Official coordinator and venue (also for online teaching) will be the University of Bremen. All teaching regulations in Bremen University are also relevant for the summer courses. Technical infrastructures of the participating departments at Bremen University will be available for use. Especially the learning management system STUD.IP and the video conference systems are given.

External lecturers will receive a lecturer account, which authorizes to use most of tools within the learning management and the video conference systemsof Bremen University. Participants will receive a guest account.

Bremen University uses the learning management system STUD.IP, so that every class group has also direct access to pad, wiki, videos, etc. Lecturers can also use the tools  DoIT and EduWork Builder, to prepare time-scheduled tasks. As soon as a course will be accepted for the summer universities we will offer individual or group trainings for lecturers.

For privacy reasons we will not accept any use of tools which are not hosted within the European Union. There will be no exception. We will also offer trainings on privacy aspects within teaching; our training is obligatory for new lecturers.

Necessary software installations, which need to be hosted at Bremen University, have to be communicated early in advance. No adminstration rights for computer labs are given to lecturers.

We recommend early exchange with the organizers of the summer university if the installation process of a specific software is part of the course content or if applications with critical administration rights will be used.

If courses are going to be run in place at Bremen University WiFi and other necessary teaching materials (e.g. projector, moderating materials, etc.) are available free of charge in every classroom. Further details will be arranged individually.

In the submission form you can choose the course type. We will check your specifications and, if necessary, recommend modifications.

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You will be expected by motivated participants, who are:

• Women students from universities, colleges and other institutions, studying Computer Science / Informatics either as major or minor subject
• Women students from the fields of engineering, sciences, social sciences and the humanities
• Women experts from practice who want to study further on a high level of qualification as well as
• (sometimes) Pupils with an interest in studying Computer Science.

This variety of life experiences and perspectives in particular is what evolves vivid discussions during the courses and is a special quality of the summer university.

We are expecting 200 to 250 participants in Bremen. The teaching will take place in small groups of 10 to 12 women. Teachers are able to limit the course size. The teaching in small groups guarantees an intensive working atmosphere. Courses with practical elements should plan with no more than 10 participants.

Based on experience, women participate in the Informatica Feminale voluntarily because they are highly motivated by their interest in the given topics or by the experimental possibilities during the courses. Most participants are women students and women experts. Many participants are attending the summer university regularly.

Students are coming from international universities and colleges. This requires a lot of communication before and during the first hours of the course to determine a common basis. Participants, who attend the Informatica Feminale for advanced vocational training, often have to take time off from work.

Employed participants are paying a higher participation fee than students.

When preparing a course offer, you should clearly identify the group of participants you want to reach and what previous knowledge they should have. It should be clear whether, for example, only students in a specific phase of their studies are addressed or if a broad variety of participants is desired. Examples from past summer schools can give you an idea.

The submission form for courses contains phrasings of the past years.

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The summer university will be planned on place in Bremen from 20 August to 4 Sepember 2025.
For physical teaching at the summer school in Bremen, we as organizers  have developped a 3-week schedule with fixed teaching blocks. The schedule cannot be changed by lecturers.

The schedule is prepared to enable approval of credit for student participants and teaching assignments to teachers.

The course slots within the three weeks of the summer school are arranged by the organizers in Bremen, based on the wishes of the lecturers. During the planning there will be a consultation with the lecturers.

A course needs to be planned at least with 14 class hours with 45 minutes each (= 1 SWS), more hours are possible. Also, working hours of participants have to be calculated to offer possible credit points.
For the summer university 2025, some one-day workshops are only possible on the 1st Saturday (August 23, 2025).
We have collected some best practice examples for teaching processes and sequences.

A calculation is integrated in the submission form. You can also include your preferred dates there.
(We publish no public call for our meantime online program.)

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• Credit Points
• Preparation and follow-up work
• Appraisal and grading
• Recognition

To give students a specific idea about content, activities and requirements of a course, we need a clear description from you. The Informatica Feminale wants to enable approval of credit for student participants and teaching assignments for lecturers.

Credit Points (CP)

To enable approval of credit for bachelor and master students, courses must be rewarded with Credit Points according to the European Credit Point Transfer System (ECTS), representing the standard grading system in Bachelor and Master programs in the European Union. Each Credit Point corresponds to 30 clock hours of work (60 minutes each). This includes participation in the teaching blocks, all course work and homework including preparation and follow-up work.

Minimum is 1 Credit Point per course, 2 or more CP are possible for elaborate courses.

To receive Credit Points, participants have to fulfill the following requirements:

Credit Points	Class hours* in Bremen (* 1 class hour = 45 minutes)	Plus preparation and follow-up in all
for 1 CP (or 30 clock hours)	14 class hours; or 10,5 clock hours	19,5 clock hours
for 2 CP (or 60 clock hours)	14 class hours; or 10,5 clock hours	49,5 clock hours
for 2 CP (or 60 clock hours)	28 class hours; or 21 clock hours	39 clock hours
for 3 CP (or 90 clock hours)	28 class hours; or 21 clock hours	69 clock hours

Calculation of teaching hours

We have collected some best practice examples to support the calculation of teaching hours and credit points within our framework of fixed teaching blocks for physical classes. Please follow the examples.

Preparation and follow-up work includes

search of literature, software installation, programming work, participation in talks, presentations, team work, home work, writing of any texts, etc. All working times are seen as equivalent.

Please notice, that participants of Informatica Feminale will not have any time for this work during their stay in Bremen, because of social events in the evenings or other courses during the week. Teachers and participants will only be able to work for a specific course during class hours.

Appraisal and grading

Additionally to Credit Points, the fulfillment of requirements will have to be valued with “passed” or “failed”. Work can be graded, but that is not obligatory!

The grading has to follow the “Allgemeiner Teil der Bachelorprüfungsordnung” of Bremen University; more information will be given to teachers after the decision of the program committee.

At the end of each course, students will get a certificate of participation.

Recognition

Additionally, students often want to get credit for their participation for an approval at their home institution. Therefore, they need a precise announcement of the performance requirements before the beginning of the course.

Students themselves are responsible for the approval of credits achieved during the summer courses. Therefore, they have to contact the home university for further details. Accordingly, all requirements including preparation and follow-up need to be clear before the beginning of the course.
Within the informatics degree courses at the University of Bremen, the approval of credits is determined internally and announced on the website of the Informatica Feminale.

Examples from past courses can give you an idea of what your description should contain. In the submission form you will be asked for several possibilities.

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Lecturers can get teaching assignments for courses with at least 14 teaching hours with 45 minutes each and plus supervision of preparation and follow-up work. This equals one semester period per week. At least 1 credit point must be offered, too.

The requirement of getting a teaching assignment is a complete description of the course. All necessary data is asked in the submission forms for courses. Missing information will be added later, if necessary.

In every case the remuneration will be equal to those for guest lecturers at the University of Bremen (depending on the lecturers’ background this is between 27 and 47 euros per teaching hour).

For more details please contact the organizers in Bremen.

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An accommodation for lecturers, and also for their children if required, is organized by the University of Bremen. In consultation with the teachers, hotel rooms or guest rooms are booked and (if not agreed upon differently) paid by the University of Bremen.

The University will also pay for travel expenses. Please take note that costs can only be refunded if they meet the statutory refund regulations of the state of Bremen.

During the whole period of the summer school there will be free child care available. Children must be registered in advance.

If the employer of a lecturer will take (full or parts of ) travel costs or honorary, we can publish the company as sponsor on our website. Some companies release lecturers from their duties during course times, so that we need not pay any honoraries.

For sponsors, there are multiple ways to support the Informatica Feminale.

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