On March 13, thousands of leaflets dropped over Beirut. At the bottom sat QR codes A month later, the question remains: why would a military drop QR codes for people to scan? Were they malicious? And what were they actually trying to collect? 

I believe they were after metadata.

Studierende lassen Experi­ment mit Höhen­forschungs­ballon steigen - Preis für Informatikerin Borrmann - JMU für Gleich­stellung ausgezeichnet - Programm für ausländische Gäste - Liturgie der Zukunft

“Artificial Intelligence” in Switzerland 2024: Rapid Diffusion and Increasing Digital Inequality

Daniela Jaramillo-Dent wins Best Seminar Award for outstanding teaching

Vortragsreihe: Wie Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz unsere Gesellschaft verändern

Generative AI is Taking Over Everyday Life in Switzerland: From Experimentation to Regular Use

Two Awards at SACM 2025 for the Media Change and Innovation Division

Michael Reiss successfully defended his cumulative dissertation  

New publications on techno-religion, human augmentation technologies, internet use in Switzerland

Internet Use as Everyday Religion on the Rise, Cyborgization Still in its Early Stages

Kiran Kappeler successfully defended her dissertation

In January 2026, the internet celebrated the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia, the original workhorse behind third-grade papers on giant squids and fourth-place social studies projects. Much like students debating the academic integrity of enlisting generative AI for their work today, it was once difficult to abstain from using Wikipedia articles as a source. After all, right at our fingertips were over 7 million articles in plainly written English, summarizing even the most complex, niche, and fraught subjects.
 

Always online – for many, this is increasingly the norm. When we’re offline, something’s gone wrong; we’re in a dead spot. This limits our options, including our ability to make payments. In areas with no network coverage, we have to pay with cash – if we have any. Now, offline functions aim to enable digital payments without network access. How is this supposed to work? Why does it make sense? Who is championing this and who thinks it’s impossible? This is the focus of episode 3 of the third season of Digitalgelddickicht on the topic of ‘Secure Money’.

Interview with Sonia Irene Guzman.
The introduction of Digital Tribulations, a series of intellectual interviews on the developments of digital sovereignty in Latin America, can be read here. You can find the entire series here.

Die zweitägige Begehung am 15. und 16. April war für die Universität Würzburg der letzte entscheidende Schritt im Wettbewerb um den Titel „Exzellenzuniversität“. Vergeben wird er im Rahmen der Exzellenzstrategie von Bund und Ländern – und ist im Erfolgsfall verbunden mit einer Förderung in dreistelliger Millionenhöhe über sieben Jahre. Ob die Würzburgerinnen und Würzburger erfolgreich waren, entscheidet sich Anfang Oktober 2026.

Nous sommes heureux de vous présenter les 12 nouveaux membres du CRDP qui, par la pertinence de leurs travaux et la diversité de leur expertise, contribueront pleinement au dynamisme de notre Centre.
 
Nos nouveaux chercheur.e.s