Podcast Café du Savoir. Episode 4: PITT– Programme for Innovative Teaching & Training

Speeches/Talks (2022)

Fake News. Von Fakten und Fiktionen in Literatur und Medien

in Bendheim, Amelie; Pavlik, Jennifer (Eds.) Fake News in Literatur und Medien. Fakten und Fiktionen im interdisziplinären Diskurs (2022)

Is this Change the Answer to that Problem? Correlating Descriptions of Bug and Code Changes for Evaluating Patch Correctness

in Is this Change the Answer to that Problem? Correlating Descriptions of Bug and Code Changes for Evaluating Patch Correctness (2022)

A Magnetohydrodynamic enhanced entry system for space transportation: MEESST

in Journal of Space Safety Engineering (2022)

This paper outlines the initial development of a novel magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma control system which aims at mitigating shock-induced heating and the radio-frequency communication blackout ... [more ▼]

This paper outlines the initial development of a novel magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma control system which aims at mitigating shock-induced heating and the radio-frequency communication blackout typically encountered during (re-)entry into planetary atmospheres. An international consortium comprising universities, SMEs, research institutions, and industry has been formed in order to develop this technology within the MEESST project. The latter is funded by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 scheme (grant no. 899298). Atmospheric entry imposes one of the harshest environments which a spacecraft can experience. The combination of hypersonic velocities and the rapid compression of atmospheric particles by the spacecraft leads to high-enthalpy, partially ionised gases forming around the vehicle. This inhibits radio communications and induces high thermal loads on the spacecraft surface. For the former problem, spacecraft can sometimes rely on satellite constellations for communicating through the plasma wake and therefore preventing the blackout. On the other hand, expensive, heavy, and non-reusable thermal protection systems (TPS) are needed to dissipate the severe thermal loads. Such TPS can represent up to 30% of an entry vehicles weight, and especially for manned missions they can reduce the cost- efficiency by sacrificing payload mass. Such systems are also prone to failure, putting the lives of astronauts at risk. The use of electromagnetic fields to exploit MHD principles has long been considered as an attractive solution for tackling the problems described above. By pushing the boundary layer of the ionized gas layer away from the spacecraft, the thermal loads can be reduced, while also opening a magnetic window for radio communications and mitigating the blackout phenomenon. The application of this MHD-enabled system has previously not been demonstrated in realistic conditions due to the required large magnetic fields (on the order of Tesla or more), which for conventional technologies would demand exceptionally heavy and power-hungry electromagnets. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) have reached a level of industrial maturity sufficient for them to act as a key enabling technology for this application. Thanks to superior current densities, HTS coils can offer the necessary low weight and compactness required for space applications, with the ability to generate the strong magnetic fields needed for entry purposes. This paper provides an overview of the MEESST project, including its goals, methodology and some preliminary design considerations. [less ▲]

Market Regulation and Innovation: Direct and Indirect Effects

in Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade (2022)

The effects of competition regulations on innovation are, in theory, ambiguous. Using a panel of twenty-five OECD countries over 1995–2015, we estimated how domestic and foreign competition affects ... [more ▼]

The effects of competition regulations on innovation are, in theory, ambiguous. Using a panel of twenty-five OECD countries over 1995–2015, we estimated how domestic and foreign competition affects innovation. Reducing regulation intensifies domestic and foreign competition, increasing R&D expenditure and patenting. Accounting for interaction between these two sources of product market competition, we find that domestic regulation directly led to growing R&D expenditure and patent production, whereas competition from foreign regulation influences innovation toward its effect on domestic competition. [less ▲]

Adaptive Resource Allocation for Satellite Illumination Pattern Design

in IEEE 96st Vehicular Technology Conference, London-Beijing, Sept. 2022 (2022)

Educação, cultura e inclusão: contextos internacionais e locais

Book published by Appris (2022)

Education, Culture and Inclusion is the result of a bridge-building effort, in many ways. It builds connections between two different continents, America and Europe, and especially between researchers in ... [more ▼]

Education, Culture and Inclusion is the result of a bridge-building effort, in many ways. It builds connections between two different continents, America and Europe, and especially between researchers in educational sciences from Brazil and Canada on the one side, and from Luxembourg, Germany and Sweden on the other side. The articles treat specific situations that can be observed at school, but also in other contexts like science education in dedicated pedagogical centers. And last but not least, there is a strong link between the description of situations where inclusion is practiced and theoretical reflections on the terms of equality and inclusion. [less ▲]

Language policies in STEM subjects: Inclusion, exclusion and abjection

in Karpava, Sviatlana (Ed.) Multilingualism, Multiculturalism and Inclusive Education (2022)

Language policies are of increasing importance in STEM teaching and learning in school systems, considering the increasing number of pupils who speak other family languages than the teaching language. The ... [more ▼]

Language policies are of increasing importance in STEM teaching and learning in school systems, considering the increasing number of pupils who speak other family languages than the teaching language. The latest PISA results as well as national testings (cf. LUCET & SCRIPT, 2021) have shown that pupils with family languages others than the school language tend to underperform in the STEM subjects. The combination of language policies, the global testing industry and the role of STEM subjects in school systems have been shown to undermine the inclusion of all pupils, especially in regards to language backgrounds. There are signs of systematic exclusion being the result of this. In this chapter we will display the language policies in two national contexts, the Swedish and the Luxembourgish ones, and specifically display issues of in(ex)clusion in relation to multilingualism in STEM teaching. The research question that guides this comparative and problematising endeavor is: What kinds of language policies appear in the STEM subjects and what processes of inclusion, exclusion and abjection does this enhance? The methodology builds on Popkewtiz’s (2013; 2014) approach on politics of schooling. Hence, policy texts are understood as inscription devices that attribute terms, possibilities and characteristics to different kinds of people (Hacking, 1999) and therefore produce norms that function to include social groups while others are absent by omission (Popkewitz, 2013; Valero, 2017). This chapter will unravel such in(ex)clusion processes and abjections by advocating discourse analysis aiming to examine laws and regulations on language use in STEM subjects in Sweden and Luxembourg for indications regarding the discourse on in(ex)clusion. Our results show, first, that different language and multilingualism policies become visible in the STEM documents which exist in the two national contexts. Secondly, this chapter discusses what impacts these policies have on matters of inclusion, exclusion or abjection in STEM teaching contexts at primary schools. [less ▲]

Digitizing Inclusion in a Changing World: Comparing insights into four European countries for matching new global realities

Scientific Conference (2022)

Inclusion and digitalization are among the driving forces in global discourses on education and learning. These global realities cause extensive transformations at local, national, and international ... [more ▼]

Inclusion and digitalization are among the driving forces in global discourses on education and learning. These global realities cause extensive transformations at local, national, and international levels. At the same time, the goal of inclusion is directly interwoven with local conditions, understandings, and historically grown valuations. The concept oscillates between universally shared norms and highly divergent local implementations. Regarding the focus of the symposium it can be assumed that especially in the course of digitalization as one main reaction of the corona pandemic, learning materials are not only expected to be inclusion oriented but also need to be combinable with digital demands to address alls kinds of inequalities amongst students appropriately. Learning materials thus are a central momentum to expatiate on transformations of a changing world. In correspondence with the congress theme, the symposium will therefore discuss how a reflection on centrifugal forces of interdependence and individuality can be located in the context of the immediate everyday life in schools and educational practice. In order to be able to discuss these tensions and current changes within educational practices starting from learning materials, an anchor point is needed in order to open up the international comparison of local specifics. The anchor point for this symposium is a criteria catalog which enables the international comparison of learning materials in their cultural contexts and provides a visualization of local particularities in the field of learning materials (Vogt et al. 2021). If these results are put into relation with the inclusive landscapes in different countries, further insights of relevance for inclusion as a global topic can be generated. The data basis springs from the ITM project (2018-2021, funded by Erasmus+) and other international collections of material. Speakers with expertise in regard to the triangulation of learning materials, inclusion and digitalization from four European universities (Ostrava, Czech Republic; Bielefeld, Germany; Luxemburg and Örebro, Sweden) present their findings in the symposium, more in-depth talks about national perspectives as well as a concluding wrap up. The following research questions are a guideline for each section of the symposium: 1. What are the local specifics and constellations as well as understandings of inclusion as a global reality that are being mirrored in teaching material? 2. How can the international comparison of teaching material impact the advancement of inclusion on a local level? 3. How can international comparative educational research become a driving force in the productive negotiation of globally relevant tensions? The contributions are methodologically based on group discussions and expert interviews about selected learning materials, their quality and criteria for evaluating them. These exchanges have been evaluated with the qualitative content analysis by Mayring (2015). Discourse analysis and context analysis were applied. Furthermore, source corpora of learning material were developed and materials were examined using a qualitative content analysis. This refers to the ITM project from Luxembourg, Örebro and Bielefeld University (Erasmus funding line, 2018-2021) as well as the contribution by Ostrava University. The material mainly comes from primary school education and takes into account various subjects, e.g. mathematics and natural sciences. By looking at the results of the interviews and the analysis of teaching materials as well as on the findings about the cultural and local conditions the presenters were able to develop a deeper understanding about how learning materials are set up for inclusive learning processes and about the underpinning understanding of inclusion in different cultural settings. This is the needed foundation to contextualize everyday practices of teaching and learning with the demands of education within the digital condition. [less ▲]

Krichever-Novikov type algebras. A general review and the Genus Zero case

in Hervig, Sigbjorn; Kruglikov, Boris; Markina, Irina (Eds.) et al Geometry, Lie theory and applications (2022)