Informatics and Other Disciplines

The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities

As the digital age continues to evolve, how do universities respond to the massive changes? Informatics Europe established in 2018 a working group to investigate what universities are doing to ensure that non-informatics teaching and research is informed by best practice in Informatics.

To better understand the state of affairs on this topic and discover best practices at European Universities, the working group conducted an online survey in the same year. 48 universities from 19 European countries participated in the survey, where heads and members of academic informatics, computer science or IT departments (schools, faculties, institutes) expressed their opinion on the strategic topics. The outcomes are presented in the report published in 2019 (available for logged in IE members, a summary is openly accessible by following this link).

Interdisciplinarity in Informatics

The increasing emphasis on interdisciplinarity in science raises nontrivial questions for informatics in at least the four dimensions of research, teaching, large-scale trends and societal aspects. Some concrete examples are: 'How does Informatics as a field benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration?', 'In which interdisciplinary areas does Informatics have the biggest impact?', 'Are interdisciplinarity and core Informatics friends or competitors?', 'How should interdisciplinary research and teaching, including doctoral education, be organised?'.

Informatics Europe, with the support of National Informatics Associations, meet in various workshops and occasions to share experiences and best practices in addressing such issues, and to discuss common concerns and opportunities in the area.

At ECSS 2020, the theme "Interdisciplinarity and Informatics" was explored at the NIA Workshop. A data collection effort on the role of Informatics in interdisciplinary curricula across Europe was initiated, in order to lay the groundwork for possible further curricular guidelines. An overview and recommendations report is targeted to publish in summer 2022.

Interested in our future eventson, looking for a pan-European networking partner to strengthen and support your research or education projects these topics? Reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• Task Forces
• Outcomes

• 2020 - 2022 - Interdisciplinarity in Informatics

  • Pekka Orponen, Aalto Univesity, Finland
  • Paolo Atzeni, Roma Tre University, Italy
  • Bart Demoen, KU Leuven, Belgium
  • Martin Glinz, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Enrico Nardelli, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
  • Gerald Steinhardt, TU Wien, Austria

  2018 - 2019 - The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities
  Full report is available for logged in IE members, while a summary is openly accessible through this link.

  • Susan Eisenbach, Imperial College, UK (Chair)
  • Stuart Anderson, The University of Edinburgh, UK
  • Luis Caires, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
  • Michael E. Caspersen, IT-vest, Denmark
  • Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
  • Inmaculada Garcia Fernandez, University of Malaga, Spain
  • Eduard Gröller, TU Wien, Austria
  • Brian Keegan, Dublin University of Technology, Ireland 
  • Ulf Lesser, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
  • Pekka Orponen, Aalto Univesity, Finland
  • Marie Postma, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
  • Hannes Werthner, TU Wien, Austria

  *Note that the affiliation indicated was the one at the time of their participation in the Informatics Europe activities. Some people have changed affiliation since then.

• The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities

  • Report: “The Wide Role of Informatics at Universities”
    Openly Accessible Summary ¦¦ Full Report (for logged in IE members)
    Date: October 2019
    Details: The report presents the results of the online survey conducted to understand the value universities place on interdisciplinary research and teaching, what happens in practice with hiring and supporting interdisciplinary academics, and what structures are in place to support interdisciplinary work. The Data Science’s impact was also examined in detail, given its rapid rise and importance.