the informatics master programs get updated every couple of years; this year, such an update cycle was completed, with a lot of work done by all who teach in our degree program. come winter term 2025, a new course scheme will come into effect.

it was our design goal to make the new program less complicated, less convoluted, and less dependent on indiviual courses. we have learned the hard way that when people leave (due to retirement or being offered jobs elsewhere), we end up with orphaned courses that cause extensive organizational pain. some of you might remember the changes to the curriculum in 2023, which made life harder for everybody.

the new curriculum has a much simpler basic structure: The foundation are three modules and a seminar that are mandatory for everybody:

• Artifact-based Design

• Responsible Digital Ethics

• User Research Methods

• Seminar Media & Human-Centered Computing (3 ECTS)

The modules are 6 ECTS each, and they should be completed first. The second part of the curriculum is a catalog (see TISS) from which you can choose 60 ECTS of practive-based topics. Each module in this category is 12 ECTS or more, which allows for extensive immersion into a topic. Also, you will be able to substitute one of these modules with 12 ECTS from any other master program.

The program is rounded out by the usual components like master thesis and free electives & transferable skills.

For students who started this program before the new curriculum came into effect (which at this point is most of you) there are reasonably simple transitional provisions. You can find the final document (warning: mixed language!) via the TISS-link above. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the coordinator.

The nice people from ITA who have offered RRI VU last year recently informed me that they will no longer be able to do that. This is especially unfortunate as the HCI research group was planning to offer the course themselves from next year on; it is only just a couple of month too early.

As a result, we were unable to find somebody to give the course for a single time this summer term. So, we came up with this solution:

• The RRI PR will be offered as usual this summer semester.

• The RRI VU will be offered next winter semester, and from then on every winter semester

• RRI PR will eventually follow the VU and move to the winter semester, but not immediately.

We are sorry if this causes any inconveniance. It is the best solution we can offer for now, and it will lead to a more dependable situation in the future.

For people who have completed »Design Studies« in the 3 ECTS version, but are still missing »Theories of Communication and Media«, I am advocating that the new lecture (lecture series really) »Sustainability in Computer Science« (194.155) can be used to substitute the 3 ECTS.

Because key people are retiring (geraldine fitzpatrick, margit pohl) and others have retired recently, we had to change the curriculum. we tried to make the changes as unintrusive as possible (the old maxime of »as much as necessary, as little as possible), and we ended up downsizing from five to four »columns« (in the inofficial presentation) or, if you prefer legalese, from six to five compulsory »Prüfungsfächer«. More specifically, the column/prüfungsfach »Emergent Technologies« had to let go. I created a pdf showing an overview over the changes.

The official document (linked at informatik.tuwien.ac.at) includes the usual »Übergangsbestimmungen«. I created an extended and (somewhat) more understandable version of the »Übergangsbestimmungen«. Please note that these somewhat extend the original version, and if the worst comes to the worst, the legal text wins. If you feel your special case is not covered by these regulations, please contact me (peter purgathofer) and i will try to find a good solution.

because »free and open technologies« cannot be offered this year, i offer the following stopgap:

i offer a course called »presentation & interaction in MOOCs« (193.114) in summer semester 2022; if you participate there (and tell me), i will issue a certificate in free & open technologies instead. we will make the theory part overlap enough for this to be justified.

the course 194.055 »security, privacy and explainability in machine learning«, offered by andreas rauber and rudolf mayer, has been added to the module »emergent technologies and methods« that is already part of the »critical reflection« thread. please note that this course asks students to have machine learning basic knowledge!

because all classroom teaching has been suspended, the kick-off lectures of responsible research and innovation and theory and practice of media art cannot happen as planned. thus, it has become necessary for students to register for those courses! please refer to the respective TISS pages to see how this is done in each case. thank you!

following my proposal, the curricular commission just agreed to the following regluation:
as long as the courses in the essentials modules »critical theory of media and informatics« and »interactive media« are not offered, other courses from the same column can be used in exchange for the missing courses. this regulation is executed when you submit all your certificates for your final degree.

this regulation was introduced to alleviate the problems from the fact that two courses are still not offered: »foundations of ubiquitous computing and iot« and »critical theory of media and informatics«. you can now use any other course from the same column to fill the 12 ECTS the modules those courses belong to need to be complete.

as there will still be not foundations of ubiquitous computing and iot VU in the coming semester, the study dean and the program coordination agreed on the following interim reguation: any other course from the main subject interactive media can be used as a substitute in the module digital media - interaction and environment.

this is how it works: if you consult the official curriculum pdf, on page 6 you will find the list of main subjects (prüfungsfächer). one of the subjects is interactive media. you can use any 6 ECTS course you find in the list of modules for this subject as a substitute for the missing foundations of ubiquitous computing and iot, which itself is part of the module digital media - interaction and environment. this regulation is valid until after the semester the course has been offered for the first time.

the ultimate reason why this course is still missing is that a filling of a vacant professor position is taking (much) longer than expected.

• i have successfully secured the support of two excellent external teachers for the »free and open technologies« (the missing part of the essentials module »media technologies, emergent and open technologies« in »emergent technologies«). i am in the process of applying for an external teaching contract for them. if everything works as planned, they will start teachning this october.

• »responsible research and innovation« was first offered last winter semester by the wonderful people of IHS. due to other committments, this course will shift to summer semester. thus, it will not happen this winter, but rather in summer 2020.

• regarding the module »digital art«, both courses will according to all accounts be held in summer 2020. »theory and practice of media art« will be offered by the same people as 2018, and »appropriation and authorship« will be organised by the reknown austrian media artists and design practitioners thomas haberfellner and jörg piringer.

• »explorative design« will once again be compressed into a single semester in summer 2020.