The University of Jena establishes a new Vice President for Digitalisation

"The further digitalisation of the University and the closely related provision of IT infrastructure and the guarantee of IT security are important and constantly growing fields of action at the University of Jena with far-reaching effects on research, teaching and administration," says University President Prof. Dr Walter Rosenthal. "We want to coordinate the fields of action of digitalisation, IT infrastructure and IT security even more closely in the future and develop them strategically. Due to the increased importance of digitalisation and the need for strategic control, which also extends to research and teaching, the University Senate has decided, at the suggestion of the Executive Board and after intensive conside­ration, to establish a Vice President for Digitalisation."

The setup of the new Vice President for Digitalisation had already been decided by the Senate of Jena University in its last meeting. On 19. July, the Senate agreed to appoint Prof. Dr Christoph Steinbeck as Vice President for Digitalisation. He will begin his three-year term on 1 August. Steinbeck is Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Informatics and Chemometrics and therefore an expert in dealing with digital data and structures. "I have enjoyed the privilege of launching and leading international scientific e-infrastructure projects over the past two decades. I am currently the spokesperson of the National Research Data Infrastructure in Chemistry (NFDI4Chem). The need to further develop digitalisation at my own university made it an easy decision for me to accept the offer from the Executive Board," says Steinbeck, explaining his reasons for taking on the position.

Further developing the digitalisation strategy

The new vice president will be in charge of the University Computer Centre and the Office for Digital Transformation. He will chair the university's CIO committee and play a decisive role in the university's major digital projects. Last but not least, he will further develop the digita­lisation strategy. "Together with the newly established CIO committee, I would like to help better coordinate the diverse digitalisation processes and identify and utilise synergies. In a free-thinking institution like a university, this cannot be done in a dirigiste manner, but only through a great deal of communication and inclusion of all parties," says the future vice-president, describing his tasks and his way of working.

The Executive Board of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena consists of the President, the Head of Administration and Finance, the Vice President for Learning and Teaching, the Vice President for Research, the Vice President for Young Researchers and Diversity Manage­ment, and now the Vice President for Digitalisation.