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TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology

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Established2021
DeanUrs Gasser
Location
Munich
,
Bavaria
,
Germany
AffiliationsTUM
Websitesot.tum.de

The TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology (SOT) is a school of the Technical University of Munich, established in 2021 by the merger of three former departments. As of 2022, it is structured into the Department of Educational Sciences, the Department of Science, Technology and Society, and the Department of Governance.

Department of Educational Sciences

The Department of Educational Sciences conducts teacher training and education research.

Chairs

As of 2020, the department consists of following chairs:[1]

Department of Science, Technology and Society

The Department of Science, Technology and Society was formed from the former Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS) that was established in 2012 as part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative.

As of 2022, research groups at the department include:[2]

  • Innovation Research
  • Law, Science and Technology
  • Philosophy of Science
  • History of Technology
  • Sociology in Science
  • Science and Technology Policy

Department of Governance

The Department of Governance was formed from the former School of Governance that was established in 2017. It focuses on the interactions among politics, economy, society, and technology.

Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence

The Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (IEAI) is a lab of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

It was established in 2019 to investigate the ethics of artificial intelligence.[3] Christoph Lütge serves as the founding director.

Controversies

Facebook has committed to funding the institute with a total of €7.5 million over a five-year period, which has attracted substantial criticism. Although the contractual agreement between the university and the American company remained confidential, the "Facebook Unrestricted Gift Letter" was made public. As per the grant terms, Facebook retains the right to discontinue further funding at any time after its initial payment of $1.5 million without providing any justification. Politicians and the media perceived this as an attempt to suppress unfavorable research findings. The agreement also explicitly mandates that the institute must be headed by founding director Christoph Lütge, who holds an endowed chair in business ethics at TUM, endowed by former Siemens executive Peter Löscher. Should the university desire to appoint a different institute director, Facebook's prior written approval would be necessary.[4][5]

Christian Kreiss, a professor at Hochschule Aalen [de], accused the university of becoming an extension of Facebook's marketing arm through this funding arrangement. Alexander Filipović, a professor of media ethics at the Munich School of Philosophy, expressed concern but stated that he trusted the university.[6]

Chris Köver, in an article on Netzpolitik.org, noted that numerous media outlets, ranging "from Tagesschau to Süddeutsche Zeitung", reported on the company's commitment to AI ethics immediately after Sheryl Sandberg announced the partnership. Köver argued that Facebook had effectively purchased a relatively inexpensive image campaign within the German media landscape for 6.6 million euros.[5]

Rankings

University rankings
By subject – Global & National
QS Education & Training 2023[7] 101-150 2-5
THE Education 2023[8] 50 2
ARWU [citation needed]
QS Social Sciences & Management 2023[9] 177 6
THE [citation needed]
ARWU [citation needed]
QS [citation needed]
THE [citation needed]
ARWU [citation needed]
QS [citation needed]
THE [citation needed]
ARWU [citation needed]

In the QS World University Rankings, TUM is ranked between 101-150 in the world and between 2-5 in Germany in the subject Education & Training.[7] In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, TUM is ranked 50th in the world and 2nd in Germany in the subject Education.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Profile – TUM School of Education". TUM School of Education. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Research Groups". Department of Science, Technology and Society. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  3. ^ "New Research Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence". Technical University of Munich. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  4. ^ Kreiss, Christian. "Ein vielsagender geheimer Vertrag mit Facebook". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b Köver, Chris (21 January 2019). "Warum Facebook ein Institut für Ethik in München finanziert". Netzpolitik.org (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. ^ Hauck, Mirjam (21 January 2019). "Facebook und die TU München: "Wir sind unabhängig"". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023: Education & Training 2023". QS World University Rankings. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b "World University Rankings 2023 by subject: education". Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  9. ^ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023: Social Sciences & Management". QS World University Rankings. Retrieved 23 March 2023.

See also

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