ZeMKI Lab Socio-Technical Systems and Critical Data Studies The lab “Socio-Technical Systems and Critical Data Studies” explores reciprocal relations between digital technologies and social processes in organizations and communities (with a special focus on education). In the lab, we combine a deep understanding of technological processes with a profound sensitivity for fair and just technology design. The lab specializes in the critical exploration of the interactions and interdependencies between datafication processes, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital media on the one hand and societal processes and practices on the other hand. To achieve this, the lab leverages concepts and methods from computer science (participatory design, co-creation), the social sciences (critical datafication research), and applied research (computational social science and machine learning). The underlying assumption is that digital transformation can only be investigated through a theoretically grounded and empirically substantiated understanding of the respective application contexts. © Blue Planet Studio ConferencesFall Semester 25/26 20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society? Datum: 23. October 2025 – 24. October 2025Location: Haus der Wissenschaft The international anniversary conference of the ZeMKI in the 20th year of its existence examines the foundations of media and communication research: It is about exploring long-term trends resulting from today's media change and visions for the future. 20. December 2024 NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI wishes a happy end of year! Another year is coming to an end and we would like to say 'thank you'! 19. December 2024 NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI at the European Communication Conference 2024 Numerous ZeMKI members will be presenting their research at the 10th conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). 20. September 2024 NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI steering committee meets for annual retreat For two days, the Bredbeck Estate in the district of Osterholz was dedicated to the further development of the research strategy of the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen. On September 3 and 4, 2024, a total of 14 members of the ZeMKI Steering Committee discussed medium-term goals (…) 4. September 2024 NewsZeMKI-News Call for applications for 8 doctoral positions at ZeMKI in the DFG Research Unit “Communicative AI” (FOR 5656) The participating research institutions have announced a total of 18 research assistant positions (job scope: DFG 100%, FWF 75%) with the aim of pursuing a doctorate over a four-year period. 26. August 2024 NewsZeMKI-News New DFG Research Unit on the automation of societal communication The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen, together with the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) in Hamburg and other research institutions in Graz and Vienna, has successfully acquired a Research Unit from the German Research Foundation (DFG) on the topic of "Communicative Artificial Intelligence (ComAI)”. 3. July 2024 NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI goes ICA This year's annual conference of the International Communications Association (ICA) will take place in Goald Cost, Australia, from June 20 to 24. The ZeMKI will be represented with numerous contributions and ZeMKI members will present research at the institute. 7. June 2024 NewsZeMKI-News DataNord Sub-Project at ZeMKI: Interdisciplinary Research to Support Social Movements in Social Media The realization of the project “We The (Social) Media: Social Media by and for Social Movements” has officially started on November 15th. It is being realized through intensive interdisciplinary collaboration with doctoral student Anna Ricarda Luther (ifib), Prof. Haunss (SOCIUM), Prof. Geise (ZeMKI), Prof. Heuer and Prof. Breiter (both ifib). The project is part of (…) 11. April 2024 NewsZeMKI-News Former ZeMKI Member Dr. Irina Zakharova receives the Bremen Study Prize for her Dissertation The “unifreunde”, the Society of Friends of the University of Bremen and the Constructor University, will award this year’s Bremen Student Prize for outstanding theses on February 27, 2024. Two prizes were awarded in the field of natural sciences and engineering, two prizes in the field of social sciences and humanities and a special prize (…) 19. February 2024 NewsZeMKI-News Open Call for ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows, 2024 Come and work with us! Our Fellowship Program invites international researchers to Bremen for four weeks to deepen and connect their research in the transformation of media, communication, and information. We are looking for established scholars who want to enjoy the thriving interdisciplinary research environment at ZeMKI. 8. February 2024 NewsZeMKI-News Lecture by Andreas Breiter at Oxford University on the Opportunities and Risks of Communicative AI On January 15, 2024, ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter gave a lecture on current research projects at Oxford University. The event was organized by the Department of Education and the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). Particular emphasis was placed on the digital transformation of education, especially with regard to the potential of artificial intelligence. Abstract: (…) 16. January 2024 NewsZeMKI-News New Publication by ZeMKI Members Adrian Roeske and Andreas Breiter together with Colleagues The claim to measure education is as old as teaching and learning processes have been offered and organized in an institutionalized form. The aim was and is to improve and optimize learning and education. The central hope is to be able to better support individual learning through the collection of data and the use of (…) 7. December 2023 NewsZeMKI-News Meeting of theCompetence Network lernen:digital In November 2023, a meeting of the lernen:digital competence network took place in Berlin, in which several ZeMKI members of Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter’s “Sociotechnical Systems and Critical Data Studies” lab took part. The meeting was intended to provide an insight into the strands and structures of the metaproject and offered the ZeMKI team the (…) 29. November 2023 NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI Labs win the "AI in Education" Hackathon The ZeMKI Lab “Socio-Technical Systems and Critical Data Studies” of Prof. Dr. Andreas Breitner, together with the ZeMKI Lab “Media and Education” of Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf and colleagues from the University of Twente (ELAN, Prof. Kim Schildkamp), won the second hackathon on the topic of “AI in Education”. Over the course of two (…) 13. November 2023 Conferences Exploring Medial Change Datum: 24. October 2013 – 25. October 2013Location: Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI) Internal event Media and communication change is currently the subject of various major research networks. The research group “Political Communication in the Online World” is investigating how politics and political communication are changing with the progressive establishment of the internet. The NCCR Democracy focuses, among other things, on the medialization of politics and society. The (…) 1. October 2013
ConferencesFall Semester 25/26 20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society? Datum: 23. October 2025 – 24. October 2025Location: Haus der Wissenschaft The international anniversary conference of the ZeMKI in the 20th year of its existence examines the foundations of media and communication research: It is about exploring long-term trends resulting from today's media change and visions for the future. 20. December 2024
NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI wishes a happy end of year! Another year is coming to an end and we would like to say 'thank you'! 19. December 2024
NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI at the European Communication Conference 2024 Numerous ZeMKI members will be presenting their research at the 10th conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). 20. September 2024
NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI steering committee meets for annual retreat For two days, the Bredbeck Estate in the district of Osterholz was dedicated to the further development of the research strategy of the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen. On September 3 and 4, 2024, a total of 14 members of the ZeMKI Steering Committee discussed medium-term goals (…) 4. September 2024
NewsZeMKI-News Call for applications for 8 doctoral positions at ZeMKI in the DFG Research Unit “Communicative AI” (FOR 5656) The participating research institutions have announced a total of 18 research assistant positions (job scope: DFG 100%, FWF 75%) with the aim of pursuing a doctorate over a four-year period. 26. August 2024
NewsZeMKI-News New DFG Research Unit on the automation of societal communication The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen, together with the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) in Hamburg and other research institutions in Graz and Vienna, has successfully acquired a Research Unit from the German Research Foundation (DFG) on the topic of "Communicative Artificial Intelligence (ComAI)”. 3. July 2024
NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI goes ICA This year's annual conference of the International Communications Association (ICA) will take place in Goald Cost, Australia, from June 20 to 24. The ZeMKI will be represented with numerous contributions and ZeMKI members will present research at the institute. 7. June 2024
NewsZeMKI-News DataNord Sub-Project at ZeMKI: Interdisciplinary Research to Support Social Movements in Social Media The realization of the project “We The (Social) Media: Social Media by and for Social Movements” has officially started on November 15th. It is being realized through intensive interdisciplinary collaboration with doctoral student Anna Ricarda Luther (ifib), Prof. Haunss (SOCIUM), Prof. Geise (ZeMKI), Prof. Heuer and Prof. Breiter (both ifib). The project is part of (…) 11. April 2024
NewsZeMKI-News Former ZeMKI Member Dr. Irina Zakharova receives the Bremen Study Prize for her Dissertation The “unifreunde”, the Society of Friends of the University of Bremen and the Constructor University, will award this year’s Bremen Student Prize for outstanding theses on February 27, 2024. Two prizes were awarded in the field of natural sciences and engineering, two prizes in the field of social sciences and humanities and a special prize (…) 19. February 2024
NewsZeMKI-News Open Call for ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows, 2024 Come and work with us! Our Fellowship Program invites international researchers to Bremen for four weeks to deepen and connect their research in the transformation of media, communication, and information. We are looking for established scholars who want to enjoy the thriving interdisciplinary research environment at ZeMKI. 8. February 2024
NewsZeMKI-News Lecture by Andreas Breiter at Oxford University on the Opportunities and Risks of Communicative AI On January 15, 2024, ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter gave a lecture on current research projects at Oxford University. The event was organized by the Department of Education and the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). Particular emphasis was placed on the digital transformation of education, especially with regard to the potential of artificial intelligence. Abstract: (…) 16. January 2024
NewsZeMKI-News New Publication by ZeMKI Members Adrian Roeske and Andreas Breiter together with Colleagues The claim to measure education is as old as teaching and learning processes have been offered and organized in an institutionalized form. The aim was and is to improve and optimize learning and education. The central hope is to be able to better support individual learning through the collection of data and the use of (…) 7. December 2023
NewsZeMKI-News Meeting of theCompetence Network lernen:digital In November 2023, a meeting of the lernen:digital competence network took place in Berlin, in which several ZeMKI members of Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter’s “Sociotechnical Systems and Critical Data Studies” lab took part. The meeting was intended to provide an insight into the strands and structures of the metaproject and offered the ZeMKI team the (…) 29. November 2023
NewsZeMKI-News ZeMKI Labs win the "AI in Education" Hackathon The ZeMKI Lab “Socio-Technical Systems and Critical Data Studies” of Prof. Dr. Andreas Breitner, together with the ZeMKI Lab “Media and Education” of Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf and colleagues from the University of Twente (ELAN, Prof. Kim Schildkamp), won the second hackathon on the topic of “AI in Education”. Over the course of two (…) 13. November 2023
Conferences Exploring Medial Change Datum: 24. October 2013 – 25. October 2013Location: Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI) Internal event Media and communication change is currently the subject of various major research networks. The research group “Political Communication in the Online World” is investigating how politics and political communication are changing with the progressive establishment of the internet. The NCCR Democracy focuses, among other things, on the medialization of politics and society. The (…) 1. October 2013