In collaboration with the City of Dortmund, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), and the Technology Center (TZDO), University of Applied Sciences lecturers Prof. Dr. Stephan Recker and Prof. Dr. Carsten Wolff visited partner institutions in the United Kingdom from October 13 to 15, 2026, to generate new momentum for international research projects and academic exchange.
Following the changes brought about by Brexit, the United Kingdom’s re-entry into the European funding programs Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ once again opens up valuable opportunities for cross-border collaboration. To take advantage of these opportunities, representatives from the Fachhochschule Dortmund and Arts traveled to London and Leeds with a city delegation.
In London, the itinerary included a visit to the School of Computer Science at the renowned King’s College. There, the Dortmund representatives presented, among other things, the EMULATE project, in which leading European companies in the IT and telecommunications sectors are collaborating with Fachhochschule Dortmund on sovereign cloud and edge computing infrastructures. EMULATE is part of an “Important Project of Common European Interest” (IPCEI). The university’s professors also provided an outlook on the follow-up project AI4CEI, planned for 2027, which will focus on industrial AI solutions for the energy sector.
Smart Edge Lab
Leeds, Our Sister City: Revitalizing the Erasmus Partnership
The research projects at the University of Applied Sciences generated great interest among British academic colleagues. Specific areas for collaboration in joint applications for upcoming Horizon Europe calls for proposals are now being explored.
In Dortmund’s sister city of Leeds, a meeting at Beckett University was on the agenda. Before Brexit, the two universities were linked by active Erasmus cooperation. The discussions on site made it clear that there is great interest on both sides in reviving this exchange for students and lecturers in the future.
Participation in the German-British Business Summit
The highlight of the three-day trip was participation in the German-British Business Summit at the historic Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. The Fachhochschule Dortmund had its own booth there, alongside the Dortmund Economic Development Agency, the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), and the TZDO. There, the Fachhochschule Dortmund was able to present itself as a research- and practice-oriented partner university in an international setting.