Department of Computer Science at TU Darmstadt

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Department of Computer Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt
logo
founding May 15, 1972
place Darmstadt
state Hesse
country Germany
dean Stefan Roth
Students approx. 3,700 (2018)
Website www.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de

The Department of Computer Science is a department of the Technical University of Darmstadt . As of 2018, the Department of Computer Science is the largest department at the university with 36 professorships and around 3,700 students in 12 courses . The department shapes the two research profile areas "Cybersecurity (CYSEC)" and "Internet and Digitization (InDi)" of the university.

Like the history of the university, the history of the department is shaped by pioneers. These include, for example, Wolfgang Bibel , Johannes Buchmann and Robert Piloty . Eight winners of the Konrad Zuse Medal , the highest award for computer science in Germany, are associated with the department. The department co-founded the IT-Cluster-Rhein-Main-Neckar , the largest IT cluster in Europe.

history

The beginnings of computer science up to the foundation of the department

Employee at the Institute for Practical Mathematics (1960)

In 1928 Alwin Walther was appointed professor of mathematics at the Technical University of Darmstadt . Walther set up the Institute for Practical Mathematics (IPM) there, which was part of the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The beginnings of computer science in Germany go back to this institute. At the institute, the focus was on automating computing with the help of mechanical and electromechanical devices and developing machines with the help of which mathematical problems can be solved. One of the earliest results was the Darmstadt slide rule system , which was particularly widespread in mechanical engineering. Another development was an electromechanical integration system. After the Second World War, the focus was increasingly on the development of electronic computing systems. Due to the reputation that the TH Darmstadt had at the time in computer research, the first congress on the subject of computer science ( electronic calculating machines and information processing ) with international participation took place in October 1955 at the TH Darmstadt. With the help of the German Research Foundation, the Darmstadt Electronic Calculator (DERA) was created and completed in 1959. The computer capacity was unique in Europe at the time. Two decades before programming languages ​​were invented, algorithms were being tested on the computing station and used successfully to deal with problems in industry. In 1956 the first students at DERA were able to deal with the problems of calculators. At the same time, the first programming lectures and internships were offered at the TH Darmstadt. In 1957 Walther ensured that the TH Darmstadt received an IBM 650 , which was the most powerful computer at the time. This made the TH Darmstadt the first university in Germany with a mainframe computer. In 1961, at Walther's endeavors, the German Computer Center (DRZ), the first large-scale computer center in Germany, was founded in Darmstadt, with which the TH Darmstadt entered into a cooperation to train mathematical-technical assistants . In 1966 Walther retired.

Electrical engineering also had a great influence on computer science at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TH Darmstadt). In 1964 Robert Piloty was appointed to the chair of data technology at the TH Darmstadt. In the 1960s, Germany lacked competitiveness in the field of data processing (DV). To counteract this, on April 26, 1967, the Federal Committee for Scientific Research adopted the program for the promotion of research and development in the field of data processing for public tasks . The so-called “Technical Advisory Board for Data Processing”, which mainly consisted of representatives from universities and non-university research institutions, was responsible for implementation. At the seventh meeting of the advisory board on November 15, 1967, Karl Ganzhorn , who was responsible for research and development at IBM Germany at the time, signaled the problems of industry in finding qualified personnel. The director of the Institute for Message Processing at the TH Darmstadt, Piloty, pointed out that the German universities are responsible for training qualified staff. As a result, the committee “IT chairs and training” was formed. Piloty took the chair. The committee formulated recommendations for the training of computer scientists, which provided for the establishment of a course in computer science at several universities and technical colleges. At the Technical University of Darmstadt, Piloty worked with Winfried Oppelt on a "Computer Science" curriculum that was based on engineering. Another curriculum with the name "Diplom-Ingenieur Informatik (Mathematics)", which came from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and provided a stronger emphasis on software engineering, was already available. However, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering was the driving force, which is why the first computer science course in Germany was set up in the same year on the basis of Pilotys and Oppelt's study regulations at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering . In 1969 the field of "data technology (technical informatics)" followed in the regulatory and data technology department and in 1970 a mathematics course of study, which was awarded the degree of "graduate engineer in mathematics with a focus on computer science". The first diploma thesis was written in 1971, the first doctoral thesis in 1975 and the first habilitation in 1978.

In the spring of 1969 Hartmut Wedekind and Robert Piloty traveled together for several weeks through the USA to study the computer science faculties there. The Computer Science Founding Committee (GAI) was introduced on July 7, 1969 to establish the Computer Science Department. The committee was later replaced by a provisional specialist conference. This met for the first time on May 15, 1972, so that on that day the computer science department officially came into being. Wedekind became its first dean. In 1989, Piloty received the Konrad Zuse Medal for his achievements .

History of business informatics

The history of business informatics goes back to Peter Mertens , who studied industrial engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TH Darmstadt). His habilitation thesis was the first habilitation thesis in the field of business informatics in German-speaking countries. In 1968, Peter Mertens was appointed to the first professorship in the German-speaking world for data processing at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz . In the same year Hartmut Wedekind , a former system consultant at IBM Germany , represented the chair for business administration at the TH Darmstadt for the first time. Two years later he was appointed to the chair for business administration and data processing at the TH Darmstadt. Wedekind worked on database systems and their operational applications and already in 1971 headed the research group "Data Management Systems I" through the "National Research Program for Computer Science", which dealt with databases in the operational context. It was the first larger research group to deal with the subjects of business informatics. In 1976, the TH Darmstadt introduced the first course in business informatics in Germany. The course is based in the Faculty of Law and Economics.

History of Artificial Intelligence

Wolfgang Bible (2006)

The history of artificial intelligence goes hand in hand with the appointment of Wolfgang Bibel , who was turned down by professors from the Technical University of Munich because they did not believe in the future of the field of artificial intelligence. In the winter semester 1985/1986, Bibel first took the chair at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TH Darmstadt), to which the university later appointed him. Hans-Jürgen Hoffmann , professor for “programming languages ​​and translators” , was committed to the substitute professorship. Bible accepted the call to the TH Darmstadt on October 1st, 1988 and became professor of intellect in the department of computer science. At this time, the bible was already 50. The TH Darmstadt was the 16th employer and also the last of the bible. It was also the first stable working environment for Bible, in which he could work normally, because before that work at the Technical University of Munich was made difficult for him. Bible is one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence in Germany and Europe. He set up the necessary institutions, conferences and scientific journals and took care of the necessary research programs so that the field of artificial intelligence could establish itself. For the academic year 1991/1992 he took over the position of Dean of the Department of Computer Science at TH Darmstadt. During that time he chaired three appointment committees. Among them were Oskar von Stryk and Karsten Weihe . During his time, he also built up his research group and made the Technical University of Darmstadt one of the leading universities for artificial intelligence worldwide. The scientifically most outstanding project was the national priority program Deduction funded by the German Research Foundation. The project led Germany to take a leading position in artificial intelligence. He has been professor emeritus since 2004 . He held his farewell lecture on February 13, 2004. As of 2017, twenty-five of his doctoral students or employees became professors, so that the majority of today's German AI researchers are graduates of TU Darmstadt. For his achievements, he was honored by the Gesellschaft für Informatik as one of the ten formative minds in German AI history. He was also recognized as one of the first Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

At the endeavor of Constantin Rothkopf, professor for psychology of information processing , the Center for Cognitive Science (CCS) was established at the TU Darmstadt, of which Rothkopf became the founding director. Research groups from various disciplines work at the center. During the same period, Kristian Kersting , Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, then founded the Artificial Intelligence at TU Darmstadt (AI • DA) initiative, a unique model that coordinates various research groups in order to advance the development of Artificial Intelligence. In 2019, Kersting was recognized as a Fellow of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) and the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), the European organization for machine learning, for his scientific achievements . In 2019, the TU Darmstadt was selected as the founding location of ELLIS with the aim of establishing a top AI research institute. The decision made by international scientists was based on scientific excellence in the field.

History of IT security

Johannes Buchmann (2016)

In 1996 Johannes Buchmann was appointed to the chair for theoretical computer science. The appointment is considered to be the birth of IT security at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TH Darmstadt). Three years later, the Darmstadt universities and research institutions founded the Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (CAST), the largest network for cyber security in German-speaking countries . It was initially a forum that was converted into its own independent association in 2003. The second professorship for IT security followed in 2001. Claudia Eckert , who also headed Fraunhofer SIT from 2001 to 2011, was appointed professor for security in information technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt. It was an endowed professorship of the Horst Görtz Foundation. IT security was institutionalized in 2002 with the establishment of the Darmstadt Center for IT Security (DZI), which became the Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt (CASED) in 2008 . Buchmann and Eckert were in charge. Buchmann was the founding director of CASED. In 2010 Michael Waidner became director of Fraunhofer SIT . The European Center for Security and Privacy by Design (EC SPRIDE) was founded in 2011 as a result of the efforts of Buchmann and Waidners . CASED and EC SPRIDE were part of LOEWE , the research excellence program of the state of Hesse.

In 2012, Intel established the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Secure Computing at the Technical University of Darmstadt. It was the first collaborative IT security research facility that Intel established outside of the United States . Two years later, the German Research Foundation (DFG) established the Collaborative Research Center “CROSSING - Cryptography-Based Security Solutions” at the Technical University of Darmstadt, which deals with cryptography-based security solutions. The first speaker for CROSSING was Buchmann.

In 2015, CASED and EC SPRIDE merged to form what is now the Center for Research in Security and Privacy (CRISP), the largest research institution for IT security in Europe. In the same year the German Research Foundation set up the Graduate College Privacy and Trust for Mobile Users at the end of Max Mühlhäuser. A year later, the Federal Ministry of Finance decided to make the Darmstadt region an outstanding place for the digital transformation of the economy. The Federal Ministry of Finance has set up the “Digital Hub Cybersecurity” and “Digital Hub FinTech” centers in the region, which are intended to network companies, research institutions and start-ups. CRISP was upgraded to the National Research Center for Applied Cybersecurity on January 1, 2019.

Johannes Buchmann and his team established the field of post-quantum cryptography internationally . In a global competition launched by the National Institute of Standards and Technology , the signature procedure XMSS, developed by a team around Buchmann, became the first international standard for post-quantum procedures in 2018. XMSS is the first future-proof and practical signature method with minimal security requirements. Work on it began in 2003. Buchmann received the Konrad Zuse Medal in 2017 for his achievements .

History of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology in Darmstadt

The history of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (Fraunhofer SIT) goes back to 1961, when the German Computer Center (DRZ) was founded in Darmstadt at the endeavors of Alwin Walther . At that time, the German data center was equipped with one of the most powerful mainframe computers in Germany, making it the first mainframe data center in Germany. What was special about the DRZ was that it could be used by universities and scientific institutions for research purposes. After the Arpanet spread, communication between the machines became the focus of research in the DRZ. In 1973 the DRZ merged with other research institutions in this area to form the Society for Mathematics and Data Processing (GMD). The company founded the Institute for Remote Data Transmission, which was renamed the Institute for Tele-Cooperation Technology in 1992. Under the direction of Heinz Thielmann, the institute increasingly dealt with questions of IT security and with the advent of the Internet, IT security became more and more important, so that in 1998 it was renamed the Institute for Safe Tele-Cooperation. In 2001 the GMD merged with the Fraunhofer Society. In 2004 the Institute for Secure Tele-Cooperation became the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (Fraunhofer SIT). The founding director was Claudia Eckert , who was also the Horst Görtz endowed professor for security in information technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

History of graphic data processing

José Luis Encarnaçāo (2014)

In 1975, José Luis Encarnação founded the Graphic-Interactive Systems Research Group (GRIS) in the Computer Science Department at the Technical University of Darmstadt. In 1977 he and his research group introduced the Graphic Core System (GKS) as the first ISO standard for computer graphics (ISO / IEC 7942). GKS allows graphics applications to run independently of the device. Images can be created and manipulated, and for the first time the images are also portable. In 1984 Encarnação founded the Center for Computer Graphics in Darmstadt. A working group that emerged from this collaboration was taken over by the Fraunhofer Society and in 1987 the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (Fraunhofer IGD) emerged. The founding director of Fraunhofer IGD was José Luis Encarnação. The institute was one of the first research institutes to deal with Internet technologies. In 1997, José Luis Encarnação received the Konrad Zuse Medal for his achievements .

Research at the department

Research priorities

The main research areas of the department include:

  • Computational engineering and robotics
  • Data science
  • IT security
  • Massively parallel software systems
  • Networks and Distributed Systems
  • Visual computing

Third-party funding

According to the Funding Atlas 2018 of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Technical University of Darmstadt received the highest funding from the DFG in the field of computer science in the period under review from 2014 to 2016. In a competitive selection process, the DFG selects the best research projects from researchers at universities and research institutions and finances them. This makes the department a leader in Germany.

robot

Robot Florian from Team ViGIR at the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015

The search and rescue robot Hector ( He terogeneous C ooperating T eam O f R obots) of the Technical University of Darmstadt entered 2014 in RoboCup , the oldest and largest competition for intelligent robots in different application scenarios, in the category "Rescue Robot" and placed himself there in first place.

In 2015, a team led by Oskar von Stryk took part in the DARPA Robotics Challenge . The team made it into the final with two robots in two different teams, Hector and ViGIR. Team Hector competed with the robot Johnny 05 and Team ViGIR with the robot Florian.

In 2017, the Argonaut robot, which had been developed by a team led by Oskar von Stryk, won the “ARGOS Challenge”, endowed with half a million, for intelligent inspection robots on oil and gas platforms, which Total has awarded.

In 2018, Hector entered the “Plant Disaster Prevention Challenge” category at the World Robot Summit in Tokyo, where he also secured 1st place.

Awards

The following information relates to the status of 2019 and does not claim to be complete:

The Technical University of Darmstadt is the university with the most award winners of the Konrad Zuse Medal for services to computer science , the most important award for computer science in Germany. 8 winners of the Konrad Zuse Medal are associated with the university: Johannes Buchmann (2017), Markus Gross (2013), Fritz-Rudolf Güntsch (2011), Theo Härder (2001), Günter Hotz (1999), José Luis Encarnação ( 1997), Carl Adam Petri (1993) and Robert Piloty (1989).

The Turing Award winner Dana S. Scott is an honorary doctorate from the university.

Wolfgang Bibel and Wolfgang Wahlster were recognized by the Society for Computer Science as influential figures in German AI history.

Wolfgang Bibel (1990), John Alan Robinson (1990), Wolfgang Wahlster (1993), Holger H. Hoos (2015) and Frank Pfenning (2015) have been awarded as Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).

Wolfgang Bibel (2006) and John Alan Robinson (1996) received the Herbrand Award for outstanding contributions to automatic theorem proofing .

Wolfgang Bibel (1999), Wolfgang Wahlster (1999), Bernd Neumann, Torsten Schaub (2012) and Kristian Kersting (2019) were awarded as Fellows of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI).

Carl Adam Petri in 2008 received the Computer Pioneer Award of the IEEE Computer Society for his work on Petri net .

courses

Degree programs offered by the department are:

Bachelor

  • Computer science

Master of Science

  • Computer science
  • Autonomous systems
  • Distributed software systems
  • Internet and web based systems
  • IT security
  • Visual computing

Teacher training courses

  • Computer science teaching post at grammar schools
  • Bachelor of Education Computer Science
  • Master of Education Computer Science

There are also other courses that are close to computer science, but are located in other departments or study areas. These include the bachelor's degree courses in Cognitive Science, Computational Engineering (CE), Information System Technology (iST), Computer Science Joint and Business Informatics (WINF) and the Master’s courses in Cognitive Science, Computational Engineering, Information System Technology and Business Informatics.

Location

The IT department is spread across several locations, but the buildings are located in or around the city center of Darmstadt .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biener, Klaus (August 1999). "Alwin Walther - Pioneer of Practical Mathematics". RZ notifications . doi: 10.18452 / 6275.
  2. a b c d Christine Pieper: University computer science in the Federal Republic and the GDR until 1989/1990 . In: Science, Politics and Society . 1st edition. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-515-09363-7 .
  3. a b c d Epoch threshold in science. Contributions to 140 years of TH / TU Darmstadt (1877–2017): Epoch threshold in science. Contributions to 140 years of TH / TU Darmstadt (1877–2017) . Ed .: Christof Dipper, Manfred Efinger, Isabel Schmidt, Dieter Schott. 1st edition. Justus-von-Liebig-Verlag, Darmstadt 2017, ISBN 978-3-87390-397-5 .
  4. Bible, Wolfgang. (2004). Intellect and computer science in concert of the sciences. 10.13140 / RG.2.2.31867.31520.
  5. ^ Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI): GI selects ten formative minds and technologies in German AI research in the 2019 Science Year . September 23, 2019, accessed on November 5, 2019 (German).
  6. a b Elected AAAI Fellows. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  7. ^ Center for Cognitive Science: Home. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  8. a b Fellows | European Association for Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  9. Kristian Kersting. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  10. Technische Universität Darmstadt: In the European network for cutting-edge AI research. December 10, 2019, accessed December 10, 2019 .
  11. IT security |. Accessed November 4, 2019 (German).
  12. ^ Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Secure Computing: Institute. Retrieved October 31, 2019 .
  13. ↑ The curriculum vitae of Johannes Alfred Buchmann. Retrieved October 31, 2019 .
  14. profile cyber security: CASED - Center for Advanced Security Research Darmstadt. Retrieved August 1, 2019 .
  15. Cybersecurity profile area: EC SPRIDE - European Center for Security and Privacy by Design. Retrieved August 1, 2019 .
  16. Profile. Retrieved October 1, 2019 .
  17. ^ Profile Area Cybersecurity: CRISP - Center for Research in Security and Privacy. Retrieved October 6, 2019 .
  18. ^ TU Darmstadt: A recipe against the power of quantum computers. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  19. heise online: Digital signatures: First standard for post-quantum signatures. Retrieved October 11, 2019 .
  20. Buchmann J., Dahmen E., Hülsing A. (2011) XMSS - A Practical Forward Secure Signature Scheme Based on Minimal Security Assumptions. In: Yang BY. (eds) Post-Quantum Cryptography. PQCrypto 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7071. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
  21. Prof. Claudia Eckert takes on the Horst Görtz endowed professorship at TUD. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  22. Interactive Graphics Systems Group: Overview. Retrieved October 31, 2019 .
  23. Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD). Retrieved October 31, 2019 .
  24. ^ Department of Computer Science: Profile. Retrieved November 4, 2019 .
  25. Funding Atlas 2018 . In: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Hrsg.): Research reports . 1st edition. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2018, ISBN 978-3-527-34520-5 .
  26. ^ Tasks of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
  27. Technische Universität Darmstadt: Hector saves the best. July 28, 2014, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  28. finalist | DRC finals. Retrieved December 14, 2019 .
  29. finalist | DRC finals. Retrieved December 14, 2019 .
  30. Total ARGOS: The first autonomous surface robot for the oil and gas industry. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  31. Technical University of Darmstadt: Outstanding "Argonaut". May 12, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  32. heise online: World Robot Summit: Germans are doing well. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .
  33. Dana Scott's Career Highlights. Retrieved November 22, 2019 .
  34. ^ Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI): GI selects ten formative minds and technologies in German AI research in the 2019 Science Year . September 23, 2019, accessed on November 5, 2019 (German).
  35. ^ Holger H. Hoos | Computer Science at UBC. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  36. ^ Frank Pfenning in the Humboldt Network. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  37. ^ Herbrand Award. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  38. HOMEPAGE OF BERND NEUMANN. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  39. Torsten Schaub's homepage. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  40. Department of Computer Science - Dean of Studies: Degree programs. Retrieved November 4, 2019 .
  41. Department of Computer Science: contact and arrival. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .