Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESEData café on digital patient twins receives award
Fraunhofer IESE wins university competition in Science Year 2026
The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE is one of the ten nationwide winners of the university competition in the Science Year 2026 – Medicine of the Future with its project "My Twin, My Rules – A Data Café on the Future of Health Data." From a total of 220 submissions, the best communication ideas from young researchers were honored, including the project by Jean Stadlbauer, data scientist in the Digital Health Engineering department at Fraunhofer IESE. The winning teams will each receive 10,000 euros to implement their projects by the end of 2026.
Dialogue on digital patient twins in public spaces
In the mobile data café, Fraunhofer IESE, together with KIT - ITAS (Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis), is bringing the topic of digital patient twins into the public sphere. Citizens in Kaiserslautern and Karlsruhe are designing their own personal digital twins, determining which health data may be collected, which information remains private, and who may access the data.
"Digital patient twins are considered a key technology for the medicine of the future. At the same time, they raise fundamental questions about data protection, self-determination, and responsibility," says project manager Jean Stadlbauer at Fraunhofer IESE. "With our Data Café, we not only want to explain these issues, but also discuss the opportunities and risks of data-based medicine with citizens using concrete scenarios. Their perspectives are crucial if we want to design digital health solutions responsibly."
University competition as a central platform in the Year of Science
The university competition is a central event in the Science Year and is organized annually by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) in cooperation with the Federal Association of University Communication, the German Rectors' Conference, the Young Academy, and this year also the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians. It is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space.
The award-winning teams come from all over Germany and use a variety of communication formats – from exhibitions and cooking evenings to poetry competitions. The winning teams also take part in training courses and networking opportunities on science communication, social media, storytelling, and event organization. They report regularly on their progress on Instagram and on the university competition website.
Science Year 2026 – Medicine of the Future focuses on how researchers are already shaping the medicine of tomorrow with their ideas today. There is a particular focus on gender-sensitive research, as there is still a lack of data for gender-specific treatment and care for many diseases that particularly affect women. Numerous institutions across Germany are participating with events and campaigns.
More Information [in German]:
https://www.hochschulwettbewerb.net/2026/
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