27. June 2022. On 29. March 2022, the governments of the state of Vorarlberg and the canton of St.Gallen signed a memorandum of understanding on intensified collaboration, which will also include the higher education sector. Building on this, an agreement was signed today between the University of St.Gallen (HSG), on the one hand, and the State of Vorarlberg and illwerke vkw AG, on the other, to establish an "HSG Institute for Computer Science in Vorarlberg" on Campus V in Dornbirn during the course of 2023.

One focus of the partnership is the establishment of two assistant professorships that will research and teach on the subjects of "Big Data Infrastructures" and "Embedded Sensing Systems". In this context, work is also planned on the subject of energy autonomy, which is of particular interest to illwerke vkw AG.

Vorarlberg is providing €1 million per year for the establishment of the institute in Dornbirn, including assistant professorships, management, six doctoral positions and other positions over a period of ten years. Funding will be provided by the state of Vorarlberg, illwerke vkw AG, the Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Austrian Industries and the following cooperation partners from the Vorarlberg business community: Alpla, F-Technologies, Gebrüder Weiss, Haberkorn, Heron, Raiffeisen Landesbank Vorarlberg, Rhomberg Group and Zumtobel. HSG will ensure the institute’s academic quality and guarantee the freedom of teaching and research.

All parties involved emphasise the importance of the agreement, which is intended to promote cross-border work on future technologies. "This cooperation is the first lighthouse project of the Lake Constance metropolitan area," says Stefan Kölliker, Cantonal Councillor and President of the University Council. "With this cooperation, in which the interests of the state and the Vorarlberg economy are broadly represented, we are strengthening the potential of our region, which is unique in Europe, through research on innovation topics," says State Councillor Marco Tittler. HSG President Bernhard Ehrenzeller is delighted "that we are strengthening the regional roots of HSG across borders and that an intensive knowledge transfer is taking place for the region on relevant topics."

Photo: Hannes Thalmann / University of St.Gallen