Leuphana on Its Way to Becoming an AI Campus
2026-07-20 With the “Leuphana AI Campus,” Leuphana University is developing a teaching and learning framework—unique in Germany—for comprehensive AI literacy education. The goal is to integrate artificial intelligence as both a subject of study and a teaching tool across and within disciplines at all levels of study, from the bachelor’s degree through the doctoral program. With the Creative Space, Leuphana also offers an open experimental space for artificial intelligence on campus.
“We need people who let technology help them without becoming dependent on it: either take action or be treated,” summarizes Ricardo Usbeck. The professor of artificial intelligence and its explainability is part of an interdisciplinary team of more than 20 researchers—ranging from law to teacher education to environmental sciences. “AI plays a role in all fields of study,” he explains. He is currently helping to establish the “Leuphana AI Campus.” The goal of the “Leuphana AI Campus” is to provide AI literacy education throughout all stages of study, from the bachelor’s degree to the doctorate.
Central to this effort is the AI literacy module in the Leuphana Semester. It is designed to equip all bachelor’s students with fundamental skills in working with artificial intelligence—regardless of their field of study. The module combines technical fundamentals such as data analysis, machine learning, and the use of AI tools with societal issues like ethics, data protection, and responsibility. The goal is to foster a reflective, critical, and competent approach to AI as a key skill for the future: “The wide-ranging changes brought about by artificial intelligence require a comprehensive overhaul of the teaching architecture,” emphasizes Julia Webersik. The head of the Teaching Services department is responsible for the “Leuphana AI Campus” together with Prof. Dr. Jelena Bäumler, professor of public law, European law, and international law—with a special focus on sustainability law—and vice president of the college. The “Leuphana AI Campus” also addresses key questions related to exams and ethics: What role should AI play in master’s theses and doctoral dissertations? Issues such as copyright, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and academic integrity remain unresolved in many places.
The new “Artificial Intelligence” minor is also part of the Leuphana AI Campus. “It is deliberately designed to be interdisciplinary and is aimed in particular at students outside the field of computer science,” explains Ricardo Usbeck. The goal is not merely to solve problems with AI. The technology’s implications for society, culture, and business are also critically discussed. All academic disciplines are addressed in this context: “There are use cases for AI in every major,” explains Ricardo Usbeck. These range from searching legal texts with the help of AI to assisting environmental scientists in collecting measurement data using AI. The humanities also make use of AI: “Entire archives are now being analyzed using AI. A single person could never manage this work,” says Ricardo Usbeck. AI is “not a purely technical object, but always an object within a social context.” The real challenge lies in using AI as a tool and not as a substitute for one’s own thinking.
This philosophy is evident at the AI Literacy Hub. It offers students, faculty, and partners spaces to experiment with artificial intelligence. Here, students can visit the Creative Space—the open experimentation area on campus and a hub for AI projects: A heavy lock hangs on a storage jar filled to the brim with chocolate bars. The candy is free. Data is the currency. By scanning a QR code, those with a sweet tooth are directed to a website where they must upload not only their name but also a photo of themselves: “Users are then sent their own photo every day for the rest of their lives,” says Ricardo Usbeck, explaining the critical art project, which was created under the guidance of Martin Kohler, director of the Creative Space.
The Creative Space is deliberately different from a traditional seminar room: glass whiteboards, flexible furniture, workbenches, 3D printers, electronic components, and prototypes are everywhere. For example, students there have developed a translation device reminiscent of the famous “Babelfish” from Douglas Adams’ science fiction universe: The portable device works without an internet connection and translates in real time. It could, for example, assist in rescue operations or be used in remote areas.
Another project is an interactive robotic cat equipped with a camera and sensors. It reacts to human emotions, appearing curious, bored, or sad—and encourages people to interact with it as they would with a real animal. “We invite users of the Creative Space to think differently,” explains Ricardo Usbeck.
More specifically, methodological problems can also be solved in the Creative Space: “We want to support researchers in their data collection,” he says. With the help of 3D printers, for example, custom measuring instruments can be produced.
Through the end of 2029, the “Leuphana AI Campus” will receive up to 4.6 million euros in funding from the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education.