Quality and integrity are topics that have always been closely linked to university teaching, research and artistic integrity. In both areas, the legal anchoring and professionalisation of universities has increased the need to deal with these topics in a structured manner at various levels: at the policy, process and project level, the structural level and at the cultural level, i.e. the level of values (quality culture, integrity culture) at universities.

Input: Using the example of "student theses", it is shown that the management of both topics is very similar in its structural framing and how the topic of "integrity" can be integrated into a quality management (QM) focussed on quality culture, or is actually already included in the logic of a holistically oriented quality management. In a first step, the different levels of such a holistic quality management system (culture and value level, structural level, process level and, at the top of the "pyramid", the level of action-guiding strategies and policies) will discuss which measures, structures, established processes and rules contribute to "managing" issues of integrity and quality in connection with student theses in a specific case.

Culture and value level: Both the specific approach to quality and the approach to integrity are based on the values that guide actions or an organisational culture that has grown over a long period of time; the term ‘quality culture’ is often used in quality management discourse. This becomes particularly clear in the context of student theses. Awareness at the cultural and value level (e.g. in connection with bad practices such as cheating, ghostwriting or unfair use of AI) as well as the work ethic and the demands placed on oneself (both as a student and as a supervisor) play a decisive role here. These aspects can be addressed through various measures, such as a code of conduct or specific teaching events and courses, as our example will show, but in any case require permanent reflection and negotiation loops

Structural level: The management of topics and operational processes requires structures within the organisation, i.e. roles, responsibilities and infrastructures. The example we have described shows the social and technical structures that have been created for the quality management of the integrity of theses at WU.

Process level: Building on the structures and routines that have been created, processes enable and support a systematic approach to quality and integrity issues. One example is the standardised process flow for the supervision and submission of student theses.

Strategy and policy level: Policies and guidelines define the rules of the game that are relevant for the continuity of structures, processes or projects and also guide the actions of individual players. For our case, these are various guidelines, such as the ‘Plagiarism guideline’, the policy on ‘Quality assurance of Bachelor's theses’ or the policy on the ‘List of resources’.

About the workshop: After an input that highlights the intersection of quality and integrity using a case study on student theses at WU, the participants select case studies from their respective institutions in group work. These are discussed within the groups as part of a blind spot analysis according to the logic presented (intersection of quality and integrity at different levels). After the analysis, the groups present the different cases in plenary and summarise the content conceptually. 

 

Speaker:

Karl Ledermüller, Head of Evaluation and Quality Enhancement, Vienna University of Economics and Business

Oliver Vettori, Dean of Accreditations & Quality Management, Director of Program Management & Teaching and Learning Affairs, Vienna University of Economics and Business

 

Ensuring digital sovereignty - shaping quality in the age of AI (German)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing higher education practice at a rapid pace - with far-reaching effects on research, teaching, administration and quality assurance. Universities are therefore not only facing new opportunities, but also challenges: How do we ensure academic integrity, data protection and ethical education under changing technological conditions? This presentation is aimed at university staff working in quality management, university development and governance - and presents the perspective of a university that sees AI expertise not as an optional extra, but as a strategic topic for the future. Three key questions take centre stage:

1. How can we as a higher education institution promote the responsible use of AI - across departments and functions?
2. Which structural, regulatory and cultural measures strengthen scientific and didactic integrity in the context of generative systems?
3. How can we establish a culture of quality in dealing with AI that is both innovative and rule-based?

Instead of focusing on tools and individual measures, the presentation examines governance, policy and organisational development and describes systematic measures for anchoring AI competence as a cross-cutting issue at the university - in committee work, through regulations, projects, anchoring in teaching, further training - and thus working on a mindset for the responsible use of AI.

Specific management tools such as AI guidelines, risk-oriented quality frameworks, ombuds offices and adaptive training structures are presented. The role of quality management is re-thought: as a design resource for institutional learning ability and responsible digital transformation. Areas of tension and edge cases in the use of AI are also openly identified - such as the balance between data protection and the autonomy of teaching and research or between implicit biases and diversity goals. Finally, participants will gain insights into selected projects, key learnings and open questions - with an invitation to discuss: How does quality assurance position itself when universities not only use AI, but also want to open up spaces for ethical technology design and equal opportunities?

 

Contributors:

Speaker: Mag.^a Jeanna Nikolov-Ramírez, Deputy Head of Quality Management and Higher Education Development, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna
in cooperation with: Mag.^a Evamaria Schlattau, Deputy Managing Director & Head of the Quality Management and Higher Education Development Department, University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna 

 

Research diaries as a practical example for strengthening scientific integrity in the age of AI (German)

The systematic promotion of academic integrity presents universities with the challenge of developing effective instruments that both have a preventative effect and raise awareness of academic integrity (Brommer et al. 2023; Wannemacher and Bodmann 2021). As a solution-oriented approach and practical example, the research diary is presented as a didactic instrument that promotes reflection and transparency in the academic work process (Wulff et al. 2024). It aims to contribute to raising awareness and motivation to engage with scientific integrity.

This presentation shares initial evidence from the implementation of research diaries in part-time Master's degree programmes. The concept is based on three central assumptions: Firstly, regular reflection on the work process promotes self-regulated thinking and the development of independent scientific positions (Zimmerman, 2000; Bosse & Trautwein, 2014). Secondly, documentation creates transparency and makes it more difficult to adopt third-party content and the undocumented use of AI. Thirdly, the disclosure of the individual work process enables a more objective assessment of individual performance and promotes collaboration between students and teachers. 

 

Speaker:

Marc Philipp Crepaz, Research associate, Tirol Institute for Quality in Healthcare (TiQG)

Simone Davidsen, Research associate in the degree programme Quality and Process Management in Healthcare , fh gesundheit | health university of applied sciences tyrol

Eva Maria Jabinger, Director Master Degree Programme Quality and Process Management in the Health Care Sector, fh gesundheit | health university of applied sciences tyrol & Lead, Tirol Institute for Quality in Healthcare (TiQG)

An essential component of the successful disciplinary broadening of the Mozarteum University Salzburg is the continuous, tried and tested further development and promotion of an internal research culture that understands artistic and academic integrity as a prerequisite for research quality. In interdisciplinary, institution-wide projects such as ‘Spot on MozART’, the scholarship programme ‘With Dylan on the Road’ or the permanently established internal ‘Research Competition Mozarteum’, overarching changes and challenges for a cross-level understanding of quality have been and continue to be identified and reflected on a structural level, in addition to the implementation of the respective projects. In connection with the legal differentiations in the area of quality assurance, there is an urgent need, particularly from a university of arts perspective, to take a fresh look at scientific-artistic, ethical and legal criteria and to translate them into resilient strategies or to productively adapt existing strategies.

 

By focussing on interdisciplinary research contexts, our contribution therefore relates theoretical concepts and practical examples to each other in order to critically examine exemplary, relevant cross-sectional aspects such as ‘intersubjectivity’, ‘innovation’ and ‘competence’. For a constructive examination of the corresponding implications, a discussion of conceptual work/definitions, the relationship between methods and processes or the creation or maintenance of cross-field commitments that are particularly relevant for the art university context is particularly appropriate here. In a present that, in our estimation, is not least determined by the undermining of critical discourse and ideology-driven homogenisation of artistic-academic activities, we want to deliberately present positive-constructive impulses and examples of good practice for the further shaping of artistic-academic integrity for discussion.

 

 

 

What does it mean to conduct research with scientific integrity - and how can this be systematically anchored at universities of teacher education? The workshop presents the AKQM's recommendation on ‘Ethics and integrity in research related to the academic profession’. The focus is on a practical checklist that supports researchers in the responsible organisation of research projects - from planning to implementation and publication. Together with the participants, implementation options, challenges and development potential in the university context will be discussed. In small groups, the participants will analyse typical case studies from everyday research using the criteria from the checklist. Following this, a moderated discussion will bring together different perspectives and thus provide a space for collegial orientation and critical reflection.

Patrick Pallhuber, Head of University Development, University College of Teacher Education Tyrol

Sybille Roszner, Head of Quality Management and Human Resources Development, University College of Teacher Education Vienna

In order to meet the requirements regarding academic and scientific integrity and research ethics and to respond to current challenges, University of Applied Scences Campus Wien (UAS Campus Wien) is pursuing a range of measures. These include the establishment of university-wide working groups on good scientific practice, the integration of research ethics into internal project approval processes and the provision of information on research data management. In the interests of sustainability, UAS Campus Wien pursues a strategy in which various internal departments and divisions work together to develop the aforementioned measures.

The workshop will be organised in this spirit, with selected strategies for anchoring scientific integrity and research ethics being presented and discussed by members of the Ethics Committee and Academic University Development: A first focus of the workshop is the presentation of the interdisciplinary Research Ethics Committee of UAS Campus Wien. We will discuss its tasks and its networking with other committees and ethics commissions. The specific experiences from the interdisciplinary composition of the committee will be discussed. The interdisciplinary composition of the Ethics Committee is a given because the various departments of UAS Campus Wien are represented, supported by experts from outside UAS Campus Wien. The workshop will use examples to discuss the importance of interdisciplinary exchange within the Ethics Committee in order to be able to assess grey areas in research ethics that are not covered by existing guidelines. The workshop will also discuss the question of whether and in what way such reflections on research ethics can be incorporated not only into the assessment of research projects, but also into university teaching. This forms the second focus of the workshop, which deals with the anchoring of scientific integrity in the study programmes at UAS Campus Wien. Passing on the principles of good scientific practice to students is an essential contribution to increasing the social relevance of scientific integrity. To this end, it is necessary to systematically embed this topic into the curricular development and enhancement processes on several levels. As an outlook, the article presents two variants of a newly developed GWP assessment. This allows either an external or a self-assessment of all measures to ensure academic integrity at the respective university. In this way, it can either check compliance with minimum standards to ensure quality or contribute to the further development of the respective university in the self-assessment. The overall aim of the workshop is to keep these two focal points connected - also with a view to structural-institutional interlinking.

Contributors:

Authors:

Maria Fürstaller, Chair of the Ethics Committee, University of Applied Sciences Campus Wien

Georg Hochfellner, Head of Academic Institutional Development, University of Applied Sciences Campus Wien

Co-Authors: Putz Peter, Brandstetter Karl, Haslinger-Baumann Elisabeth   

 

A holistic strategy for a culture of integrity (English)

The changes to the Austrian higher education law that entered into force in 2024 set integrity centre stage for Austrian higher education institutions (HEIs). HEIs are now tasked with integrating the legal changes into their statutes and specifying strategies that ensure good scientific practice, prevent academic misconduct and, more generally, foster a culture of integrity and quality. The legal text refers to integrity in academic studies, teaching and research, thus operating with a broad concept of integrity. For HEIs this means that integrity and measures designed to cultivate it need to pervade all areas of academic life. This calls for holistic institutional strategies that address integrity across these areas in a consistent and coherent way.

While there is a substantial body of literature available on the theory and practice of research integrity as well as on academic integrity, up to now their interrelations have been made less explicit. However, a stable conceptualisation of their relationship is crucial for the development of an integrity strategy that comprises all areas of studying, teaching, and conducting research.  In our contribution, we offer a processual conceptualisation of the relation between academic integrity and research integrity, given that a culture of integrity entails socialization processes that need to be institutionally embedded and well supported. Based on this, we discuss a holistic integrity strategy for TU Wien. It comprises the development and implementation of a Research Integrity Promotion Plan (RIPP) and considers the cultivation of responsible academic practices as a foundation for responsible research practices. The integrity strategy builds on established processes at TU Wien, develops them further, and includes first insights from the project Fostering Responsible Academic Mindsets and Ethics (FRAME).

 

Speaker:

Susanne Oechsner, Center for Strategic Development in Education, Technische Universität Wien

Marjo Rauhala, Senior Advisor for Research Ethics and Head of Service Unit of Responsible Research Practices, Technische Universität Wien

 

Strengthening integrity in applied research - findings from 5 years of the MCI Ethics Commission

In 2020, the MCI - The Entrepreneurial School®, established an Ethics Committee to raise awareness of ethical and moral issues related to applied research and to ensure the protection of people involved in research at the MCI and compliance with ethical standards. The MCI Ethics Committee acts as an independent body representing a broad spectrum of interests. It works on the basis of institutional guidelines (a statute and, since 09/2022, a code of ethics created specifically for this purpose by the Ethics Committee), legal framework conditions and scientific standards, as well as relevant national and international recommendations.   The committee consists of a total of eight members, who are nominated on the basis of their expertise by the three curiae of the MCI University College (2 persons per curia) as well as the college management (1 person) and the course-providing body (1 person). The members are expected to have relevant qualifications, participate in appropriate working groups and also have certain legal and methodological knowledge. The committee reports regularly to the MCI Board of Trustees and the university administrator.  The main task of the Ethics Committee is to evaluate planned Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses as well as research activities from an ethical and moral point of view. This is done on the basis of a specially created ethics assessment form, which must be completed by students or researchers and submitted by the last day of each month. An initial review is then carried out at the level of a degree program/department, which then forwards assessments deemed to be ethically critical to the Ethics Committee. The committee meets once a month to evaluate critical assessments and provide feedback and recommendations to the submitters.

Since the official launch of the MCI Ethics Committee, more than 400 such feedbacks have already been issued, which has led to a significant increase in awareness of the topic of research ethics, especially among students but also among supervisors. In addition to the Code of Ethics, the committee has also created various forms, templates and process descriptions for researchers and students. Appropriate teaching content on the topic of research ethics was also created for use in courses on scientific work and annual training courses were held for employees.  Even though we are proud of the results of these 5 years of development work, it was not always easy to get there. In this short presentation, we therefore not only want to outline our approach to integrity in applied research at MCI, but also explain the challenges we have faced over the past 5 years and the lessons we have learned from them. We want to show that research ethics issues can and must also be discussed critically in applied research, as it is carried out at universities of applied sciences and that it is thus also possible to adequately fulfill international requirements in the area of research integrity (for example, for the publication of research results in renowned scientific journals).

Speaker:

Stephan Schlögl, Coordination R&D Unit Management & Society, Chair Ethikkommission, MCI Management Center Innsbruck - The Entrepreneurial School

Art as reflexive practice: Reflections on the higher education framing of artistic integrity (German)

The demand for the institutional anchoring of artistic integrity has taken on a new urgency in the course of the amendment of the HS-QSG (§ 2a). But what does artistic integrity mean beyond analogous transfers from the academic field? And how can such a context-sensitive, process-open and ambivalent term be defined in terms of higher education structures without reducing artistic practice to standardized categories?

This presentationdiscusses these questions using the example of the Stella Vorarlberg Private University of Music, where a systematic draft for the implementation of artistic integrity in higher education was developed in the form of an independent section of the statutes in 2025. A central goal was the development of a sustainable university understanding of artistic integrity, which understands artistic creation as a reflective process and encourages a conscious examination of the ethical, social and creative conditions of artistic practice.

At the same time, the article reflects on central areas of tension that go hand in hand with the institutional codification of artistic integrity. The operationalization of a concept based on context sensitivity, reflection and responsibility stands in a certain contradiction to the inherent logic of artistic practice, which is often characterized by intuition, ambivalence, failure or openness. What does transparency mean in a process whose results elude categorical clarity? What risks are involved in transferring ethical guiding principles into formalized sets of rules without levelling out the productive indeterminacy and irritating power of art?

Instead of presenting examples of best practice, the presented article is intended as a reflective case study of a private music academy, which does not focus on the presentation of a complete model, but rather on a critical examination of the possibilities and limits of artistic integrity. The underlying principles are based on the university's understanding of the “development and development of the arts”, which is based on continuous self-questioning, process reflection, responsibility for representation, careful documentation of artistic work and an informed approach to sources, collectives and cultural difference. The article argues for an understanding of artistic integrity as an open concept of orientation that does not attempt to dissolve difference and the processual nature of artistic work in normative categories, but rather takes it seriously as a productive dimension. The aim is to encourage a cross-sectoral dialog on forms and enabling conditions for acting with integrity at the interface of art, ethics and institution.

 

Speaker:

Bernhard Achhorner, Head of Research Management, Stella Vorarlberg Private University College for Music

 

On self-determined and self-committed artistic practice and honesty (German)

Anyone who obstructs others, uses unauthorized instruments, contributes or appropriates the unauthorized services of others and feigns evidence is not acting honestly, and this also applies to research and teaching, art and science. This assessment is a concrete expression of what is shaped on the basis of permanent social negotiation of ethical, legal, institutional and professional self-understandings with practice and creates and secures spaces in this regard. It is important to exchange ideas and develop measures to explore how honesty can be understood. Because what honesty means in concrete terms is not standardized, neither in art nor in life.

We therefore suggest that the term “artistic integrity” should not be used - incidentally, this is also not found in the law, where integrity is referred to in the respective reference, but not as a closed term (UG § 2, 3a.; § 3, 12.) - as otherwise it can lead to unclear overlapping of meanings and attributions, to transfers. It has already been shown that the term “artistic practice” as well as that of “artistic quality” in the latest higher education law package in the sense of “development and development of the arts” allows for many interpretations and can even be seen as misleading. Artistic practice and research require different logics", according to the documentation of the AQ Austria Annual Conference 2024. The legally defined differentiation process and the criticism of the narrow definition of art and integrity that has already been put forward are the basis for us to work out that integrity cannot be understood in an adjectival form as artistically fixed, but as something that must be lived and continuously reflected upon.

The presentation will use concrete examples to show that an artistically informed integrity may have to prove itself by crossing boundaries and understanding crises critically so that understanding changes and can be better understood - even and perhaps especially when the limits of good taste are reached; and always in intensive discussion with all those who are practically active, because they bear the responsibility for their field and its integrity, they know best what to do and what not to do in which case. Agencies such as the OeAWI are set up precisely for this purpose, as a kind of sensitizing and moderating mediating body for a peer discussion between those who are active in the field and who themselves sound out what is, was or will be possible and fair. And finally, this self-evident self-commitment is also precisely what shapes society as a whole, through all its fields of honesty in interaction and autonomy, because “To time its art, to art its freedom” (Ludwig Hevesi) and this freedom is perhaps also that of science, because as it is so aptly put: “Science and its teaching is free”. 

 

Beitragende:

Alexander Damianisch, Lead of Support Art and Research, University of Applied Art Vienna

Martina Schöggl, Lead of Institutional Development and Quality Culture, University of Applied Art Vienna