Platform for Inter*national Student Mobility (PIM) – From Project to Product
Documentation
- Dr. Janina Hantke, PIM/Technical University Berlin
- Gerald Lach, PIM/Technical University Berlin
- Nina Wagenknecht, Georg-August-University Göttingen
- Dr. Wolfgang Radenbach, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Abstract
PIM, the platform for international student mobility, was created with the aim of enabling full end to end digitization of inter-university data exchange for the use case of student mobility. This entails digitization of all processes associated with the recognition of academic achievements.
The PIM project started in May 2020 and includes 11 higher education institutions, one university data centre and six manufacturers of student information systems. In a bottom-up approach involving all partners, the processes taking place at higher education institutions during recognition of academic credits were defined and translated into a platform software which now, 18 months later, covers use cases such as pre-recognition, recognition after external stay, change of HEI and change of degree course. In addition, PIM offers a module database and a database of past recognitions, which both add great value to the application.
The next use case for PIM to tackle is the much asked for incorporation of interfaces to the Online Learning Agreement, Erasmus without Paper and mobility software such as MoveOn and Mobility online. Future plans for PIM moreover include automated recognition for double degrees, recognition of micro credentials and recognition of skills achieved outside higher education institutions in accordance with the definition established by the MODUS project.
Apart from enhancing the functionalities to PIM there is another challenge: How can we lift PIM out of the project phase and put it on its own feet?
One option to make a product out of PIM is to offer it as SaaS. Together we will discuss how we get to the point that signing up your institution to PIM comes (almost) at the click of a button.
Dr. Janina Hantke
Project staff at PIM Project, Technical University Berlin
Janina Hantke joined PIM in 2020 as project staff and works closely with the participating institutions to define the processes to be digitized and to support the rollout of PIM. She has a PhD in molecular genetics and brings her own mobility experience in the UK and Australia to the project.
Gerald Lach
Project leader PIM Project, Head of Development for Moseskonto, Technical University Berlin
Gerald Lach has been working at the TU Berlin for 15 years and is responsible for the development of the Moses system, an IT system for digitizing various administrative processes in studies and teaching.
In 2013 he was one of the co-founders of MathPlan GmbH, a spin-off from the TU Berlin, which provides solutions for timetable problems at universities.
Nina Wagenknecht
PIM project coordination, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Since 2021 Nina Wagenknecht is project coordinator of the Platform for International Mobility (PIM) at the Digital Services Department at the University of Göttingen. From 2017 to 2020, she coordinated at University of Göttingen the project on "Digitizing Small Subjects" at the Seminar for Egyptology and Coptic Studies and was responsible for developing e-learning units. With Dr. Jana Panke, she designed the Insights podcast series of the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung “Approaching the Digital Turn” from 2019 until 2021.
Dr. Wolfgang Radenbach
Head of Digital Services for Students and Educational Staff, Georg-August-University Göttingen
Since 2007 Dr. Wolfgang Radenbach works at the University of Göttingen as Head of Digital Services for Students and Educational Staff. His main focus is to advance the digital transformation of all administrative processes at universities.