The TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology (SOT) is a school of the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

, established in 2021 by the merger of three former departments. As of 2022, it is structured into the Department of Educational Sciences, the Department of Science, Technology and Society, and the Department of Governance.

Department of Educational Sciences

The Department of Educational Sciences conducts

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

and education research.

Chairs

As of 2020, the department consists of following chairs: *

Business Education Business education is a branch of education that involves teaching the skills and operations of the business industry. This field of education occurs at multiple levels, including secondary and higher education Secondary education At secondary l ...

* Didactics of Chemistry * Didactics of Computer Science * Didactics of Life Sciences *

Educational Psychology Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual differences in ...

* Formal and

Informal Learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and organizing in terms of the learning context, learning support, learning time, and learning objectives". It differs from formal learning, non-formal learning, and self-regulated l ...

* History of Technology * Information Search, Ecological and

Active Learning Active learning is "a method of learning in which students are actively or experientially involved in the learning process and where there are different levels of active learning, depending on student involvement." states that "students partici ...

Research with Children *

Mathematics Education In contemporary education, mathematics education, known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics – is the practice of teaching, learning and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge. Although re ...

* Methods in Empirical Educational Research *

Personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, m ...

and

Social Psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

* Research on Learning and Instruction * Science Communication * Teaching and Learning with Digital Media * Technical Education *

Vocational Education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...

Department of Science, Technology and Society

The Department of Science, Technology and Society was formed from the former Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS) that was established in 2012 as part of the

German Universities Excellence Initiative The Excellence Initiative of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the German Research Foundation (DFG) aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scholars at universities, to deepen cooperatio ...

. As of 2022, research groups at the department include: * Innovation Research * Law, Science and Technology * Philosophy of Science * History of Technology * Sociology in Science * Science and Technology Policy

Department of Governance

The Department of Governance was formed from the former School of Governance that was established in 2017. It focuses on the interactions among politics, economy, society, and technology.

Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence

The Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (IEAI) is a lab of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology. It was established in 2019 to investigate the

ethics of artificial intelligence The ethics of artificial intelligence is the branch of the ethics of technology specific to artificially intelligent systems. It is sometimes divided into a concern with the moral behavior of ''humans'' as they design, make, use and treat artific ...

Christoph Lütge Christoph Lütge (born 10 November 1969) is a German philosopher and economist notable for his work on business ethics, AI ethics, experimental ethics and political philosophy. He is full professor of business ethics at the Technical University o ...

serves as the founding director.

Controversies

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

is funding the institute with a total of €7.5 million over five years. This has been met with significant criticism. The contractual agreement between the university and the US company was kept secret, though the "Facebook Unrestricted Gift Letter" became public. For the grant, the company reserves the right to stop paying out further funding at any time after its payment of an initial margin of $1.5 million, without giving reasons. This was interpreted by politicians and the media as a threat to refrain from publishing unfavorable research results. The agreement also explicitly states that the institute must be led by founding director Christoph Lütge. Lütge holds an endowed chair in business ethics at TUM, endowed by former Siemens executive

Peter Löscher Peter Löscher (born 17 September 1957 in Villach, Austria) is an Austrian manager who was the CEO of Siemens from 2007 until 2013. As of 2017, Löscher remains as the only CEO to be hired from outside the conglomerate in the 170-year history o ...

. Should the university wish to appoint another institute director, it would require the prior written approval of Facebook. Christian Kreiss, a professor at , criticized the university for becoming Facebook's extended marketing arm through this funding. Alexander Filipović, a professor of

media ethics Media ethics is the subdivision dealing with the specific ethical principles and standards of media, including broadcast media, film, theatre, the arts, print media and the internet. The field covers many varied and highly controversial topics, r ...

at the

Munich School of Philosophy Munich School of Philosophy (German: ''Hochschule für Philosophie München'') is a small Jesuit higher education college in Munich, Germany founded in 1925. History Founded as a seminary at Pullach in 1925 by Augustin Bea, first named the Be ...

, said that while he was concerned, he trusted the university. Chris Köver wrote on Netzpolitik.org that after

Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Kara Sandberg (born August 28, 1969) is an American business executive, billionaire, and philanthropist. Sandberg served as chief operating officer (COO) of Meta Platforms, a position from which she stepped down in August 2022. She is al ...

announced the partnership, many media outlets "from Tagesschau to Süddeutsche Zeitung" immediately reported on the company's commitment to ethics in AI. Köver wrote: "Facebook has bought a comparatively cheap image campaign in the German media landscape this way for 6.6 million euros."

Rankings

In the

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

, TUM is ranked between 101-150 in the world and between 2-5 in Germany in the subject Education & Training. In the

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...

, TUM is ranked 50th in the world and 2nd in Germany in the subject Education.