Welcome to the graduate school Accessibility through AI-based Assistive Technology
The Graduate School Accessibility through AI-based Assistive Technology (KATE) is a new cooperative and interdisciplinary graduate school between the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Hochschule Karlsruhe (HKA).
The goal of the KATE Graduate School is to improve the safety and autonomy of people with disabilities through assistive systems based on artificial intelligence. The graduate school thus makes a direct contribution to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In the Convention, assistive technologies are highlighted as a substantial contribution to the inclusion of people with disabilities. However, not only technological, but also social aspects must be considered. Thus, as part of the doctoral program, the scholarship holders should not only make their own contributions to research, but also gain broad interdisciplinary knowledge about the background and effects of variuos disabilities and illnesses, as well as the associated special needs. Through cross-functional workshops, lecture series and interdisciplinary supervision teams, the PhD candidates learn about AI-based solutions as well as ethical and societal aspects of the assistive technologies.
On the 11th-12th of May, the first KATE Workshop took place in the Haus der Kirche in Bad Herrenalb. Besides two very intersting introductions on "Data protection" and "Ethics proposal", the PhD students presented their topics and connected to each other during the leisure activities. The insights gained and the exchange of ideas provided good impulses for the planned research work. We would like to thank Mr. Bierlein and Mr. Weixler from DSB, as well as Mrs. Boda (BIB) for their support!
The second KATE doctoral workshop took place from 28th to 29th of October 2024 in the Forstliches Bildungszentrum (FBZ) in Karlsruhe. The event was organized this time by the PhD students themselves and featured a novel format of posters and classical presentations. The PhD students had the chance to present their progress to the supervisors and to the other PhDs, to exchange ideas, network and last but not least to learn about the accessibility of pdf documents. Many thanks to Dr. Thorsten Schwarz from ACCESS@KIT for his support.