Healthcare is facing major changes. Become part of our challenge and show how the future of healthcare can be shaped responsibly! Join us in exploring the ethical impact of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, health apps and robotics on medical, therapeutic and nursing practice and society.
Take a critical look at important issues such as responsibility, data protection, fairness and other ethical aspects in a technologically advancing world and contribute with your ideas to shaping positive changes for the health of the future!
In the world of healthcare, we are on the verge of a digital revolution . Artificial intelligence, mobile health apps, and advanced robotics have the potential to change everything. But with big technological advances come big ethical questions.
These questions are not only important for developers and healthcare professionals, but affect us all.
- How can these technologies be designed to be fair, humane and ethical?
- How do we protect privacy and self-determination in a digitally networked healthcare world?
- How do we prevent ethical bias and misrepresentation in technology application?
- How do we ensure that people’s dignity and autonomy are at the centre?
It is not just about what is technically possible, but also what is ethically responsible.
Now it’s your turn! Get involved in our challenge and actively shape the future of healthcare technology. We are looking for creative solutions that combine technical know-how with ethical responsibility. Your ideas can make the difference – for healthcare that is innovative and at the same time profoundly human.
Current approaches
Scientific research into health ethics issues is characterized in particular by an extraordinary plurality of methods and perspectives , in which different approaches exist side by side on an equal footing. This includes different philosophical theories of ethics and different methodological approaches (e.g. deontological, teleological, virtue ethical, feminist ethics, discourse ethical approaches).
In the area of development, design and implementation of health technologies, there are various well-known approaches that deal with ethical aspects. These approaches serve to identify risks posed by digital technologies and their use in advance and to address ethical concerns constructively.
Companies can use such approaches and methods in the form of ethics boards or by conducting audits to manage digital risks and ensure that their technological developments meet ethical standards.
Use Cases
In order to make the impact of the challenge as direct and tangible as possible , participation is based on current use cases from practice.
Ethical analysis of real use cases: You will be confronted with case studies provided by our cooperation partners and “Ethical Innovation in Healthcare Technology”. Your task is to identify the ethical challenges in these scenarios and to critically analyze them.
Development of approaches to action: Based on your analyses, you are required to develop practical and ethically sound solutions. The aim is to design technologies in healthcare in such a way that they meet ethical standards and make a positive contribution. The approaches to action developed here primarily aim at creative, innovative, but above all ethically sound solution concepts; the development of concrete technological solutions is not part of the challenge.
You can find the detailed use cases including all key questions in the “Use Cases” tab .
By working on these real use cases and collaborating with our partners, you can have a direct influence on shaping the digital future of healthcare. Take this opportunity to make your contribution to ethically responsible technology development in healthcare!
The implementation of the University Challenge is supported by the Volkswagen Foundation
Awards:- Mentoring and provision of networks for further processing or concretization of solution approaches in theses, research projects and other collaborations
Deadline:- 16-02-2025
