The agreement signed in February this year between the ZHAW School of Engineering and Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington provides for collaboration in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence (AI). In addition to a joint PhD programme, cooperation on research projects and the mutual exchange of students, the partnership is aiming to establish bridge professorships. The two universities are now taking a major step towards achieving this objective by appointing ZHAW lecturer Dr Frank-Peter Schilling as an adjunct professor. The Head of the Intelligent Vision Systems Group at the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI) conducts research in the area of artificial intelligence and deep learning and is also Academic Coordinator of the PhD Programme in Data Science, which exists as a collaboration between the ZHAW and the University of Zurich.

Frank-Peter Schilling was enthusiastic upon receiving news of his appointment as an adjunct professor: “I am looking forward to the academic collaboration with Victoria University of Wellington and am motivated to advance the joint exchange in the areas of research and teaching.” As an adjunct professor, Frank-Peter Schilling will in future be involved in joint research projects and work to establish a PhD programme between the New Zealand university and the ZHAW School of Engineering.