How does a university education really prepare young people for a world in constant change? What skills do they need to confidently shape technological, social and ethical challenges? And what responsibility do universities have in this regard? Answers to these questions are provided by Prof. Dr Ulrike Plach (Faculty of Business and Management) and Prof. Dr Thomas Kriza (Faculty of Applied Natural and Cultural Sciences) in a recent episode of Lehrfunk – the BayZiel podcast for university teaching. In this podcast, hosts Dr Hanna Dölling and Jana Bay join forces with exciting personalities from the world of university teaching to explore a range of topics related to higher education.
Ulrike Plach and Thomas Kriza are prime examples of teaching at OTH Regensburg that goes beyond traditional subject content and specifically supports students in developing interdisciplinary future skills: skills that enable them to navigate a complex world in a self-determined, reflective and responsible manner – modern university teaching with a view beyond the horizon.
Future skills: More than just digital competencies
At OTH Regensburg, the understanding of future skills is based on established frameworks such as that of the Stifterverband – but is deliberately expanded. In addition to technological, digital, transformative and community-oriented competencies, Prof. Dr. Plach and Prof. Dr. Kriza emphasise further aspects that characterise the future skills framework at OTH Regensburg: On the one hand, there is the overarching aspect of personality development, i.e. a catalogue of future skills that students can use to learn to think independently, reflect on themselves, develop their own points of view and cultivate mental agility in general. The core aspects also include social responsibility, digitality and transformation, in line with the Stifterverband's view. This triad in the Future Skills catalogue is essential for mastering the challenges of our time: ‘We can only cope with social transformation processes if we simultaneously strengthen free, critically thinking personalities,’ Thomas Kriza sums it up.
Learning across disciplinary boundaries
Interdisciplinary teaching is a key lever for this. At OTH Regensburg, cross-faculty programmes are bundled and strategically developed – for example, at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Teaching (ZiL). The aim is to encourage students to look beyond their own disciplines and work together with students from other degree programmes on major issues of the future: from artificial intelligence and sustainability to social cohesion.
This approach is also at the heart of the OTHorizont project, which is funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education and aims to broaden students' professional and personal horizons – from the initial phase of their studies to further academic training with a focus on future skills.
Teachers as coaches
Both Ulrike Plach and Thomas Kriza see their role not only as imparting knowledge, but also as coaches: they create learning spaces, provide guidance and, at the same time, encourage students to take personal responsibility.
This also means not banning AI tools, but promoting their reflective use – while cultivating independent thinking. Exam formats, portfolio work, seminar papers and written exams are deliberately combined to highlight both application skills and genuine understanding.
Offers that make an impact
OTH Regensburg shows that future skills are not just a buzzword, but are already being implemented in concrete terms:
- Additional studies in digital skills
- Microcredentials such as Future Skills for Business Professionals and Technology Skills for Business Professionals
- Courses on digitalisation and ethics
- Workshops via BayZiel such as “How to teach Future Skills”, in which teachers can further develop their own teaching skills
- The Centre for Interdisciplinary Teaching, established in the 2025/26 winter semester in connection with the “OTHorizont” project
All these initiatives make it clear that OTH Regensburg is investing specifically in teaching that prepares students for tomorrow's world, emphasising not only the importance of the individual for the labour market, but also, in particular, their responsibility to society as a whole.
Podcast already available online
Those who want to delve deeper into the topic will find exciting insights, personal perspectives and concrete examples from practice in the podcast.
With dedicated teachers, innovative formats, a strong infrastructure and the OTHorizont project, OTH Regensburg shows how future skills are not only discussed but also lived – for students, for the university and for our common future.
