The Tübingen AI Center and the Hector Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology are delighted to announce the initiation of the Hector AI + Education Future Fund, a transformative initiative uniting artificial intelligence (AI) and educational research to develop practical, ethical, and accessible solutions for schools and learners. The Fund is supported by a €6.2 million grant from the H.W. & J. Hector Foundation.
Vision: Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Rapid Practical Impact
Co-initiated by Prof. Matthias Bethge (Tübingen AI Center) and Dr. Wieland Brendel (ELLIS Institute Tübingen), together with Prof. Ulrich Trautwein (Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology), the Fund represents a powerful convergence of AI expertise and educational sciences across the University and its research alliances.
The Fund, embedded within the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, will advance agile, co-design methodologies focused on delivering real-world impact within three years. Upon completion, developed tools, apps, and platforms will be open-access, fostering broad adoption and educational equity.
Funded Projects at a Glance
The Fund finances six flagship projects that innovate at the intersection of AI and education:
- AI@Schools – A modular in-service and postgraduate training program for computer science teachers in Baden-Württemberg, equipping them with AI-related subject knowledge and pedagogical skills for the new mandatory media and informatics curriculum.
- AI-LIT – A mobile AI-based app enabling dialogic reading in kindergartens to support early literacy development. This scalable approach addresses the challenge that many children still do not meet basic reading comprehension benchmarks upon leaving primary school.
The Tübingen AI Center is involved with the following four projects:
- Compass – The Comprehensive Open Math Platform with Adaptive Self-Regulation Support reimagines the popular “MatheBattle” platform. As an open-source, adaptive learning tool, it integrates self-regulation prompts and AI-driven tutoring features to bolster autonomous learning in mathematics.
- ETQ-AI – The “Teaching Copilot”, a real-time, AI-powered feedback app enabling teachers to reflect on teaching quality. It will capture classroom audio and provide insights on instructional organization and warmth, all while adhering to GDPR and EU AI ethics guidelines.
- Immersive AI – An AI dialogue partner embedded in VR/AR environments, enabling learners to explore 3D educational content through social and explanatory dialogues. Initial focus includes biotechnical biology learning materials.
- VOILA – A voice-operated, open-source intelligent tutor for gifted primary-aged children. Designed to spark curiosity and support discovery learning across scientific topics, VOILA tailors interactions with prompts, hints, and scaffolded guidance.
Supporting Research: Ethics, Rights, and Implementation
To ensure responsible deployment and sustainable impact, three integrated research strands accompany these innovation projects:
- Ethics – Developing guidelines for transparent and consent-based use of AI chatbots in educational settings.
- Rights – Evaluating AI in education through fundamental rights under EU law, including data protection, non-discrimination, and human dignity.
- Implementation – Investigating barriers and enablers of deploying AI innovations in real educational environments.
Local and Collaborative Synergies
The initiative is deeply embedded in Tübingen’s broader research ecosystem, involving:
- University of Tübingen:
- Tübingen AI Center
- Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology
and LEAD network
- Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media (IWM)
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
- Computational Health Center at Helmholtz Munich
- Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg
- ELLIS Institute Tübingen
Looking Ahead
Launched in July 2025, the Fund sets a three-year horizon for delivering impactful educational technologies—tools that will be freely available to educators, schools, and institutions upon completion.