In addition to the establishment of a Smart Factory Grid, further structural plans are planned as part of the project in order to promote interdisciplinarity and research. 

Integration into the University's Research Priorities

HE has a long tradition in teaching and research as well as in the transfer of knowledge, ideas and technology in the fields of technology, business and social affairs. HE's research profile is expressed in three overarching focus areas, with which the university is represented on the research map of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK):

• Sustainable energy technology and mobility,
• Intelligent production / smart factory,
• Social, care, health and educational research in the context of social change.

The research impulse on Smart Factory Grids is thus integrated into the professional profile of the Esslingen University and strengthens the HRK focus on Intelligent Production / Smart Factory with links to the other two HRK focal points.

Esslingen Research Centre of Smart Systems (ERCoS)

The ERCoS will be founded with the FIP and will be stabilised after the end of the project. The planned ERCoS combines the strengths of the faculties at the interfaces between mechanical engineering and computer science in a sustainable manner and links the research units RU1 to RU5 of the Smart Factory Grids research programme.  The areas brought together under ERCoS create a cross-faculty institute structure and strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation between the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering and Systems (MS) and Computer Science and Information Technology (IT) in the field of knowledge-oriented research. The ERCoS contributes to the scientific profile of both faculties and enables synergies in the development of new fields of research at the interface between mechanical engineering and computer science.

Qualification Programme for Doctoral Students

A qualification programme is available to doctoral researchers in Esslingen University, which offers specific further training courses, e.g. on scientific writing or event formats for scientific exchange.
The ERCoS pursues the use and further development of these existing qualification opportunities in order to achieve a holistic training concept for doctoral students for the demanding and heterogeneous activities in the scientific system with the FIP. In addition to the scientific and technical skills (research skills), the leadership and organisational skills as well as the increasingly necessary cooperation skills of doctoral students are to be systematically addressed.

Research Master's Programme

As part of the research impulse, an interdisciplinary Master's programme with a clear research focus will be established in the Faculty Computer Science and Engineering and the faculty Mechanical amd Systems Engineering. The Master's programme will be designed as an independent cross-faculty degree course and coordinated by ERCoS. In addition to in-depth specialised training, this research master's programme will above all enable students to work independently on FIP research topics. In order to enable lateral entrants from the respective departments to pursue a high-quality and suitable Master's degree programme, the Research Master's will be made much more flexible.

Knowledge Transfer and Science Communication

With its strategic orientation and structural and development planning, Esslingen University is pursuing the further development of its performance dimension of research-based knowledge, idea and technology transfer as one of its central objectives.The professionalisation of the mechanisms of knowledge transfer of research results and science communication is intended to use the FIP to promote the public and internal perception of research, the expansion of research networks and technology transfer to companies and society, thereby strengthening the impact of research results in the regional and supra-regional innovation system.

Postdoc Tandem Positions with the Ability to Connect to an Professorship at Universities of Applied Sciences

An important prerequisite for appointment to an professorship at Universities of Applied Sciences is relevant professional experience outside of higher education (at least 3 years).In order to achieve this in addition to research experience in a continuous qualification path up to the professorship at Universities of Applied Sciences, the practical experience can be gained in tandem with the academic qualification. This makes it possible to define tandem positions in the postdoc phase with research-related industrial companies and practice-oriented research institutions (e.g. Fraunhofer), depending on the individual qualification path. In this case, the early career researcher is employed 50% each at the university and in the research-related practice company in research.This approach has already been successfully implemented in the HE-Personal project.

Mentoring Programme

As part of the FIP, the university would like to initiate a mentoring programme specifically for academic staff.This would expand the mentoring programme for students and make it easier for women in particular to enter research in mechanical engineering and computer science.The aim is to recruit mentors from the world of science for all junior researchers in the FIP.The mentors are deliberately not selected from the FIP, but from other areas of the university or from other universities. 
In the mentoring programme, individual questions about career planning within or outside academia, academic success or failure, as well as the personal situation can be discussed in a confidential environment. The mentors support the mentees and exchange ideas with them by passing on their own experiences and opening up paths to relevant networks. At the same time, the mentoring programme also offers events on topics such as leadership, agile working, design thinking and diversity management, which create a separate network for all mentees and mentors.