IMIA Academic Representative:
Ursula H. Hübner,
Dr. Prof. Medical and health informatics and quantitative methods

Website

Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences (OS UAS) is the largest and best performing
university of applied sciences in Lower Saxony and among the best in
Germany. With four faculties and the Institute of Music, we offer open, collaborative,
and progressive places of teaching, learning, research, and work at our two sites
Osnabrück and Lingen. Since the 1980s, OS UAS is pioneering academic education in
many areas, such as establishing new degree programs in the healthcare and nursing
professions. This strengthens its reputation as an innovative and inspiring university
with high-quality teaching. Besides, OS UAS has grown strongly and almost doubled
the number of students over the past 15 years. In 2023, more than 13,000 students
were enrolled in more than 100 degree programs. The scale, breadth, and quality of the
research has become one of the unique characteristics. Among the three focus areas of
the university, “Health, Society, Economy” combines research on health care,
sustainable social and economic transformation, and strengthening social structures. It
is rooted in the fields of health, health informatics, social sciences, economics, law and
psychology.

With more than 5,000 students and 39 Bachelor and Master degree programmes, the
School of Business Management and Social Sciences (WiSo) is the largest department
at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. The degree programme domains offered
range from Health and Social Sciences to Business Administration and Management,
International Studies and Public Management to Business Law. The Health and Social
Sciences division with more than 1,300 students covers undergraduate and graduate
studies in nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy,
interdisciplinary healthcare management, health service research and social work.
There is the graduate school “Health and Living” for doctoral students and postdoctoral
fellows which offers Spring or Summer Schools on “Learning Healthcare Systems” as in
person classes and in online or hybrid (global classroom) format. Health informatics is
offered as a mandatory subject in nearly all study programmes at Bachelor and Master
level. The course design follows the GMDS and IMIA recommendations and
encourages students to engage in international topics and exchanges. It emphasizes
the interconnection between informatics, data analytics and artificial intelligence. At the
graduate level, current research activities are integrated in the classes motivating
students to do Master theses in this field and continue their work in a doctoral thesis.
Most of the health informatics research work is performed in the Centre for Health and
Social Informatics. It is closely linked with the Master Program “Management in
Healthcare”.

The Centre was founded more than 25 years ago by Ursula H. Hübner. The team now
consists of about 20 persons working as research fellows, doctoral students or research
graduate students. There are two full professors co-chairing this centre and two
assistant professors. The work rests on 5 major pillars: 1) national and international
health IT benchmarking and evaluation including adoption and diffusion modelling, 2)
health informatics education and workforce development embracing work on national
and international recommendations, 3) continuity of care, interoperability and the
development of national IT standards, 4) integrating artificial and human intelligence
concepts based on the development of own AI models and on commercial decision
support systems in health and social care and 5) AI modelling of risk factors in
musculoskeletal disorders of performing artists. See website for more information.

AI models are applied to the interprofessional care of persons suffering from chronic
wounds and how digital health can assist in this field. A close relationship with university
and municipal hospitals enable access to data and foster the exchange with clinicians in
this field.