FRAMILY Meeting & Workshop 15 / June 16-17, 2026, hosted by TUM, Chair of Ergonomics: Explore resilience and collaboration through the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) - Join the interactive journey.

Click here for the LinkedIn post

Summer School on Systems Modeling 10-14.08.2026: Five intensive days of systems modeling with FRAM & STAMP. Learn how methods, tools and teamwork help to understand and design complex socio-technical systems. Learn, apply, reflect - and collaborate internationally

Click here for the LinkedIn post

Baunatal in transition: Why all municipal facilities were closed on Tuesday and what lies behind the personnel development concept.

Prof. Sträter accompanies the transformation in the administration of the city of Baunatal.

Click here for the full HNA article / HNA Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine, April 18, 2026, p.13, cig

72nd Spring Congress of the Society for Ergonomics (GfA):

The A&O department hosted the 72nd Spring Congress from 11 - 13.03.2026 under the motto "Human-centered work design".

The overall theme of the congress, "Human-centered work design", is so important that a good 400 participants from Germany, Austria and Switzerland came to Kassel. The main focus was on the current challenges of work design, be it safety and health or productivity and sustainability in the context of new technological challenges. The rapidly intensifying competition in times of geopolitical transformation was also a topic of discussion.

The dialog will continue at the GfA 2026 autumn conference in Friedrichshafen, hosted by Prof. Karsten Kluth from the University of Siegen, which will focus on concrete solutions for humane working environments.

Click here for the full article

Augmented reality in practice: virtual instruction on the VM-X-PAVERMAX from Probst.

How can complex machines be understood more quickly and commissioning made more efficient? This is the question that David Eich, a student at the University of Kassel, and Johannes Pfleging, a doctoral candidate at the University of Kassel, are investigating. For many years, Probst has enjoyed promoting cooperation between science and industrial companies. As part of a practical visit, the students therefore tested their augmented reality application on the VM-X-PAVERMAX paving machine at Probst.

Click here for the complete article by Probst

Kirsten Hollstein conducted an exclusive 90-minute interview with the exceptional artist Helge Schneider as part of her doctoral project on "Occupational creativity as a key factor for innovation performance" . The interview focused on creative work processes, the art of improvisation and work-related conditions that have significantly shaped the artist's innovative work throughout his life.

Although creativity and innovation are not new topics in the research landscape, they are becoming increasingly explosive against the backdrop of Germany's innovative strength, which has been declining for years (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2025). In her doctoral project, Hollstein combines theory-based perspectives from work and organizational psychology with approaches from cognitive science and music psychology in order to tap into new potential for sustainable work design.

Click here to go directly to the LinkedIn post

Why longer working hours do not increase performance - and why motivation is the decisive force:

Prof. Oliver Sträter in an interview with HNA

The Kassel spin-off Coartec won an award for its innovative augmented reality software in the Nordhessen start-up competition. The solution supports assembly workers with the help of AR glasses by guiding them step by step through complex assembly and construction processes. Relevant components, possible errors and the correct sequence of work steps are displayed in real time.

The AI-based technology automatically recognizes whether individual assembly steps have been carried out correctly, documents the work process independently and thus enables end-to-end quality assurance. Initial pilot projects have significantly reduced the time required for assembly processes.

The software is based on existing CAD data and can be used in a variety of ways, both in training and further education as well as in prototype production and industrial production. The aim is to make complex work processes more efficient, less error-prone and more comprehensible.

Click here for the complete HNA article

Another article can be found on FFH

On November 28, 2025, the Hans Martin Prize 2025 for innovative work in the field of occupational science was awarded.

The prize recognizes proven achievements in occupational science as well as planned research or development projects that contribute to improving people's everyday working lives. This year's award ceremony took place as part of a joint event organized by the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Areas, the Hessian Ministry of Labour, Integration, Youth and Social Affairs and the Kassel Region Transformation Network (tregks).

Click here to go directly to the LinkedIn post

Exoskeletons in agriculture: The A&O department discussed the use of passive exoskeletons with the SVLFG (Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture). The focus was on the question of how employees in the "green working world" can be supported with regard to the high physical strain. Many activities in agriculture or forestry are associated with a particular strain on the musculoskeletal system - exoskeletons can make an important contribution here.
There was the opportunity to test various exoskeletons and discuss current requirements and technical developments.

Click here for the LinkedIn post

Oliver Sträter was once again a guest on "Die Ratgeber" on Hessischer Rundfunk.
Last time, the focus was on bullying, but now it was on a central question: how can we deal better with mistakes and even emerge stronger from them?

"What is the clear definition of mistakes - and why is it an important first step towards a constructive error culture?" "How can a well-implemented error culture not only promote individual learning, but also bring people in companies closer together?" Oliver Sträter answered these and other questions and used specific examples to show how open communication, dealing constructively with failure and learning together from failures can help both the individual and the entire organization. https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/die-ratgeber/die-ratgeber-vom-22-04-2025/hr/ZmRhMGQ3MjYtNWQ1Ny00MGQ4LTk3YjYtYzM3ZDkwNzVlOWQ1

Oliver Sträter was elected as a new member of the DFG review board for the subject "Ergonomics, Human-Machine Systems" in the "Systems Engineering" review board for the 2024-2028 term of office. A summary of the work of the review boards can be found here: www.dfg.de/fachkollegien

The 11th Ergonomics Days, organized by the Ergonomics Competence Network e.V. (ECN), took place on 22 and 23 February. http://e-c-n.de/kongresse/index.htm. As part of this conference, Mehrach Saki, a Research Mehrach Saki, research associate at the A&O department, gave a presentation entitled "Individual and anthropomorphic path planning in human-robot collaboration".