What is ISWI?

ISWI 2023

The “International Student Week in Ilmenau” (ISWI) is a conference for students organised by students. It takes place every alternative year at the campus of Technische Universität Ilmenau. 

Over 370 participants from more than 70 different countries took part in the last in-person ISWI in 2019, the online version in 2021 had about 200 active participants with up to 500 for some events. Compared to other similar events ISWI is known for its focus on group work, lectures and debates on a certain main topic, to which the conference is dedicated. As main topic the organising committee always tries to find areas of tension that include recent problems and developments in the world.

The main aim of the ISWI is to bring young people from all over the world together and serve as a platform for exchange and getting to know each other as well as for discussion and working out ideas to solve recent problems. The official language of the conference is English.

Each ISWI adresses a different topic. For 2023 we have chosen the topic ‘Knowledge, Information and Data’ with the title and motto: Impact of Knowledge: With great knowledge comes great responsibility!

  • 2nd - 11th June 2023
  • Ilmenau, Germany

Impact of Knowledge: With great knowledge comes great responsibility!

ISWI 2023 is dedicated to the topics of knowledge, information and data. Within the context of an international student conference we would like to initiate an intercultural dialogue and reflect together about the variety of aspects those topics implicate.

As seen with the current situation in Russia amid armed conflict with Ukraine, access to information is one of the most important topics of our time. ISWI 2023 is promoting mutual understanding and tolerance by sharing knowledge. But how can we use our knowledge responsibly, without paving the way for information gap and subsequent inequality? Discourse on the subject would help to progress towards the goal of equal access to knowledge and information for everyone. Also, we need dialogue on data as power, resource and means for change – while not forgetting data privacy in the process.

Since those are global topics, we want to give our participants the possibility to break out of their own feedback-bubble by being in an intercultural setting. They will hear different opinions from students of other parts of the world and discuss with them on equal terms. Our participants will engage in 10 days of group work, lectures, workshops, discussions and presentations.

The people behind ISWI: The association ISWI e. V.

The “Initiative Solidarische Welt Ilmenau e.V.” (ISWI e.V.), established in 1992, is an incorporated society and NGO led by students who organise the projects as volunteers. Its status is that of a non-profit and benevolent organisation. We set ourselves the goal to fight against social inequality, racism and intolerance as well as to promote mutual understanding. To reach this aim, we organise projects that raise awareness to recent problems and offer an open platform to get to know each other, exchange views and work out solutions for these problems. Our main project, the “International Student Week in Ilmenau” (ISWI), takes place every two years since 1993 at the Technische Universität Ilmenau.

If you are interested in more information on ISWI e.V. and its projects, please visit our homepage.