Our first pilot is underway: With the elective module “Soft Condensed Matter,” INTERACT is bringing its first micro-modules into teaching at the University of Stuttgart. Nineteen students have signed up: 10 from the M.Sc. Chemistry, 5 from the M.Sc. Chemical Sciences, and 4 from the B.Sc. Physics. Future chemists and physicists, bachelor’s and master’s students alike, now share the same lecture hall.
Soft matter: chemistry and physics at once
The focus is on soft matter: substances that behave neither like classic solids nor like simple liquids. Because their molecular building blocks are held together only by relatively weak interactions, they are easily deformed. We encounter soft matter every day, for example as
- Emulsions: milk, skin cream, mayonnaise
- Foams: whipped cream, milk foam, soap suds
- Liquid crystals: in many TVs, monitors, and digital watches
- Biomembranes: most notably the membranes that surround our cells
Understanding these systems takes both disciplines: Chemistry provides the molecular building blocks, and physics explains how they give rise to distinctive properties.
What are micro-modules?
Degree modules are currently designed mostly within a single discipline. As a result, foundational knowledge from other subjects is often taught in isolation, without a direct link to its application, and frequently several semesters before students need it in their own field.
Micro-modules address this gap. They are compact learning units with a workload of around 20 to 40 hours (about 1 ECTS credit), each covering a clearly defined area of knowledge. They can be built into existing modules or combined into new ones. This way, foundational knowledge arrives exactly where it is needed.
How the pilot works
The new elective module combines the foundational lecture “Introduction to Soft Matter” for all participants (2 ECTS) with one micro-module of their choice (1 ECTS): foams, emulsions, liquid crystals, or (artificial) biomembranes.
What’s next?
Once developed, micro-modules can be used across different degree programs and, in the future, in lifelong learning as well. The pilot is already available as an elective in three degree programs, and more micro-modules are in the works. We’ll share insights from the lecture hall and the lab here and on LinkedIn over the course of the semester.
Our thanks go to Stella Varytimiadou and the entire module team.
For details on structure, content, and team, visit the “Soft Condensed Matter” module page.
INTERACT is funded by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre (Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education) as part of its “Lehrarchitektur” program.