ZIAI Day 2026

ZIAI Day is an event open to all members of the University of Bamberg and friends of the university. The aim of the event is to provide interested participants with insights into the center’s current research. In addition to a series of keynote presentations, all research groups will have the opportunity to introduce themselves, exchange ideas, and connect with one another. The main lecture will address the topic ‘Political Language as Data: What Text Analysis Reveals about Parties, Coalitions and Parliaments’ (abstract).

The 5th ZIAI Day will take place on Friday, October 23, 2026.

Venue: WE5/00.019

Zoom-Link:
https://uni-bamberg.zoom-x.de/j/65160630151
Meeting-ID: 651 6063 0151
Passcode: ZIAI-2026

PROGRAM

09:00 AM

Welcome & Overview of ZIAI (10 min)
Prof. Dr. Christoph Benzmüller

09:10 AM

Smart City Research Lab (10 min)
Prof. Dr. Daniela Nicklas
Status update following the pilot project

09:20 AM

Keynote presentations from the four working groups
20 min each + 5 min discussion

Cognition and Interaction
Prof. Dr. Sophie Jörg
“Interaction in Virtual Worlds”

Digital Teaching and Learning
Dr. Eva-Maria Weiss
“Teaching AI Literacy in an Age-Appropriate and Sustainable Way: Computational Understanding as a Foundation”

Digital Heritage
Prof. Dr. Mona Hess
“Projects in Digital Heritage Technologies: App for the Interpretation of Baroque Ceiling Paintings – Plafond3D, Stone Witnesses Digital”

Sociotechnical Systems
Dr. Verena Benoît
“Between Benefit and Concern: Political Orientation and Institutional Trust as a Basis for Evaluating AI-Supported Public Administration”

11:00 AM

Coffee Break & Poster Session – in the foyer
Featuring over 13 posters. Doctoral candidates and postdocs are invited to contribute their own posters.
Organization: Leah Mühlöder

12:00 PM

Main Lecture (45 min + discussion)
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Sieberer & Dr. Alexander Herzog
“Political Language as Data: What Text Analysis Reveals About Parties, Coalitions, and Parliaments” (abstract)
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Christoph Benzmüller

1:00 PM Closing Remarks & End

Organizing team: Leah Mühlöder, Stella Ott, Johannes Schuster, and Prof. Dr. Andrea Vestrucci.

Main Lecture

Political Language as Data: What Text Analysis Reveals about Parties, Coalitions, and Parliaments
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Sieberer & Dr. Alexander Herzog
Abstract: Political texts such as parliamentary speeches, election manifestos and coalition agreements are a key source of data for empirical political science. How can political positions, conflicts and patterns of cooperation be inferred from such data? Political language is always also a form of strategic action. Institutional rules and political incentives shape who speaks on which issues and which positions they express. This talk offers an insight into analytical political science and uses selected projects to show how machine learning and large language models are used to measure political positions, to study parliamentary opposition behaviour and to assess the influence of parties on coalition agreements. We discuss the possibilities and limitations of these methods and show how innovative applications of computer science, combined with political science theory, yield new insights into political action.