Polymer research at home: new MOOC from University of Bayreuth

Whether in bicycle helmets, building insulation, sports shoes or wind turbines: polymers are building materials that have become indispensable in the modern world. In view of the future, the question of how these important materials can be produced, used and recycled in a sustainable manner arises again and again. The MOOC team at the University of Bayreuth has therefore teamed up with the Chair of Polymer Building Materials to create the fifth MOOC at the University of Bayreuth to date, a course that conveys both basic knowledge and expert knowledge and current research perspectives to learners.

With a total of nine chapters, "Cellular Polymers: Structure, Properties, Processing, Applications" is the most comprehensive MOOC at the University of Bayreuth to date. The course content reflects a broad spectrum of current research areas: from the structure of cellular polymers to influencing factors in their production to their versatile areas of application. The course is interdisciplinary and combines material sciences with engineering and natural sciences.

The course content was designed to be as interactive as possible and enriched with quizzes or animations. In the course of the course, the broad international audience repeatedly gains insights into the facilities of the University of Bayreuth. For example, in the question about types of production of polymer materials, learners are guided through a laboratory at the University of Bayreuth with the help of AR technology and can directly experience various processes via a first-person perspective. By presenting the learning content in a varied way, course participants are offered the most informative, exciting and entertaining learning experience possible. 

"Cellular Polymers: Structure, Properties, Processing, Applications" was conceived and developed in close cooperation with colleagues from the Bayreuth Department of Polymer Materials. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Ruckdäschel is in front of the camera for the course. As course coordinator, he shares his expertise in the nine chapters, which he has gained through many years of professional experience in industry, and since the beginning of 2021 as head of the Chair of Polymer Materials and managing director of Neue Materialien Bayreuth.