Hasso Plattner Institute

The Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering

Hasso Plattner Institute
gGmbH (German: Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital
Engineering gGmbH; HPI) is an information Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering
technology non-profit company affiliated with the gGmbH
University of Potsdam in Potsdam, Brandenburg,
northeastern Germany.

The teaching and research of HPI are focused on "IT-

Systems Engineering". HPI was founded in 1998, and
is the first, and as of 2018, the only entirely privately
funded faculty[1] in Germany. It is financed entirely
Motto Design IT. Create Knowledge.
through private funds donated by billionaire Hasso
Plattner,[2] who co-founded the software company SAP Type privately financed university
SE, and is currently the chairman of SAP's supervisory institute
board. From 2004 to 2023 the institute was headed by Established 1998
Christoph Meinel. On April 1, 2023, a team consisting Director Tobias Friedrich, Ralf Herbrich,
of Tobias Friedrich, Marcus Kölling and Ralf Herbrich Marcus Kölling
took over the management of the institute.[3]
Total staff 389
Students 1,000

History Location Potsdam, Germany

52°23′38″N 13°8′1″E
The HPI was founded in October 1998 as a public– Affiliations University of Potsdam
private partnership.[4] The private partner is the Hasso
Website [Link]
Plattner Foundation, which is the administrative body
responsible for the HPI and its only corporate member.
The foundation's legal status is that of a GmbH, a limited-liability
company according to German law. As the public part of the
partnership, the State of Brandenburg provided the estate where
several multi-storey buildings were built to form a nice campus.
Hasso Plattner declared to provide at least 200 million Euros for
the HPI within the first 20 years.[5] He is also actively involved as
a lecturer and head of the chair on Enterprise Platform and
Integration Concepts,[6] where the in-memory technology was
Lecture halls (old picture without
developed. In 2004, he received his honorary professorship from main building in the background)
the University of Potsdam.

Since 2007, the HPI maintains a particularly close cooperation

with the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, part of Stanford
University's School of Engineering. In addition to the exchange of Campus panorama view
students and scientists, an annual workshop on Design Thinking is
held in Germany. German companies are simultaneously involved
in joint international development projects between Potsdam and
Palo Alto aimed at simplifying the implementation of such
projects on both sides of the Atlantic with the help of tele-teaching
technology.

Criticism A-B-C building (former main

building)
In 2024 HPI was heavily criticized for Union busting against the
founding activities of a Works council. Posters for workers'
assemblies has been removed and about €200,000 been paid to the law firm Pusch Wahlig Workplace
Law specialized for anti-union measurements. As a result, the institute founded an alternative committee
which has been criticized for being a "fake council" only existing to bypass the right to organize.[7][8] The
association "aktion ./. arbeitsunrecht", which campaigns against labor injustice and for more democracy
in business and industry, considers the actions of the Hasso Plattner Institute to be criminal within the
meaning of § 119 of the Works Constitution Act. The law firm Pusch Wahlig Workplace Law had also
already attracted attention through union busting at Flink[9][10] in Berlin as well as at the car rental
company Sixt[11] and the beverage supplier Flaschenpost.[12] A spokesperson for the legal protection
department of the German Trade Union Confederation judged the HPI's actions to be "clearly
unlawful".[13] The events were also discussed in the Brandenburg state parliament at the request of the
Left Party.[14] The Left Party, the SPD and the Greens took a clear stance in support of setting up a works
council and against Union busting. The far right wing party AfD strongly questioned Correctiv's account
and spoke out in favor of academic freedom.[15][16][17] At the beginning of April 2024, HPI employees
voted with a majority of 68% for the establishment of the Institute Council.[18]

openHPI
In 2012, based on HPI's long lasting tele-TASK[19] research
project, openHPI[20] has started to work. openHPI is an Internet
educational platform for offering massive open online courses
(MOOCs), which is embedded in a global social network. It offers
free interactive online courses about different topics in
information technology. Participants can become familiar with
basic topics of computer science, and IT systems engineering as
well as with advanced current research topics in IT. They also
have the ability to discuss issues and to develop solutions in a
virtual community with participants from around the globe.[21]

Rankings and awards

Mr. Net: interactive sculpture
The Center for Higher Education Development (CHE) is an designed by the Spanish artist
Jaume Plensa
independent private non-profit organization, founded by the
German Rectors' Conference and the Bertelsmann Foundation.[22]
According to its university ranking in 2020, HPI's Bachelor's and Master's programs are among the four
best-ranked computer science programs in the German-speaking countries with the Bachelor's program
valued highest in 18 out of 28 analyzed categories and among the best in five additional categories.[23][24]

In 2012, HPI and SAP received the German Innovation Prize (Deutscher Innovationspreis), a prize
awarded by Accenture, EnBW, Evonik and Wirtschaftswoche, for the development of the in-memory
database SAP HANA.[25]

References
1. Mallwitz, Gudrun (4 April 2017). "Bundesweit erste privat finanzierte Fakultät an Uni" (http
s://[Link]/berlin/article210149589/Bundesweit-erste-privat-finanzierte-Fakulta
[Link]). Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Archived ([Link]
190629120018/[Link]
[Link]) from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June
2019.
2. roinsider (24 July 2018). "German billionaire makes biggest donation to a Romanian
university in 30 years" ([Link]
ity-donation). Romania Insider. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
3. "Hasso-Plattner-Institut verabschiedet langjährigen Direktor Christoph Meinel" ([Link]
e/pressemitteilungen/2023/hasso-plattner-institut-verabschiedet-langjaehrigen-direktor-chris
[Link]). [Link] (in German). Retrieved 30 May 2024.
4. "Organization" ([Link] Hasso Plattner Institute.
Retrieved 5 October 2019. "...founded in October 1998 as part of a public-private
partnership..."
5. Wilkens, Andreas (5 November 2004). "Hasso-Plattner-Institut soll "Weltklasse-Niveau"
erreichen" ([Link]
[Link]). heise online. Archived ([Link]
04154046/[Link]
[Link]) from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved
4 September 2018.
6. "Founder Hasso Plattner" ([Link] Hasso Plattner Institute.
Retrieved 5 October 2019. "Plattner not only finances HPI, as head of the 'Enterprise
Platform and Integration Concepts' department..."
7. Dowideit, Anette (1 March 2024). "Hasso-Plattner-Institut verhindert Betriebsrat – und lässt
sich das über 200.000 Euro kosten" ([Link]
so-plattner-institut-verhindert-betriebsrat-und-laesst-sich-das-ueber-200-000-euro-kosten/)
[Hasso-Plathner-Institute prevents working council and let it cost them more than €200,000].
[Link] (in German). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
8. "Für mehr als 200.000 Euro: Potsdamer Hasso-Plattner-Institut verhindert Betriebsrat" (http
s://[Link]/wissen/fur-mehr-als-200000-euro-potsdamer-hasso-plattner-institut
-[Link]). Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-
2263 ([Link] Retrieved 13 March 2024.
9. "Handelsblatt" ([Link]
a-start-ups-gegen-betriebsraete/[Link]). [Link]. Retrieved 28 April
2024.
10. "Kehrtwende vor dem Berliner Arbeitsgericht: Vorerst kein Betriebsrat beim Lieferdienst
Flink" ([Link]
[Link]). Der Tagesspiegel Online (in
German). ISSN 1865-2263 ([Link] Retrieved 28 April
2024.
11. Wyputta, Andreas (24 November 2021). "Sixt verhindert Betriebsrat: Schluss mit lustig" (http
s://[Link]/!5816979/). Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085 ([Link]
[Link]/issn/0931-9085). Retrieved 28 April 2024.
12. Pressemitteilung (4 March 2024). "Hasso-Plattner-Institut: Union Busting durch Pseudo-
Betriebsrat. Wann ermittelt die Staatsanwaltschaft?" ([Link]
r-institut-union-busting-durch-pseudo-betriebsrat-wann-ermittelt-die-staatsanwaltschaft/).
arbeitsunrecht in deutschland (in German). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
13. Lelek, Christian. "Vorwürfe gegen Hasso Plattner Institut: Betriebsrat verhindert?" ([Link]
[Link]/artikel/[Link]-vorwuerfe-gegen-hasso-plattner-institut-betrie
[Link]). [Link] (in German). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
14. Vandre, Isabelle (26 March 2024). "Die Linksfraktion macht Verhinderung des Betriebsrates
am Hasso-Plattner-Institut im Landtag zum Thema" ([Link]
e/start/aktuelles/einzelansicht-aktuelles/die-linksfraktion-macht-verhinderung-des-betriebsrat
es-am-hasso-plattner-institut-im-landtag-zum-thema/). Die Linke Fraktion im Landtag
Brandenburg (in German). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
15. "104. Sitzung des Brandenburger Landtags" ([Link]
nburg/2024/21--22--maerz-2024/21__maerz_2024_-_104__Sitzung_des_Brandenburger_L
[Link]). [Link] (in German). 21 March 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
16. Damus, Sahra (21 March 2024). "Rede im Landtag: Mitbestimmung absichern - keine
Ausnahme für das Hasso-Plattner-Institut!" ([Link]
ment/reden/mitbestimmung-absichern-keine-ausnahme-fuer-das-hasso-plattner-institut-240
321). Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN im Brandenburger Landtag (in German).
Retrieved 20 April 2024.
17. Oeynhausen, Daniela. Correctiv und Linke nehmen Plattner-Institut ins Visier – wir
verteidigen die Wissenschaftsfreiheit! ([Link] (in
German). Retrieved 20 April 2024 – via [Link].
18. "HPI staff votes for Institute Council" ([Link]
[Link]). [Link]. 12 April 2024.
19. HPI Internet Lecture Video Archive ([Link]
20. openHPI: The MOOC platform of the HPI ([Link]
21. Willems, Christian; Jasper, Johannes; Meinel, Christoph (26 August 2013). "Introducing
hands-on experience to a Massive Open Online Course on openHPI" ([Link]
[Link]/document/6654451). Proceedings of 2013 IEEE International Conference on
Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE). pp. 307–313.
doi:10.1109/TALE.2013.6654451 ([Link]
ISBN 978-1-4673-6355-6. S2CID 22137372 ([Link]
7372).
22. "Funding of the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE)" ([Link]
e/cms/?getObject=646&getFaq=82&getLang=en).
23. "HPI in the CHE ranking" ([Link]
udies/student-information/[Link]). Hasso Plattner Institute. Archived from the original
([Link] on 26 May 2022. Retrieved
5 October 2019.
24. "CHE 2020 ranking for computer science" ([Link]
w?&left_f1=309&left_f2=23&left_f3=611&left_f4=654&left_f5=346&order=4&subfach=undefi
ned&esb=1&ab=3&hstyp=1#&left_f1=309&left_f2=23&left_f3=611&left_f4=654&left_f5=346
&order=1&subfach=undefined). Retrieved 16 November 2020.
25. Behme, Henning (17 March 2012). "SAP und HPI erhalten Deutschen Innovationspreis
2012" ([Link]
[Link]). heise online. Archived ([Link]
120039/[Link]
[Link]) from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
[1]

External links
Media related to Hasso-Plattner-Institut at Wikimedia Commons

Website – Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Softwaresystemtechnik GmbH ([Link]

Official website of openHPI ([Link]
Official website of tele-TASK ([Link]
Official website of HPI School of Design Thinking ([Link]
ml)

1. Oeynhausen, Daniela. "Correctiv und Linke nehmen Plattner-Institut ins Visier – wir
verteidigen die Wissenschaftsfreiheit!" ([Link]

Retrieved from "[Link]