Source: Own Illustration
On Monday, September 22, 2025, the AI-Tech MeetUp NRW — a collaboration between the state projects Open Source-KI.nrw, KI:edu.nrw, and KI:connect.nrw—took place at Ruhr University Bochum with a focus on (generative) artificial intelligence. We, as the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University, were also represented at this exciting event as participants and project partners.
The AI-Tech MeetUp NRW was all about networking and exchange. The focus was on existing (generative) AI projects at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as joint initiatives – and the question of how far these have already progressed. The event highlighted areas where topics overlap and how existing resources can be used more efficiently and collaboratively in the future. At a time when AI has become an integral part of research, business, and society, exchange formats such as this are of central importance for building and sharing AI expertise.
Schedule and Content
After a welcome by Martin Bovermann (project manager, Open Source-KI.nrw), it quickly became clear that the MeetUp is initially intended as an experiment, with the prospect of regular exchange events. In the subsequent series of presentations, two contributions provided initial food for thought:
- Tim Trappen (Open Source-KI.nrw) presented a project by TH Köln and Ruhr University Bochum that investigates the use of the Mistral language model in Moodle – with a particular focus on supporting teachers.
- Prof. Dr. Karolina Suchowolec (TH Köln) spoke about the use of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) in a university context, with a view to ethical and legal aspects.
This was followed by two parallel workshops in which key issues were explored and discussed:
- The provision of (generative) AI at universities
- What concepts and projects already exist in this area?
- What experiences have been gathered by the individual universities?
- Where is cooperation appropriate and useful?
- Application development and use of RAG
Which approaches are practical and how can best practices be shared?
Progress requires networking
The discussions at the MeetUp showed that artificial intelligence is no longer uncharted territory at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia – projects range from initial pilot trials to active use in everyday teaching and study.
It became clear that more exchange is needed here in order to create and strengthen synergy effects. A structured overview and more cooperation could avoid duplication of work and instead make existing knowledge and resources more efficient.
The workshops showed that participants were particularly concerned with the responsible use of generative AI in higher education institutions. Topics ranged from copyright issues and scientific integrity to the appropriateness of RAG in higher education practice. Data protection, interoperable infrastructures, and the right balance between centralized and decentralized approaches were also in focus.
There was also increased discussion of the OpenWebUI system—an open source AI platform with integrated RAG functionality that can be self-hosted and operated completely offline—as a possible alternative to common AI solutions.
From Kick-off to Ongoing Exchange
In the final round, there was agreement: there is a clear need for closer cooperation, especially between developers at universities who are specifically involved in AI projects. Events of this kind are still rare in North Rhine-Westphalia, but they offer enormous potential for improving structures and making projects more comparable.
The MeetUp is therefore to be continued in the near future – with a stronger focus on technical infrastructure at the next event.
The AI-Tech MeetUp NRW 2025 has successfully opened a platform for open exchange on the topic of generative AI in the university landscape of North Rhine-Westphalia. In order to promote cooperation between universities and research institutions, it is crucial to continue this dialogue on a regular basis and to develop joint approaches.
The event was initiated and planned by the Open Source-KI.nrw project. KI:edu.nrw and KI:connect.nrw were also involved as project partners.
We look forward to upcoming events and to being part of this process.
Are you interested in more blog posts on the topic of AI? Take a look at our “KI” category.
Source: KI:edu.nrw
Source: OSKI.nrw
Source: KI:connect.nrw
Responsible for the content of this article are Robin Jakobitz and Tobias Käppeler.
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