Open Research Hub

The Open Research Hub is a central facility for digital research in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg. It is operated by the E-Science Office and is available to all researchers in the faculty as well as their research partners.

Less time with technology—more time for research

Each professorship and research area has its own research priorities. Nevertheless, technical requirements are often similar. And this is why we are creating a shared infrastructure that can be used by all professorships and research areas in the faculty. This infrastructure will allow researchers to focus on the content of their research and reduce the effort required to set up suitable research environments.

We think big (194.9 m² to be precise)

The Open Research Hub is still under construction. On the fifth floor of Von-Melle-Park 8, there will soon be a group lab for groups of up to 30 people, a solo lab with 9 individual workstations, a studio for professional audio and video productions, and several other functional rooms. The plan below shows what it will look like in 2025. And beneath the plan, you will find detailed information about the individual rooms and what they can be used for.

Group lab

In the group lab, you can conduct research with (small) groups of up to 30 people in learning and teaching situations.

Mobile, flexible furnishings and media technology equipment enable a wide range of research scenarios. The equipment planned includes the following:

11 cameras with remote control and person tracking
6 ceiling microphones and up to 30 boom microphones
Smartboards for interactive work in plenary sessions and small groups
Optional: 30 iPads and notebooks
Optional: AR and VR glasses

Lab control room

There is a separate control room attached to the group lab.

This room makes it possible for you to control the cameras in the lab remotely and to start and stop video and audio recordings. In addition, the room allows researchers to observe the individuals in the group lab live and to mark and annotate sound and relevant video data during the recording for later analysis.

The lab control room is separate from the group lab so that there are no disruptions there, but there is still the possibility to communicate with people in the group lab.

2 large multiview displays (55'') and 2 displays for a detailed view
Remote control of cameras
Monitoring function for microphones
Recording and annotation software
Wireless microphones for communication with the group lab

Solo lab

The solo lab enables PC-based data collection in small groups.

Up to 9 people can work individually or in groups at visually separated individual workstations (2 of which are accessible for disabled individuals). The workstations are equipped with high-performance PCs, 32-inch monitors, headsets, and webcams.

Data collection can be conducted using synchronized screen recording or the remote-controlled cameras and microphones that are located around the room.

9 gaming PCs
2 cameras with remote control and person tracking
One ceiling microphone and 9 boom microphones
Mobile test administration workstation in the room

Studio

The studio is primarily for the production of high-quality recordings and streaming.

We can produce audiovisual recordings of up to 5 people as interviews, instructional videos, sign language videos, green-screen recordings, podcasts, discussions, and in many other audiovisual formats.

In addition, the studio can also be used for research into 1- or 2-person scenarios.

The mobile control center can be used in the studio, in the studio control room, or for broadcasting off-site.

3 remote-controlled cameras, some with interchangeable lenses
Wireless microphones, ceiling microphones, table microphones, and headsets
Green or blue screen and colored backgrounds
Studio lighting
Teleprompter
Complete equipment for mobile broadcasting off-site with live streaming

Studio control room

The studio control room can be used if spatial separation is desired.

The mobile control center here includes the camera control and a light and audio mixing console as well as hardware for recording or live streaming the content produced.

In addition, the studio control room also has workstations for postproduction.

Mobile control center
Recording and streaming hardware
Postproduction with DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere
Audio postproduction

Field research

Our team supports researchers with qualitative and quantitative data collection in the field, in schools, and in extracurricular learning settings. Researchers can borrow equipment to collect data in the field.

The equipment lending service is regularly expanded and adapted. The team in the E-Science Office sets up and maintains the equipment.

We train researchers how to use the equipment, and we can also provide support with data collection on-site if requested.

Video kits
Various audio recorders
Various cameras and microphones
iPad kits in a case
Tentacle time code generator to synchronize audio and video
Planned: AR and VR equipment

Visit the equipment lending service page.

Learning and growing together

The open research hub isn’t just (pretty nice) rooms and (pretty cool) technology; we also have expert staff here who can provide you with individual support for your research project. The advantage is that we can apply the things we learn in one project directly to the next one. And this way, valuable knowledge isn’t lost but instead is continuously built on and passed on—and everyone benefits.

Meet our team.