Who We Are
SHARP is the first Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio (CRC/TRR) in the field of educational research in Germany. Since October 2025, more than 80 researchers from four institutions and a broad range of disciplines have been working together to fundamentally understand and advance teaching and learning with simulations in higher education – funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). SHARP conducts basic research aligned with the highest scientific standards of the participating disciplines in order to further develop skill-oriented higher education in medical and teacher education.
The spokesperson of the research consortium is Frank Fischer (LMU Munich), and the deputy spokesperson is Tina Seidel (TUM).
What We Research
SHARP investigates how personalized simulations can improve teaching and learning in higher education. The focus lies on medical education and teacher education – two fields in which diagnostic and intervention skills are particularly important.
Across 18 subprojects, we examine the conditions, mechanisms, and effects of personalized simulations. The projects are organized into three research areas:
Area A – Tasks and Strategies examines the personalization of simulated professional tasks and the (meta-)cognitive strategies required to address them.
Area B – Social Interaction, Collaboration, and Feedback focuses on the personalization of simulated professional situations in which interpersonal professional skills are particularly important.
Area C – Complex Visual Information Processing concentrates on the personalization of simulated professional situations characterized by high demands in terms of temporal density and dynamic complexity.
A central meta-project (M) enables joint data collection, integrates the findings, and contributes to overarching theory development. An infrastructure project (INF) provides the technical foundation for the studies and ensures research data management. A coordination project (Z) supports the organizational management of the entire research consortium.
What We Aim to Achieve
Further development of theory regarding the conditions, mechanisms, and strategies of personalized teaching and learning with simulations
Contributions to innovation in higher education teaching through the use of simulations of authentic professional practice
A new generation of educational researchers who are interdisciplinary, data-literate, and committed to the highest scientific standards and responsible research practices
How We Work
Researchers from psychology, educational science, and artificial intelligence, as well as subject-specific education research in medicine, biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics, collaborate closely within SHARP. Their work is based on a shared conceptual framework model that focuses on learning processes, diagnostic and intervention skills, and different forms of personalized scaffolding and feedback in simulation-based learning environments. In experimental studies, the subprojects examine and replicate different causal assumptions derived from the model.
All researchers involved in SHARP adhere to current scientific standards and the principles of good scientific practice – ranging from fundamental ethical principles and sustainable, resource-conscious data generation and use to the open and transparent documentation and dissemination of scientific findings.
Participating Institutions
SHARP brings together researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Technical University of Munich, University of Augsburg, and Leibniz Supercomputing Centre. SHARP is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).