7 Sept 2026
During the summer semester, SOM master's students helped shape the digital transformation surrounding the “campusLMU” project through ten project-based courses.
© Pexels/Felicity Tai
Students as Catalysts for Digital Transformation
During the summer semester, master’s students in ten project courses at the LMU Munich School of Management addressed specific issues related to campusLMU. This work resulted in concepts and analyses that provide important impetus for LMU’s digital transformation.
The university’s digital transformation is a major project that affects many areas of LMU. With campusLMU, the entire academic journey will be digitally supported in the future—from the application process through the course of study to graduation. A project of this magnitude requires not only powerful digital solutions but also a deep understanding of the needs and experiences of the people who will eventually use these solutions.
This is exactly where ten project courses offered by the School of Business Administration came into play during the summer semester. Instead of collaborating with companies, as is customary, the students turned their attention to their own university this time: In various projects, they developed solutions and concepts for specific challenges related to campusLMU.
From the Student Journey to Go-Live
The topics covered were as diverse as the challenges of the university-wide digitalization project. Among other things, the students developed ideas for support chatbots, analyzed pain points along the student journey, created training concepts for staff, and devised marketing strategies for the go-live of campusLMU.
The focus was not merely on developing theoretical concepts. The students engaged intensively with the question of how digital processes function from the perspective of their future users—and where there is room for improvement.
The Students’ Perspective as a Particular Strength
It was precisely this perspective that proved to be particularly valuable. The students themselves are among those who will use many of the new digital processes in the future. They are familiar with existing workflows from their own experience and can therefore view challenges and expectations from a direct user’s perspective.
The results of the project courses thus provide valuable insights for further work on campusLMU. At the same time, they demonstrate the potential of actively involving students in university transformation and digitization projects.
Teaching Meets University Practice
The initiative brings together two perspectives: Students can apply the knowledge they have acquired during their studies to a real-world challenge while simultaneously making a concrete contribution to the further development of their university. For campusLMU, in turn, the collaboration opens up new perspectives and provides additional ideas for implementing the project.
As such, the initiative also serves as an example of how practice-oriented teaching and strategic development at the university can be linked.
The LMU Munich School of Management would like to thank all participating master’s students as well as the instructors of the project courses for their commitment and numerous valuable contributions. Special thanks go to Dr. Manfred Schwaiger and the participating professors Stefan Feuerriegel, Martin Hoegl, Christian Hofmann, Andreas Richter, Marko Sarstedt, Jelena Spanjol, Martin Spann, and Anja Tuschke.
The ten project courses impressively demonstrate that students are not merely users of the digital university of tomorrow—they can actively help shape its development.
Further information on campusLMU.