Peter Salden,director of Ruhr-University’s Center for Teaching and Learning, has traveled throughout the United States to focus on issues related to AI.
Trip to the U.S.
Insights into the Land of AI
Peter Salden shares his personal impressions from a trip to the U.S. with Ina Brandes, Minister of Science for North Rhine-Westphalia.
North Rhine-Westfalia’s Minister of Culture and Science Ina Brandes visited the USA in March 2026, accompanied by six AI-specialised scientists from NRW universities. The aim: to gain insights into changes in the labour market and science caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI) – and to do so where the pace for these developments is currently set. What political frameworks are the USA setting? What is changing in the practice of educational institutions? And what interrelationships exist between the scientific world and the business world? Dr. Peter Salden, director of Ruhr-University’s Center for Teaching and Learning, was part of the delegation.
In the blog of the Center for Science Education, he reports on the trip. He outlines the U.S. government’s strongly innovation-friendly stance, as well as its relationship to Europe’s desire for AI sovereignty; the American approach to AI in education; and the interconnection between business, politics, and academia. As he writes, he was impressed by the enthusiasm for experimentation, the commitment to evidence-based practice, and the efforts to professionalize the staff – and he is confident that European universities need not lag behind in these areas.