gms | German Medical Science

The Zeppelin Project is a module in the first and second semester of study, which is obligatory for all undergraduate study programs at Zeppelin University. As part of this module students must develop a research question within small groups and elaborate this question by using scientific theories and methods. During the conceptualization and implementation of the research project students will be monitored by lecturers of introductory courses and method workshops. Each group will also be intensely supported by an academic supervisor.

Furthermore, the Zeppelin Project is designed as a interdisciplinary module. Within the introductory courses all students receive input from a political science, economics, sociological as well as communication and cultural science perspective embedded in the annual motto of the Zeppelin Project. Within their research projects students are free to decide if they want to elaborate their research question in a subject-specific or multidisciplinary way.

The resume of our six-year experience with the Zeppelin Project in the field of undergraduate research within the orientation phase of the study is as follows: The high effort for students as well as for lecturers perhaps does not pay off immediately. But positive effects on autonomous scientific working and the deliberate design of the further study can be perceived in the course of studies.