heyProf – an AI-based teaching and learning platform at Reutlingen University

What if students had access at any time to a smart AI tutor who knew the lecture content inside out – even late at night before an exam or whilst studying on the go?

Rethinking digital higher education

At Reutlingen University, this vision is currently becoming a reality. Since the summer semester of 2026, “heyProf” – an experimental AI-based teaching and learning platform for higher education – has been in trial operation.

The prototype was developed by Prof. Dr Dirk Schieborn and Prof. Dr Volker Reichenberger. Both are professors of Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics and Computer Science at the NXT Sustainability and Technology Faculty. The platform is being further refined and expanded in cooperation with Reutlingen University.

AI tutor for personalised learning

The platform brings together all teaching and learning materials for a course in one central location:

lecture notes
PDFs and presentations
handwritten and digital lecture notes
exercises and practice exams
interactive visualisations
audio recordings of lectures

At the heart of heyProf is an intelligent AI tutor that can access this content and provide students with personalised learning support.

KI-Tutor

Die KI erklärt Inhalte adressatengerecht und passt sich dem Wissensstand der Lernenden an – von einfachen Erklärungen bis hin zu fachlich detaillierten Ausarbeitungen im Lehrbuchstil. Unklare Begriffe, komplexe Zusammenhänge oder schwierige Tafelbilder werden verständlich aufbereitet und im Dialog erklärt.

Dabei versteht sich heyProf nicht als generischer KI-Chatbot, sondern als lernbegleitender Tutor, der sowohl die Inhalte der Lehrveranstaltung als auch den individuellen Lehrstil der Professorinnen und Professoren kennt.

Personalised AI in higher education

The project focuses on the question of how modern AI technologies can usefully complement digital higher education.

The aim is to support students in a motivating and accessible learning environment that is tailored to their individual needs. For example, AI can explain content in a factual, creative, visual or informal way – depending on which learning style is most helpful at the time.

Research and Innovation at Reutlingen University

With heyProf, Reutlingen University is exploring new approaches to AI-supported knowledge transfer and personalised digital teaching.

The project demonstrates how artificial intelligence can support students in their learning process and effectively complement traditional lectures – in a practical, interactive and personalised way.

“Our aim is to develop the best possible digital environment, guided by the motto ‘teach – study – grow – together’, which provides an attractive, state-of-the-art platform for teaching content to be presented by lecturers. At the same time, it should provide our students with a home where the learning content, a ‘digital twin of the professor’ and their fellow students are available at all times. And one that caters entirely to each student’s individual needs, thereby alleviating any fear of complex content.”

Prof. Dr. Dirk Schieborn and Prof. Dr. Volker Reichenberger
Founders of "heyProf" and professors at the NXT Faculty of Sustainability and Technology

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