GAIA – Individual Learning Pathways through AI
GAIA (Generative Artificial Intelligence Agent) is a project of Universität Göttingen: we are developing an AI-supported personal tutor that accompanies students individually in their learning.
Together with GWDG, we combine AI technology with didactic development: compliant with data protection regulations, accessible, and designed to meet the needs of a diverse student body.
Student populations at universities are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of prior knowledge, learning pace, and language proficiency. Traditional teaching formats can only partially meet these individual needs. At the same time, students are increasingly using AI tools such as general chatbots without any didactic integration.
This is where GAIA comes in: as a university-owned AI tutor, GAIA offers a reliable, data-protection-compliant, and didactically sound alternative. Our goal is to harness the potential of artificial intelligence for higher education and thereby open up new possibilities for students and instructors that go beyond the capabilities of general chatbots.
GAIA will accompany students as a personal tutor throughout the entire learning process. GAIA will identify individual competency levels (knowledge tracing) and dynamically adapt tasks, hints, and explanations to learners’ progress. Students will interact with GAIA via text or speech in a natural, dialogic format that encourages reflection instead of providing ready-made answers. GAIA will prepare course scripts. Regular, individualized feedback will support self-assessment. Gamified elements will promote learning motivation. GAIA runs on the infrastructure of GWDG. Accessibility will be taken into account in both design and functionality from the very beginning. Your personal tutor. GAIA supports you individually: when working on assignments, preparing for exams, and especially when you get stuck. GAIA does not replace your lecturers, but complements teaching with a personal learning companion that is available at any time. Would you like to help shape the project? We are looking for students to provide feedback in focus groups. More room for good teaching. GAIA supports instructors in integrating individualized teaching into their courses, including in large groups. Instructors will also receive anonymized, aggregated insights into learning processes, enabling them to further develop their teaching on a data-informed basis. Would you like to use GAIA in your teaching? Starting with the spreading phase (see below), you can apply through internal university calls. Before that, we will offer workshops and information days. Testing GAIA in seven selected courses (Signature Classes) from different faculties and teaching-learning formats. Sharing the experiences from the pilot phase with the entire university: through workshops, guides, templates, and information days. Internal university calls for all instructors at the university: additional courses will integrate GAIA. Goal: GAIA is accessible to all students. Throughout all phases, we scientifically evaluate the effectiveness of GAIA at the level of students, instructors, and the university. GAIA is supported by an interdisciplinary team of instructors, researchers, students, and IT experts from Universität Göttingen and GWDG.
Project Leadership
Project Coordination
Project Leadership for Didactic Integration and Evaluation of Effectiveness
Project Leadership for Development A Steering Committee consisting of instructors, students, academic advisors, and experts from different faculties will provide strategic support for the project. 21.04.2026 The GAIA project will provide information through contributions at the university-wide day on AI in studies and teaching (KI:SL) on 21.04.2026 in the ZHG. We look forward to your visit and participation. 01.10.2025 Universität Göttingen is developing GAIA, an AI-based tutor for personalized learning.
The GAIA project is funded by:
GAIA thrives on the participation of all university members. Whether you are an instructor who would like to integrate GAIA into your course, a student who would like to test the system or provide feedback, or a researcher interested in the evaluation – we look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
GAIA Project Coordination
Individual Learning Pathways through AI
Why GAIA?
What can GAIA do?
Adaptive Learning Support
Learning through Dialogue
Experience Learning Materials in New Ways
Feedback
Privacy by Design
Accessible from the Start
Who is GAIA for?
For Students
For Instructors
Our Path: Three Phases
Piloting
Seeding
Spreading
Who is behind GAIA?
Prof. Dr. Max Wardetzky
Vice-President for Student and Academic Services
Rosalie Freimann
Prof. Dr. Viola Deutscher
Prof. Dr. Julian Kunkel
News
GAIA at the university-wide day on AI in studies and teaching (KI:SL)
GAIA project launched
Funding
the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre (StIL) as part of the “Lehrarchitektur” funding line.
Project duration:
01.10.2025 - 31.12.2029 (with a possible extension option until 30.09.2031)
Funding volume:
€4.7 million (initially for four years) (possibly + €1.8 million for an additional two years)
Get Involved and Contact
Rosalie Freimann