On July 13, 2023, the University's ITeG hosted Ernestine Dickhaut 's disputation, defending her dissertation entitled "Design Patterns for Lawful Information Systems." A major goal of her dissertation was to advance understanding of the properties and representation of design knowledge and to codify legal design knowledge and make it reusable.

A central contribution of the dissertation is the design of a design pattern framework for developing and assessing legal information systems. This framework was developed using the use case of smart personal assistants and serves to establish lawful principles and proven solutions for the design of such systems.

The implications of Ernestine Dickhaut's disputation can be divided into four main points. First, her dissertation involves the analysis of design knowledge to gain a better understanding of its meaning and application. Second, she has developed and evaluated legal design patterns to provide guidance to information systems developers and legal advisors. The third point concerns the added value of design patterns for development and legal negotiations. By using design patterns, development processes can be made more efficient and legal negotiations can be better supported. Finally, it has codified design knowledge in interdisciplinary teams to enable better collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Following her successful disputation, Professor Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister and the examination committee congratulated Ernestine Dickhaut warmly and, in keeping with tradition at the department, presented her with a doctoral hat individually designed by the department's academic staff. The hat symbolizes common experiences and special characteristics of the newly graduated doctor and is a sign of recognition for the achievement.