In the key research area Digital Humanities, Paderborn's Computer Science and Humanities are breaking new ground together. Research in the field of humanities raises new challenges for computer science, e.g. in the research of non-standard data. Conversely, the digital processing and analysis of research objects leads cultural studies to a significant expansion and reflection of its canon of methods. A particular focus of cooperation is on the interdisciplinary development of technology and methods as well as on the development of data and coding standards for the cultural sciences - the latter in discourse with the relevant international standardisation initiatives and the corresponding committees, institutions and alliances.

How humanities and computer science can successfully conduct research in constant mutual exchange can be seen, for example, in the Zentrum Musik – Edition – Medien (ZenMEM), where edition approaches in musicology and media studies are further developed through new data formats, visualisation procedures and analysis methods. Moreover, in Paderborn, methods of machine learning expand the spectrum of data-driven possibilities for gaining new insights in the field of Digital Humanities. The variety of textual and hybrid data covered in Paderborn's cultural sciences (including graphic novels and graffiti) in combination with the broad spectrum of computer science research contributes to the development of a specific Digital Humanities research profile at Paderborn.