2019
Prof. Dr. Thomas Laepple
Faculty 05 – Geosciences
Thomas Laepple has also been a professor of earth system diagnostics within the Faculty of Geosciences since November 2019. His appointment was made in cooperation with the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Laepple studied physics at the University of Hamburg and subsequently completed his doctoral studies at the University of Bremen in 2009. He then carried out research at AWI in Bremerhaven and also as a Feodor Lynen Fellow at Harvard University. From 2013, Laepple led a Helmholtz Young Investigator Group at AWI in Potsdam, where he received an ERC Starting Grant in 2017. The core of his research consists of the characterization of the conditions and dynamics of earth systems based on geological and instrumental data in order to better predict the future developments under the influence of humans.
Prof. Dr. Kerstin Knopf
Faculty 10 – Linguistics and Literary Studies
Professor Kerstin Knopf was chosen as President Elect for the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS), which is located in Ottawa. From June 2021, she will lead the organization’s work as president for two years. The ICCS is the umbrella organization of all national and interregional Canadian Studies societies in the world. The largest of those are the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS), the Indian Association for Canadian Studies (IACS), and the Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries (GKS). Knopf holds a professorship for North-American and postcolonial literature and cultural sciences at the University of Bremen and was vice president and president of the GKS between 2015 and 2019.
Prof. Dr. Frank Oliver Glöckner
Faculty 05 – Geosciences
Since November 2019, Frank Oliver Glöckner has been a professor for the field of earth systems data science within the Faculty of Geosciences. His appointment was made in cooperation with the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Frank Oliver Glöckner is an internationally renowned researcher and expert for environmental and genomic data, who has contributed significantly to scientific data infrastructures in earth science research for many years. After his degree and PhD studies in the field of microbial ecology at the TU Munich, Frank Oliver Glöckner moved to the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. He led a project group on microbial genomics, amongst others, there and subsequently became the head of the Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics working group. Frank OliverGlöckner was a professor for bioinformatics at the Jacobs University from 2010 onwards.
Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann
Faculty 09 – Cultural Studies
Cornelius Puschmann is a professor of communication and media science with a focus on digital communication at ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information research. His focus is on digital media usage based on computer-aided analysis methods, for example for research into hate speech and the role of algorithmic personalization in the use of news. Between 2014 and 2015, he held a professorship of communication science with a focus on digital science at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. From March to September 2016, he carried out research within the Networks of Outrage: Mapping the emergence of new extremism in Europe project at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and subsequently moved to the Leibniz Institute for Media Research in 2016. Cornelius Puschmann has been a guest scientist at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, amongst other locations.
Prof. Dr. Joris Lammers
Faculty 11 – Human and Health Sciences
Joris Lammers has been a professor of social psychology and labor and organizational psychology within the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences since October 2019. His research is characterized by a combination of experimental quantitive methods and an interest in important societal phenomena. Lammers’ current focus is placed on communication surrounding climate change. He is investigating newpossibilities of how climate change denial and skepticism can be better confronted in public discourse. After his PhD studies at the University of Groningen (Netherlands), Lammers worked as a scientific assistant at the universities of Tilburg and Cologne.
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Siebertz
Faculty 03 – Mathematics / Computer Science
Professor Sebastian Siebertz took over the Theoretical Computer Science working group within the Faculty of Mathematics/Computer Science in September 2019. After having grown up in Cologne, Siebertz studied computer science at RWTH Aachen until 2011. He then moved to the TU Berlin and attained his PhD in 2015, after one year of parental leave. His postdoctoral period was spent at the TU Berlin, University of Warsaw, and the Humboldt University in Berlin. In the frame of his professorship, he wishes to provide students with a sound theoretical foundation for their further computer science studies and hopes to motivate them to solve complex problems systematically. He deals with efficient algorithms for graphs and application of logic in computer science within his research.
Prof. Dr. Anja Starke
Faculty 12 – Pedagogy and Educational Sciences
Anja Starke has been a professor of inclusive pedagogy with a focus on language within the Faculty of Pedagogy and Educational Sciences since September 2019. She studied rehabilitation pedagogy and clinical linguistics at the universities in Dortmund and Bielefeld. From 2011 onwards, she held as position as a scientific assistant at the TU Dortmund, where she completed her PhD on the topic of selective mutism in multilingual children. She investigated the connection between linguistic and mathematical abilities of children and also the possibilities for language development in inclusive educational contexts at the universities in Dortmund and Potsdam. In Bremen, she would like to answer the question of how children with speech problems can be effectively supported in inclusive educational situations.
Prof. Dr. Janine Kirstein
Faculty 02 - Biology / Chemistry
Since August 2019, Janine Kirstein has been a newly appointed professor of cell biology within the Faculty of Biology/Chemistry. She studied biology at the University of Greifswald and subsequently moved to Heidelberg for her PhD and then to Berlin, where she completed her doctoral studies at FU Berlin on the biochemical characterization of molecular chaperones in 2007. From 2008 to 2013, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Northwestern University in Chicago (USA), prior to establishing her own working group at the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin. There, she was a project leader in the NeuroCure excellence cluster. Janine Kirstein carries our research into the molecular mechanisms of protein folding. She is also interested in how mistakes in protein quality control can lead to neurodegenerative diseases.
Prof. Dr. Tim Stauch
Faculty 02 – Biology / Chemistry
Tim Stauch has been working as a junior professor of theoretical chemistry at the University of Bremen since July 2019. He studied chemistry at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and completed his PhD studies in theoretical chemistry at the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg in 2016. Subsequently, he worked for two years a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. In his research he focuses on the properties of molecules under various external influences such as pressure and force. Some of these molecules change their color or their magnetic properties under external influences and are therefore often applied in innovative materials. Tim Stauch develops computational methods for the calculation and optimization of these processes.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Loy
Faculty 07 – Business Studies and Economics
Thomas Loy took on the professorship for Management Accounting & Information Systems within the Faculty of Business Studies & Economics in June 2019. His research is focused on management accounting, especially cost management, accounting, and financial reporting, as well as their economic effects. Additionally, he deals with the structure of the audit market and the tr aining of auditors. Loy read business studies at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and at the Xavier University in Cincinnati (OH, USA). In 2014, he acquired his PhD with work on the accounting policy behavior of SME and worked as a junior professor of auditing at the University of Bayreuth until May 2019. Within the Diginomics graduate group, Loy is investigating issues at the interface between accounting, the financial system, and artificial intelligence.
Prof. Dr. Elda Miramontes Garcia
Faculty 05 – Geosciences
Elda Miramontes García was appointed junior professor for sedimentology in the Geosciences faculty and at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen in June 2019. She studied marine sciences at Vigo University (Spain) from 2008 to 2013 and researched submarine slides and deep-sea sediment dynamics from 2013 to 2016. García completed her doctorate as an assistant at the Ifremer National Institute for Ocean Science at Brest University (France) in 2016. She was also a postdoc at the Ifremer National Institute for Ocean Science and the University of Bremen between 2017 and 2019. During this time, she absolved a research stay at the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University. Her research interests lie in the formation of sedimentary systems in the deep sea with special focus on the influence of seabed currents on deposition processes.
Prof. Dr. Bettina von Helversen
Faculty 11 – Human und Health Sciences
Bettina von Helversen was appointed professor of general psychology at the new Department of Psychology of the University of Bremen in May 2019. After studying psychology at Erlangen University, she completed her doctorate at the Humboldt University of Berlin with a scholarship from the IMPRS LIFE PhD program at the Max-Planck Institute of Human Development in Berlin. She habilitated at the University of Basel (Switzerland) in 2015, where she worked as research assistant from 2009 to 2016. She subsequently held a SNSF professorship of the Swiss National Science Foundation for cognitive decision-making psychology at the University of Zürich (Switzerland). Her research focusses on how people make judgements and decisions. She is especially interested in which factors influence decision-making behavior and which implications this has for applied decisions.
Prof. Dr. Aseem Kinra
Faculty 07 – Business Studies and Economics
Aseem Kinra was appointed Professor for Global Supply Chain Management at Uni Bremen since May 2019. He graduated from the Delhi University followed by a master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration and Ph.D. at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark. There he also went on to receive his tenure as an Associate professor and lead the Graduate Diploma program in Supply Chain Management. His research focuses on value, barriers and complexity in cross-border supply chains, especially in relation to logistics and transportation systems. Moreover, he researches the applicability and adoption of various information and transportation technologies in this context, both within private and public-sector management. Aseem is one of the founding members of the World Conference on Transportation Research Society (WCTRS) Special Interest Group E1 on Transport Systems Analysis and Economic Evaluation.
Prof. Dr. Michael Rochlitz
Faculty 07 – Business Studies and Economics
Michael Rochlitz has been professor of economics with a focus on institutional economics within the Faculty of Business Studies & Economics at the University of Bremen since April 2019. He studied development studies and development economics in Paris and London. He completed his PhD on the topic of relationships between states and the economy in the regions of Russia at IMT Lucca (Italy). Between 2012 to 2017, Rochlitz worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Yekaterinburg and then as a junior professor in Moscow. During this time, he carried out research on the economic transformation processes in Russia and China. Most recently, he worked as a research fellow for two years at the LMU Munich. Within his research, Rochlitz investigates how political institutions influence economic developments and he places a special focus on ownership rights, bureaucratic incentive structures, industrial policy, and media censorship in Russia and China.
Prof. Dr Markus Janczyk
Faculty 11 – Human and Health Sciences
Markus Janczyk has been professor of research methods and evaluation and head of the working group “Research Methods and Cognitive Psychology” at the newly established Department of Psychology in the Human and Health Sciences faculty since April 2019. In 2003, he completed the first state exam for the teaching degree for special needs schools at the Heidelberg University of Education before studying psychology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Nevada at Reno (USA) where he completed his diploma in 2008. After receiving his doctorate in 2010 at the Technical University of Dortmund, he habilitated at the University of Würzburg in 2014 with a dissertation on experimental works on human behavior. Between 2014 and 2019, he was junior professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Tübingen. His main areas of research include behavior planning and multi-tasking, memory, as well as the understanding of language. He also deals with the formal modelling of cognitive processes and the problems of applied statistics in the context of empirical research.
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Brühne
Faculty 10 – Linguistics and Literary Studies
Julia Brühne took the position of Junior Professor of Transnational Media and Literature Sciences at the University of Bremen in May 2019. She previously studied romance languages, American studies and theatre studies in Munich and Santiago de Compostela (Spain). In 2009, she moved to the University of Mainz where she completed her PhD dissertation "¡Bienvenido neorrealismo! Politics, Subject and Libido" in 2014. She was then a research assistant and lecturer with specific duties in the fields of romantic literature and culture studies in Mainz. Brühne is especially interested in the question of how past and present social crises are mirrored, duplicated, banned or changed in literature, film, series, art or social media. Amongst other things, she is doing research into the forms of (post)revolutionary sovereignty and jouissance in French and Latin America, as well as modern, postmodern and contemporary expressions of film and pop culture and their relationships to the political imagination in the USA, Germany and Latin Europe.
Prof. Dr. Norman Sieroka
Faculty 9 – Cultural Studies
Since April 2019, Norman Sieroka has been Professor of Theoretical Philosophy in the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the University of Bremen. After having grown up in Teufelsmoor near to Bremen, he studied philosophy, physics and mathematics at the Universities of Heidelberg and Cambridge. He completed a doctorate in physics and in philosophy and amongst other achievements, was a visiting professor at the Department of Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame (USA) and an associated member of the Center of History of Knowledge in Zürich. Between 2014 and 2019, he was employed at the ETH Zürich, where he remains a member of the directory boards of the Turing Centre and the governance board of the “rethink” initiative. Norman Sieroka carries out research into the topics of time, natural philosophy, philosophy of the mind and philosophy and history or physics, mathematics and modern data science. He is especially interested in the behavior and interplay between varying forms of time and also the variations and similarities in the methods and findings strategies of different individual sciences.
Prof. Dr. Björn Rost
Faculty 2 – Biology/Chemistry
Björn Rost accepted the Professorship of Phytoplankton Ecophysiology in the Faculty of Biology/Chemistry at the University of Bremen in April 2019. Alongside his work at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine research (AWI), Rost has been teaching at the university since 2010. After his biology degree at the University of Hamburg, he completed a PhD dealing with the carbon acquisition of calcifying microalgae in Bremen in 2003. The European Research Council awarded him an ERC Starting Grant in 2008. Since 2015, Rost has been the deputy director of the Marine Biogeosciences Section at AWI. His research investigates molecular, physiological, and ecological processes in marine phytoplankton in order to be able to better foresee their reactions to climate change. His expertise is also being included in the sixth assessment report of the IPCC as leading author.
Prof. Dr. Arndt Wonka
Faculty 8 – Social Sciences
Before Arndt Wonka accepted the role as Professor for European Political and Social Sciences at the Institute for European Studies in April 2019, he had worked at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences for 10 years. His scientific career began with a degree in political science, sociology and law at the University of Konstanz and York University Toronto. His PhD then led him to the University of Mannheim and he spent his postdoc years at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna and the Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung (Mannheim Center for European Social Research). In the frame of his professorship, he hopes to provide the students with the necessary social scientific theories and methods so that they are able to view the European Union and the communities and countries in Europe from different perspectives in an analytical manner. In his own research, based upon political mobilization by varying interest groups and political parties, he analyzes if and how the interests of differing social and political groups find their way into the politics of the EU.
Prof. Dr. Patrick Sachweh
Faculty 8 – Social Sciences
In April 2019, Patrick Sachweh was appointed Professor of Sociology with a focus on Comparative Social Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences and is now a member of SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy at the University of Bremen. After his degree in social sciences at the Universities of Mannheim and Bloomington (USA), he completed his PhD in 2009 at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) with a dissertation on the topic of interpretive patterns of social inequality. During his postdoc years, he carried out research and taught at both the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne and at the Goethe University Frankfurt at the Institute for Sociology there and also within the excellence cluster “Normative Orders”. His research deals with the change in inequality, welfare state and economy from national and international, comparative perspectives. A particular focus is placed upon ideas of justice, openness to solidarity and conflict potential in modern welfare states. In Bremen, he will deal with conflicts of values and sociocultural polarizations in the middle class and also social discourse on the taxation of wealth.
Prof. Dr. Cornelius Torp
Faculty 8 – Social Sciences
Cornelius Torp was appointed Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Bremen in March 2019. After having studied history, business studies and sociology, including a stay at the London School of Economics (LSE), he completed his PhD concerning the first wave of globalization before 1914 and its effect on the German economy and politics in 2004. Prior to his habilitation at the University of Halle in 2014, his career led him to the European University Institute in Florence and the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies. His last position was as a substitute professor at the FU Berlin, LMU Munich and the University of Augsburg and holder of the Hannah-Arendt Visiting Chair at the University of Toronto. In Bremen, Cornelius Torp hopes to deepen his work with the history of the welfare state and of age; a further focus of his work lies with history of protectionism and a global history of gambling in modern times.
Prof. Dr. Nina Heinrichs
Faculty 11 – Human and Health Sciences
Nina Heinrichs was appointed Professor for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the new Institute for Psychology of the University of Bremen in January. The focal point of her work is anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders in children and prevention and early intervention in couples and families. She graduated in Psychology at the Philipps University of Marburg and completed her doctorate at Boston University (USA). From 2007 to 2012, she was the University Professor for Child and Youth Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Bielefeld. She founded a university outpatient clinic there for children, young people and their families there. At the end of 2012, she became Professor for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Technical University of Braunschweig.