Schwerpunktprofessur

Overview

With its PRO4-HSRW program, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) strengthens the promotion of young scientists with the aim of further developing the career path to a professorship at a University of Applied Sciences (UAS).

In the program, the HSRW aims not only to address individual challenges of career development and personnel recruitment, but also to offer an innovative concept that 1) has a career development scenario in mind, 2) university policy developments (doctorates at the UAS, internationalization, strengthening knowledge transfer and research at UAS) and 3) specifically developing a holistic view of equality and diversity, which is of fundamental importance for the current challenges of personnel recruitment.

With this four-stage PRO4-HSRW program, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) strengthens the promotion of scientists at a University of Applied Sciences (UAS). The fourth stage of the project is the creation of Research Focus Professorships.

Research Professor for AI in Study and Teaching 
ST 2025 - WT2025/26

As part of the project, four HSRW professors - Prof. Dr. Joachim Fensterle, Prof. Alexander Gerber, Prof. Dr. Matthias Krauledat and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pfeiffer - have now been appointed to a Research Professor in the field of artificial intelligence in study and teaching.

The aim of the cross-faculty collaboration between four professors, who contribute their expertise in AI as a group, is to pave the way for students and teachers at the university to use and evaluate AI in a meaningful and responsible way and to further develop learning and teaching on this basis. The focus here is on an interdisciplinary approach that offers opportunities for all teaching staff at the university to find points of contact for the meaningful integration of AI tools in studies and teaching. At the same time, different approaches to AI must be considered against a disciplinary background, which is derived from different weightings of the dimensions of further development, use and critical consideration of AI.

Prof. Dr. Joachim Fensterle
Faculty of Life Sciences

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Die Faszination des Lebens begeisterte Fensterle bereits während seiner Schulzeit in seinem oberschwäbischen Geburtsort Riedlingen an der Donau. Schon damals war für ihn klar, dass er möglichst viel über die molekularen Grundlagen des Lebens erfahren möchte. Nach seinem Zivildienst als Rettungssanitäter begann er daher sein Studium der Biotechnologie an der Technischen Universität Braunschweig. Nach dem Vordiplom wechselte er an eine französische „Grand Ecole“, die École Supérieure de Biotechnologie (ESBS) in Straßburg. Neben der internationalen Atmosphäre begeisterte ihn dort auch das direkte Betreuungsverhältnis zwischen den Studenten und Professoren. Seine immunologisch / infektionsbiologisch geprägte Diplomarbeit absolvierte er schließlich in der Forschungsabteilung der Firma Chiron-Biocine in Siena / Italien.

Seine Leidenschaft für das molekulare Zusammenspiel von mikrobioellen Pathogenen mit dem Wirtsorganismus und die daraus ableitbaren gezielten Angriffsmöglichkeiten durch das Immunsystem führten ihn dann zur Promotion an das Max-Planck Institut für Infektionsbiologie nach Berlin. Dort arbeitete er unter anderem mit verschiedenen bakteriellen Pathogenen wie Salmonellen, Listerien oder dem Tuberkulose-Erreger Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 

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Prof. Alexander Gerber
Professor for Science Communication
Faculty of Communication and Environment

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Prof. Gerber has supervised science communication evaluation projects for national and regional governments, in his function as Research Director of the Institute for Science and Innovation Communication (inscico), which is also part of the recently-launched EU Green Deal project AURORA on environmental impacts monitoring. In 2011, he initiated and coordinated the first "Trend Study" on Science Communication (Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft), followed by another edition in 2018.

Before joining Rhine-Waal University, Prof. Gerber has worked as a science journalist / author / film director, and later became Head of Marketing & Communications at Fraunhofer Group (ICT) for seven years. He also founded and served as editor-in-chief of InnoVisions Magazine. Prof. Gerber serves on various Advisory Boards, for instance for the European Food Information Council and the regional chamber of commerce's (IHK) Research & Innovation Committee. 

Third-party funded project acquired for the Research Professorship: Sokratest

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Prof. Dr. Matthias Krauledat 
Professor for Informatik
Faculty of Technology and Bionics

Born in Essen, Matthias Krauledat studied Mathematics with second subject Computer Science in Münster and Oxford. In the course of his studies, he also visited the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. After his research at the “Intelligent Data Analysis” group at TU Berlin (in cooperation with Fraunhofer FIRST), he received his doctoral degree from the faculty Elektrotechnik/Informatik on the topic “Brain-Computer Interface”.

In his industrial career, he developed algorithmic software on the basis of multivariate signal processing methods and machine learning. He worked in the department “Scientific Computing” at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and in the departments “Optical Measurement Technologies” and “Machine Diagnosis” at DMT GmbH & Co. KG (TÜV Nord Group).

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Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pfeiffer
Professor for Digitale Transformation
Faculty of Society and Economics

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Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pfeiffer studied cognitive science, computational linguistics and neuroscience in Osnabrück, Saarbrücken and Tübingen. He received his doctorate from the University of Cologne on the topic of "Human-Machine Interaction" and dealt with the neuropsychological foundations of social interaction in virtual space. After research stays in Canada and Switzerland, he held various leadership positions in the public sector dealing with topics at the interface of digitalization, strategy and organizational development. Afterwards, as part of the management team of an IT and digitalization consultancy, he advised medium-sized companies and large international corporations on digital strategy, information security and new work. He is a key note speaker on topics related to the future of work and its transformation through Artificial Intelligence.

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Research Professor for the Thematic Area of Equality/Participation/Diversity/Inclusion
SS 2025 - WS2025/26

As part of the project, four HSRW professors - Prof. Dr. Klaus Hegemann, Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Hinterhuber, Prof. Dr. Achim Kehrein, Prof. PD Dr.-Ing. Sylvia Moenickes - have now been appointed to a research professors in the thematic area of equality/participation/diversity/inclusion.

The aim of the cross-faculty collaboration between four professorships in the context of participation, inclusion, diversity and equality is to show students and lecturers at the university interdisciplinary ways in which the heterogeneity of students and lecturers can be sensitively taken into account in teaching. The aim is to develop practical recommendations that also show lecturers who are not involved in social science social analysis to what extent participation/equality/inclusion/diversity play a role in their exemplary role as lecturers and in their professionalism and how these aspects can be dealt with profitably. Best practice examples, interdisciplinary perspectives, advisory services and teaching/learning materials should help to permanently anchor the goals of equality and ensuring participation in teaching and offer lecturers the support they need without having to give up their focus on their professionalism.

Prof. Dr. Klaus Hegemann
Faculty of Communication and Environment

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Die Beobachtung der gesellschaftlichen Systeme Ökonomie, Politik und Ethik sind Inhalt der Forschungs- und Lehrtätigkeit des Financial Planners und Politikwissenschaftlers Klaus Hegemann. Im Zentrum stehen immer die „System-Fragen“: Wie fügen sich Ökonomie, Politik und Ethik zusammen? Klaus Hegemann lehrt als Professor für Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre mit Schwerpunkt Wirtschaftsethik und CSR an der Hochschule Rhein-Waal im Studiengang „International Business Administration“. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf den Themen Wirtschaftsethik und Corporate Social Responsibility. In seinen aktuellen Forschungsprojekten befasst er sich mit Fragestellungen, die sich aufgrund der demographischen Entwicklung in industrialisierten Staaten ergeben, insbesondere mit Blick auf die Wechselwirkungen von Maßnahmen in Umwelt, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Rahmen transformativer Handlungen.

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Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Hinterhuber
Faculty of Society and Economics

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Prof. Dr. Achim Kehrein
Faculty of Technology and Bionics

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Prof. Kehrein studied Mathematics as his major and Physics as his minor across four different countries. He mainly studied at the University of Duisburg and used staggered semesters to attend lectures at Leiden University in the Netherlands. There, he lived for several weeks with a Dutch host family. With an Erasmus scholarship, he completed a year abroad at the University of Leuven in Belgium. After completing his diploma in Duisburg, he earned a PhD in Mathematics at Auburn University in the USA. While in Alabama, he also engaged with the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Prof. Kehrein is a trusted lecturer for the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and has led the workshop "Studying and Working Abroad" for FH scholars. Both as a trusted lecturer and privately, he has been involved with diversity, equality, inclusion, and participation. The life stories of his grandmother, mother, wife, and daughter show him how equality has improved over the past four generations, but also that much still needs to be done.

Prof. PD Dr.-Ing. Sylvia Moenickes
Faculty of Life Sciences