I am a Full Professor of Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems at the University of Oldenburg and a member of the Board of Directors of the OFFIS Institute for Information Technology in Oldenburg, Germany. My academic journey has taken me from becoming a Mathematical Technical Assistant, an apprenticeship that I started after my A-levels, through education at the TU Darmstadt, then to Ulm, to Vienna and finally to Oldenburg, where I have been researching and living for over twenty years now.
Academic Positions
Full Professor Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems (W3)
University of Oldenburg | since 2013
In 2013, I accepted the offer of a Full Professorship in Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems at the University of Oldenburg. I continued and extended my research in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) with applications in future mobility, health, production and digital society. I am currently coordinating the Master’s programme in Engineering Socio-Technical Systems.
Associate Professor Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems (W2)
University of Oldenburg | 2006 – 2012
In 2006, I was appointed Associate Professor of Media Informatics and Multimedia Systems. During this time, I established the field of interactive multimedia systems and human-computer interaction in the Department of Computer Science and developed a comprehensive curriculum in this area in the computer science degree programs of CS department.
Assistant Professor Multimedia and Internet Technologies (W1)
University of Oldenburg | 2002 – 2006
In 2002, I was appointed Assistant Professor for Multimedia and Internet Technologies at the University of Oldenburg. I was one of the first Assistant Professors in Germany and the first to be appointed at the University of Oldenburg.
Scientific Research Assistant
University of Vienna | 2000 – 2002
University of Ulm | 1996 – 2000
GMD – IPSI | 1995 – 1996
As part of my doctoral thesis, I conducted research at various scientific institutions from the GMD Darmstadt to the University of Ulm and the University of Vienna in Austria. This gave me an excellent insight into the academic work of different universities and I was able to gain experience at national and international level. In 2001, I completed my doctorate in technical sciences at the Vienna University of Technology with distinction.
Academic Degrees
Diploma in Computer Science (Dipl.-Inform.), Technical University of Darmstadt, 1996
Graduated with distinction
I received my diploma degree with distinction in computer science from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany in 1996, which is one of the nine leading technical universities (TU9) in Germany. My diploma thesis was awarded the “Best Diploma Thesis 1996” prize of the German National Research Center for Information Technology GMD, a research institute which later became part of Fraunhofer Society.
Doctorate in Computer Science (Dr. techn.), Technical University of Vienna, 2001
Graduated with distinction
In 2001, I received my doctorate with distinction in Computer Science from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. Key elements of the work from my dissertation and research were accepted for the Proceedings of the IFIP Conference on Data Semantics in 1999 and selected for publication in the renowned journal ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications.
Studies, exchange and apprenticeship
Studies in Computer Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt | 1989 – 1996
Studied computer science at the TU Darmstadt with a minor in sport and English. My diploma thesis focused on interactive multimedia database systems, supervised by Prof. Erich Neuhold.
Exchange student at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK | 1993 – 1994
I was an exchange student at the University of Surrey, UK, unter the ERASMUS Program of the German Academic Exchange Service.
Training as a mathematical-technical assistant at Degussa AG | 1986 – 1989
After completing my Abitur (A-levels), I trained as a mathematical-technical assistant. This basic computer science training in industry combined very well with my aptitude for mathematics and computer science and laid an excellent foundation for my later computer science studies.