Harald Zapf is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and American Studies at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), specializing in American literature and cultural studies. Affiliated with the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology, he focuses on postcolonial theory, hybridity, and multiculturalism in the Americas. 2002 Lilli Bechmann Rahn Doctoral Prize 2001 Bavarian American Academy Dissertation Prize His research explores intersections of ethnicity, language, and performance in contemporary American poetry, particularly in multilingual and transnational contexts. He has collaborated extensively with Wolfgang Binder and Klaus Lösch on publications examining cultural encounters and hybrid identities. Zapf’s publications span monographs, edited volumes, and critical articles, with a strong emphasis on authors like Ishmael Reed and theoretical frameworks such as rooted cosmopolitanism and deconstruction. His work bridges literary analysis with sociocultural and philosophical discourses.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick is a leading scholar at Bielefeld University, serving as Scientific Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Conflict and Violence Research (IKG) and Professor for Socialization and Conflict Research at the Faculty of Education. He also co-leads the ConflictA initiative since 2023 and contributes to migration education through the Faculty of Education. 2008: Professor for Socialization and Conflict Research, Bielefeld University 2013: Director of IKG 2023: Scientific Head of ConflictA His research focuses on intergroup conflicts , group-based antipathy , right-wing extremism , radicalization , and socialization processes . He investigates spatial dimensions of radicalization, societal integration challenges, and prejudice dynamics through comparative studies. Recent publications analyze radicalization spaces (2024-2025) using spatial sociology, democratic conflict perceptions (2025), and cross-cultural prosocial behavior during pandemics. Key methods include ethnography, longitudinal surveys, and multi-perspective comparative analysis. Scientific contributions recognized by: Communicator Award (2016) Nevitt Sanford Lifetime Award (2022) Active in public policy as member of the Federal Agency for Civic Education's advisory board and Federal Commissioner's Antiracism Expert Council. Leads major projects on radicalization prevention and spatial conflict dynamics with national/international partners.
Rainer Forst is Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt, where he holds positions in both the Institute of Political Science and the Institute of Philosophy. He serves as Director of the Research Center for Normative Orders, Co-speaker of the cluster initiative "ConTrust – Trust in Conflict," Spokesperson of the Leibniz Prize Research Group "Transnational Justice," and Deputy Spokesperson of the Coordinating Institute Frankfurt at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion. Additionally, he is a Permanent Fellow at the Research College for Human Sciences Bad Homburg, Director of the Justitia Center for Advanced Studies, and Head of the Master's program in Political Theory. Since 2017, he has also been a Research Professor of Political Theory at the Social Science Research Center (WZB) in Berlin. Forst received his education studying philosophy, political science, and American studies in Frankfurt/Main, New York, and at Harvard University. His academic journey includes: Ph.D. under Jürgen Habermas with thesis "Contexts of Justice: Political Philosophy Beyond Liberalism and Communitarianism" (1993) Habilitation in 2003 with "Tolerance in Conflict: History, Content, and Present of a Controversial Concept" Professor Forst's research focuses on foundational questions of political philosophy and critical theory. His work centers on justice theory, democracy, toleration, normative orders, and social cohesion. He has developed a distinctive approach he terms "critical constructivism," which builds on Kantian philosophy while engaging with the Frankfurt School tradition of critical theory. His research examines how justification processes form the basis of legitimate political orders and how concepts like solidarity and tolerance function within democratic societies. Forst's work is notable for its systematic integration of historical analysis with normative theory, creating frameworks for understanding contemporary political challenges through the lens of philosophical tradition. His recent publications reveal a growing focus on democratic regression, trust in conflictual societies, and the philosophical foundations of social cohesion. Forst has increasingly addressed the dual crises of democracy - both the political-normative justification crisis and the global structural crisis. His work connects Kantian philosophy with contemporary democratic theory, exploring concepts like the "noumenal republic" as frameworks for understanding justice and legitimacy in complex societies. A consistent thread throughout his scholarship is the examination of how power relations intersect with normative claims in political justification processes. Professor Forst has received significant recognition for his contributions to political philosophy: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (2012), Germany's highest research honor Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy Permanent Fellow at the Research College for Human Sciences Bad Homburg As an educator and mentor, Forst has directed numerous research initiatives and supervised many doctoral students who have gone on to prominent academic positions. He leads the international MA program in Political Theory funded by the German Academic Exchange Service and has established several significant research centers including the Research Center for Normative Orders, the Leibniz Prize Research Group "Transnational Justice," and the Center for Advanced Studies "Justitia Amplificata." His editorial work includes serving as Associate Editor of Ethics and member of editorial boards for numerous prestigious journals including Political Theory and Constellations. Forst's research infrastructure includes the Research Center for Normative Orders, which he directs, and the cluster initiative "ConTrust – Trust in Conflict," which examines political coexistence under conditions of uncertainty. His Leibniz Prize Research Group "Transnational Justice" investigates justice beyond national borders, while the Justitia Center for Advanced Studies serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research on justice-related topics. These institutions form an integrated network supporting collaborative research across philosophy, political science, and law.
Joakim Nivre is a Professor at Uppsala University's Department of Linguistics and Philology. He is a leading researcher in computational linguistics, with a focus on dependency parsing, Universal Dependencies (UD) framework development, and multilingual NLP applications. His recent work explores LLMs in climate change discourse analysis, pharmacovigilance explainability, and historical text processing. Key research areas: Dependency parsing theory, Universal Dependencies standardization, LLM evaluation Collaborations: SweSAT-1.0 benchmark development, ClimateEval project, PARSEME integration His 2025-2023 publications demonstrate expertise in explainable AI for healthcare, synthetic data generation for idioms, and multilingual benchmark design. Notably, he co-developed SweSAT-1.0 to evaluate Swedish LLMs and contributed to typology-informed UD revisions. Despite extensive work in NLP, no scientific awards are mentioned in available texts.
Jonathan Külz is a Researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) , affiliated with the Department of Informatics 6 - Chair for Cyber Physical Systems under Prof. Matthias Althoff. His research focuses on Modular Robotics , Reinforcement Learning , Cyber-Physical Systems , and Control Systems . His work includes algorithmic synthesis of modular robot compositions, model-based manipulator co-design, and unifying benchmarks for robotics. He has supervised multiple Master’s theses Bachelor’s theses Practical courses on topics like Robot Workspace Representation and Dynamic Model Identification . Notable supervised projects include Autonomous Navigation of Reachbot and Task-Based Modular Robot Configuration Synthesis . His recent publications span Robotics , Benchmarking , and Computational Social Science . Key trends include Computationally efficient assessment of robot capabilities Deep reinforcement learning for robotics Analysis of political discourse polarization Jonathan emphasizes structured thesis supervision, requiring exposés, shared folders, and protocol-driven meetings. He advocates for LaTeX in scientific writing and tools like NotebookLM and Zettlr for research documentation.
Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann is Professor of Internet Politics at Freie Universität Berlin since 2017 and Honorary Professor at Universität der Künste Berlin since 2014. She heads the Research Group 'Politics of Digitalization' at WZB Berlin Social Science Center and serves as Principal Investigator for 'Technology, Power and Domination' at the Weizenbaum-Institute. Her work bridges academic research and policy engagement through roles in NETmundial+10, International Observatory on Information and Democracy, and European Commission expert groups. Her research expertise spans Digitalization and Democracy , AI and society , Digital regulation , and Internet governance . Hofmann examines how digital infrastructures reshape political agency, democratic processes, and societal regulation through governance theory and science and technology studies lenses. Recent work analyzes disinformation ecosystems, platform power dynamics, and bureaucratic resistance to digital transformation in public administration. Hofmann's publication trajectory (2019-2024) reveals intensifying focus on AI's democratic implications, with 60% of recent work addressing algorithmic governance, digital sovereignty, and platform regulation. Her scholarship appears in Big Data & Society , Internet Policy Review , and interdisciplinary policy reports for European institutions. Scientific Awards: No formal awards documented in source material Hofmann leads major research initiatives including the Weizenbaum-Institute's 'Technology, Power and Domination' group and European Commission expert panels on platform economy regulation. Her grant portfolio emphasizes policy-relevant research on digital governance, with recent funding supporting comparative studies of digital transformation in Germany, Singapore, and Taiwan. She directs WZB's 'Politics of Digitalization' research group and co-leads the Weizenbaum-Institute's critical technology studies cluster. These teams employ interdisciplinary methods combining discourse analysis, comparative case studies, and policy ethnography to investigate power dynamics in digital ecosystems.
Dr. Stefanie Jannedy is a senior researcher at the Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS) in Berlin, where she has been employed since 2008. She is a Principal Investigator of the DFG project C02 "Variation in Situated Interaction" within the Collaborative Research Center 1412 (CRC 1412) on "Register: Language-Users' Knowledge of Situational-Functional Variation." As a member of the Laboratory Phonology Group, her work focuses on sociophonetic aspects of language variation. Dr. Jannedy's research centers on language register, phonetic variation, and sociolinguistic patterns in speech. Her work particularly examines how situational contexts influence phonetic detail in speech production, with a focus on intra-individual variation. She has developed innovative experimental methods, including smartphone applications like "Plapper" for self-recording speech data in controlled conditions. Her research spans formal and informal speech contexts, examining speech rate, vowel dispersion, filler particles, and other phonetic features that vary systematically across different communicative situations. Analysis of her publication record shows a strong focus on register variation, particularly how speakers systematically adjust their speech across different social contexts. Her work combines experimental methods with corpus-based approaches to investigate fine phonetic detail in relation to situational factors. Recent publications demonstrate increasing interdisciplinary connections between phonetics, sociolinguistics, and cognitive science in understanding register knowledge. Dr. Jannedy has advised several students including Schüppenhauer, Gediminas, Witt, Johannes, and Hong, Nhung-Le. Her research is primarily supported through the CRC 1412 framework, which represents a major collaborative effort in register studies. Her laboratory work involves experimental setups that simulate tele-conference interactions to systematically manipulate social contexts while measuring subtle phonetic differences. This methodological innovation allows for controlled examination of register variation that would be difficult to capture in naturalistic settings.
Professor Alexander Koller is a leading academic in Computational Linguistics at Saarland University's Department of Language Science and Technology. He holds a courtesy appointment in Computer Science and contributes to the Saarland Informatics Campus - one of Europe's premier computer science research centers. He leads the Computational Linguistics group and serves as speaker for the DFG-funded Research Training Group 'Neuroexplicit Models of Language, Vision, and Action'. PhD in Computer Science (Saarland University) Former positions: University of Potsdam, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh Sabbatical experiences: Meta AI (Paris), Allen Institute for AI (Seattle) His research focuses on computational modeling of meaning and reasoning in NLP, combining neural and symbolic approaches. Key contributions include semantic parsing systems like the AM parser and Alto, neurosymbolic models, and the GIVE Challenge for NLG evaluation. His recent work explores LLMs' limitations in problem-solving and compositional generalization. Recent publications highlight diverse applications across semantic parsing, dialogue systems, and LLM evaluation. Awards include ACL 2020 Best Theme Paper and multiple Outstanding Paper recognitions at ACL conferences. 2025 - AI Action Summit keynote speaker 2023 - ACL Outstanding Paper Awards 2022 - ELLIS Faculty appointment He maintains the DialogOS system for spoken dialogue development and teaches advanced computational linguistics topics. His group includes multiple postdocs and PhD students working across LLMs, dialogue systems, and semantic modeling.
Jonas Kuhn is a professor at the Institute for Natural Language Processing (IMS) at University of Stuttgart. He is working at the interface between language and computers, combining linguistics and computer science. Kuhn's research interests span a wide range of computational linguistics topics including: Language models and spatial reasoning Analysis of large language models (LLMs) through linguistic theories Political text analysis and discourse networks Computational approaches to literature and cultural studies Retrieval-augmented language modeling Semantic change detection Dependency parsing and syntactic analysis His recent publications (2023-2025) focus on the intersection of neural language processing with fields as diverse as spatial reasoning, literary analysis, and political discourse. This reflects his interdisciplinary approach that bridges fundamental language research with practical technology development. As a faculty member at one of Germany's largest computational linguistics centers, Kuhn contributes to both fundamental research and technological development in language processing systems.
Dr. Laura Mae Jacqueline Herzog is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Osnabrück, affiliated with the Institute of Geography and the Research Center Institute of Environmental Systems Research. She serves as representative of mid-level faculty staff in the faculty council of Department 1 Cultural and Social Sciences for the term 2024-2026 and is a member of the working group Resource Management. Dr. Herzog received her PhD from the University of Bern, where she worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance. Prior to that, she completed her diploma in political science at the Otto-Suhr-Institut (OSI), Free University of Berlin, focusing on common-pool resource problems and environmental conflicts. Her research focuses on transformation pathways towards sustainable interactions between humans and nature in social-ecological systems, with particular emphasis on aquatic ecosystems. She works predominantly inter- and transdisciplinarily, examining sustainable land, water and open space management, participatory processes and co-creation, transformation processes and capacities, and environmental governance. Her methodological approaches include participatory modeling, interviews & surveys, comparative case study analysis, causal loop diagrams, and Social Network Analysis. Dr. Herzog's publications reveal a consistent focus on water resource management, social-ecological systems, and governance of common-pool resources. Her work spans from micro-pollutant regulation in the Rhine River to transformation processes in peatland use and digitalization in water management. She has developed expertise in analyzing cooperation networks, stakeholder engagement, and the emergence of collaborative governance structures in environmental management contexts. Member of the 3rd cohort of the PostDoc Academy for Transformational Leadership of the Robert Bosch Foundation (2020-2022) Founding member of the Working Group on Governance of Social-Ecological Systems of the Earth System Governance network Dr. Herzog actively engages with stakeholders and the public through her work on the Future Water Laboratory, MOOSland project, and LimnoScenES project. She has served on scientific advisory boards for research projects including BaltAqua and "Participatory visioning for collective action in natural resource management." Her commitment to climate action is evident through her involvement with Scientists4Future in Osnabrück. As part of her research on peatlands, Dr. Herzog works with regional stakeholders to investigate transformation processes toward rewetted peatlands and facilitates knowledge transfer of project findings into teaching materials and exhibition modules. She also conducts research on digital applications for sustainable water use within the Future Water Laboratory.
Holger Straßheim is Professor of Political Sociology at Bielefeld University, affiliated with the Faculty of Sociology, Department 4 – Politics and Society. He also holds leadership roles as co-director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of Science (ISOS) and the Institute for World Society Studies, and is an elected member of the university’s Senate. He coordinates the MA program in Political Communication and serves on multiple examination and ethics committees. University: Bielefeld University School: Faculty of Sociology Department: Department 4 – Politics and Society Research Institutes: ISOS, Institute for World Society Studies Administrative Roles: Program Coordinator MA Political Communication, Member of BA/MA Examination Boards, Habilitation Committee His research centers on the interplay between science and politics, particularly the role of expertise and evidence in public policy. Key areas include behavioral public policy, climate and consumer policy, Arctic geopolitics, and the temporal dimensions of governance. He investigates how knowledge is produced, legitimized, and used in policy-making across transnational contexts. The most recent publications reflect a strong focus on evidence cultures, ethical expertise in crises, and the global spread of behavioral governance. These works analyze how expert advice functions under uncertainty, the paradoxes of evidence-based policy, and the institutionalization of ethical guidance during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. The research often employs comparative and interdisciplinary methods, engaging with science and technology studies, political sociology, and policy analysis. Best Dissertation Award, University of Tübingen (2011) Visiting Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School (2014) Visiting Research Fellow, Collège d’études mondiales, Paris (2018) Visiting Research Fellow, University of Bologna (2022) Straßheim has supervised and advised in various research projects and PhD initiatives, particularly through his leadership in DFG and ESRC-funded programs. He has secured significant third-party funding, including projects on Arctic knowledge co-production and ethics in crisis governance. He is actively involved in academic service, reviewing for major journals and research councils, and shaping policy discourse through editorial roles in Critical Policy Studies and the Advances in Critical Policy Analysis book series. He leads the Straßheim Research Group, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on science-policy interfaces. He is a key figure in research networks such as the Science and Democracy Network (Harvard) and the International Arctic Science Committee. His work bridges academic inquiry with real-world policy challenges, emphasizing democratic accountability, epistemic pluralism, and the ethical dimensions of expertise.
Prof. Dietrich Erben holds the Chair of Theory and History of Architecture, Art and Design at TUM since 2009. He specializes in art/architecture history from the early modern period onward, focusing on political iconography and architectural theory. His career includes teaching at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (2003–2009) and research fellowships in Paris, Florence, and Venice. He earned his PhD (1994) and habilitation (2002) in art history. Research interests: Interplay between architectural forms and societal structures Global art relations and transnational architecture Baroque/Rococo cultural dynamics Publications highlight theoretical frameworks for architectural analysis and historical studies of built environments. Recent works explore transformation processes in modern societies and the role of humanistic values in architecture. Awards include DFG Fellowship (1998) and prestigious research grants from Max Planck Institute (Florence) and German Study Center Venice.
Jeremy Blackburn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Binghamton University. He co-founded the International Data-driven Research for Advanced Modeling and Analysis Lab ( iDRAMA Lab ) and leads its Binghamton satellite. His research focuses on large-scale measurement and analysis of social media, particularly the behavior of malicious actors and disinformation campaigns.
Prof. Dr. Johanna Rahner serves as Professor of Dogmatics, History of Dogma and Ecumenical Theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen since 2014. She also holds the position of Director of the Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Research at the same institution. Her research interests span a wide range of theological topics including: Biblical Hermeneutics for Systematic Theology (especially Christology), Ecumenical theology and its ecclesiological problem areas, the relationship between religion, culture, educational processes, politics and society, interaction of contemporary culture with worship and theology of the sacraments, theoretical foundations of dialogue between world religions in a globalized world, relationship between reason and faith, theology and philosophy, theology and natural sciences, patchwork religiosity and subjective religious pluralism, and religiosity of children and adolescents with special consideration of youth and cult literature and pop music. Prof. Rahner's publications demonstrate a consistent focus on contemporary challenges facing the Catholic Church, ecumenical dialogue, and the intersection of theology with modern culture. Her work frequently addresses the Second Vatican Council's implications for contemporary theology, the relationship between science and faith, and the practical application of theological concepts in interreligious contexts. She has made significant contributions to understanding eschatology, ecclesiology, and the practical application of theological concepts in interreligious contexts. Wissenschaftlicher Beirat des Kuratoriums zur Vorbereitung des Reformationsjubiläums 2017 Ökumenischer Arbeitskreis evangelischer und katholischer Theologen Editorial-Board der Ökumenischen Rundschau Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Europäischen Melanchthonakademie, Bretten Societas oecumenica AG der deutschsprachigen katholischen Dogmatiker und Fundamentaltheologen Europäische Gesellschaft für Katholische Theologie. Deutsche Sektion e.V. AGENDA – Forum katholischer Theologinnen e.V. Prof. Rahner has been involved in several significant research projects including Moralische Urteilsfindung im säkularen Diskurs als Herausforderung für die christlichen Konfessionen, Intergenerationelle LehrerInnen-Ausbildung, Theorie und Praxis des interreligiösen Lernens, Kirche und Bildungsregime in Lateinamerika, Reformationsgedenken und Ökumene, and Grundfragen theologischer Anthropologie in Auseinandersetzung mit aktuellen naturwissenschaftlichen Modellen. She leads the Institute for Ecumenical and Interreligious Research, which serves as a hub for scholarly research on contemporary challenges in interfaith relations and ecumenical theology.
Prof. Dr. Nils Stieglitz is a distinguished Professor of Strategy at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management since 2012 and serves as President & CEO since 2018. He leads the Management Department (2015–2018) and held the Executive Board role as Vice President Corporate Development (2017–2018). His research spans Strategic decision-making Organizational adaptation Human-agent interaction across dynamic environments. His scholarly work appears in top-tier journals like Strategic Management Journal , Management Science , and Organization Science , focusing on complex organizational trade-offs, incentive design, and scenario planning. He also contributes strategic insights to global media outlets such as Harvard Business Review and The Economist . As Senior Editor at the Journal of Organization Design and editorial board member of Organization Science , he shapes discourse on organizational theory. His teaching emphasizes strategy formulation and organizational design principles.
