Dr. phil. Andrej Holm is a Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences , Humboldt University of Berlin, specializing in Urban and Regional Sociology . As a Women's Representative and active academic, he focuses on gentrification, housing policy in international comparison, and European urban policy. His work bridges academia and activism, contributing to housing referendums and social movement analysis. Research Themes : Gentrification dynamics, financialization of housing, socio-ecological housing transformation, and post-socialist urban development. Key Projects : Expert analysis for Berlin housing socialization referendum (2022), comparative studies on Amsterdam/Barcelona/Berlin/Vienna (2022), and social infrastructure reconceptualization (2021). Holm's publications span urban policy critiques and housing justice , with recent 2025 works examining financial investors' impact on Berlin housing and pandemic-era housing conditions. His research integrates political economy with spatial inequality frameworks.
Prof. Daniel Memmert is a Professor at the German Sport University Cologne, leading research in Sport Informatics and Sports Games within the Institute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics. His work focuses on cognitive aspects of sports performance, decision-making, and data-driven analysis in football (soccer) and other sports. He has published extensively on topics like penalty kick strategies, home advantage dynamics, artificial intelligence applications in coaching, and route-setting in climbing. Memmert's research bridges sports science, computer science, and psychology, with over 550 publications and 41 projects to his name. He frequently engages with media, explaining complex sports phenomena to the public. Key Research Areas: Football analytics, cognitive psychology in sports, sports technology, decision-making under pressure Media Contributions: Over 50 media features discussing topics such as AI in coaching, referee bias, and athlete creativity Projects: Includes initiatives on sports data visualization, performance metrics, and prevention of sports betting addiction His work emphasizes translating academic findings into practical tools for athletes, coaches, and sports organizations, combining rigorous data analysis with real-world applications.
Prof. Dr. Johannes Sauer is a Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), holding dual affiliations with the TUM School of Management and the TUM School of Life Sciences . His academic focus is on production and resource economics, with expertise in agricultural sustainability, policy evaluation, and circular economy strategies in Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Education: Bachelor’s/Master’s in Agricultural Economics from Universities of Tübingen, Hamburg, and Imperial College London. Doctorate (summa cum laude) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn (2004). Research Interests: Prof. Sauer’s work spans productivity and resilience in agricultural systems, adoption of sustainable technologies, water resource valuation, and bioeconomic trends. He emphasizes smart technologies and circular economy applications in developing regions. His research employs econometric methods to analyze policy impacts and environmental-economic trade-offs. Key Trends in Publications: Recent articles highlight climate-smart agriculture, ICT adoption in rural China, and agroforestry’s role in reducing ecological-economic trade-offs. He explores behavioral drivers of policy participation and innovative tools like the IoFarm decision support system. Awards: 2021 Honorary Professorship at ANU OECD Fellow Awards (2010, 2016) Best Paper Awards (2008–2015) Consulting & Roles: OECD and Asian Development Bank consultant, ESRC Peer Review College member, and liaison lecturer for the German National Academic Foundation. He advises on agri-environmental policies and international development. Labs/Teams: Active in collaborative projects such as PONDERFUL Framework and IPM Popilia , focusing on nexus research and pest management strategies.
Dr. phil. Stefan Ladwig is a researcher at the Institute for Automotive Engineering (Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge) at RWTH Aachen University, specializing in traffic psychology, user acceptance, and human-machine interaction for automated driving systems. His work addresses psychological and ergonomic aspects of emerging mobility technologies, including seating ergonomics, trust-building mechanisms, and communication strategies for autonomous delivery robots. Research Focus: Automated driving, interior design psychology, driver/passenger behavior, and safety requirements. Projects: Lead roles in UrbANT (autonomous delivery robot) and SteeringBow (dynamic driving experience). Collaborations: Affiliated with Aldenhoven Testing Center, Future Mobility Partnership e.V., and innocam.NRW. Ladwig’s recent publications examine rotated seating positions, visual dominance in speed adaptation, and trust-relevant driving scenarios, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to optimizing human-vehicle interactions. His work spans ergonomics, energy management, and behavioral interventions to enhance safety and usability in next-generation mobility solutions.
Magnus Liebherr is a Professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen , focusing on Technology Acceptance , Artificial Intelligence , and Sustainable Transportation . His work bridges Business Administration with Human-Computer Interaction , exploring how users adapt to emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles and AI systems. Key research areas include: Acceptance of AI applications in mobility Business model development for climate-neutral transportation Cognitive and psychological factors in technology interaction Digital media effects on adolescent well-being Trust calibration in automated systems His recent publications examine Large Language Model dependency , gamified language learning , and mental workload metrics for autonomous vehicles. While no formal awards are listed, his interdisciplinary work spans psychology , engineering , and business strategy .
Dr. Jonathan Lenoir is a CNRS Researcher at the Ecology and Dynamics of Anthropized Systems (EDYSAN) laboratory, University of Picardie Jules Verne , France. His work bridges Ecology and Biostatistics , focusing on ecological dynamics under spatial and temporal global changes, particularly biotic responses to climate change. His research spans broad-scale biodiversity patterns, species distribution modeling, and microclimate ecology, with special attention to forest systems. Dr. Lenoir leads and contributes to multiple research projects including MaCCMic (Impact of forest Management and Climate Change on understory Microclimate) and IMPRINT (Impacts of Microclimatic Processes on forest Biodiversity redistribution under macroclimaTe warming). These projects utilize advanced technologies like LiDAR and microclimate sensors to model understory temperature dynamics and predict biodiversity responses to climate change. His recent publications analyze microclimate buffering in forests ( 2024 ), species thermophilization ( 2024 ), and the application of deep learning to habitat identification ( 2024 ). His work also explores interdisciplinary connections like eco-oncology , comparing invasion dynamics in ecology and medicine. Dr. Lenoir actively mentors researchers and supervises fieldwork campaigns, emphasizing rigorous data collection ( 180 monitoring plots across French forests ) and advanced statistical analyses in R . He collaborates with European institutions and participates in large-scale initiatives like ReSurveyEurope , a database of resurveyed vegetation plots.
Prof. Dagmar Haase is a Full Professor in Landscape and Urban Ecology at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, serving as Deputy Director of the Geographical Institute. She holds affiliations with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and has earned honorary professorships in Sweden and Romania. Her academic journey includes a PhD from the University of Leipzig (1999) and Habilitation from Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (2009). Her research focuses on urban ecosystem services, social-ecological systems, and nature-based solutions to urban challenges. Key projects include EU-funded initiatives on green infrastructure (e.g., Horizon Europe’s NaturaConnect) and climate resilience. Awards include the AXA Research Fund Award (2014) and Honorary Wallenberg Professorship (2016). Haase’s work integrates remote sensing, citizen science, and participatory modeling to address urban sustainability. Over 250+ publications and an h-index of 77 reflect her prolific contributions. She advises numerous PhD candidates exploring urban dynamics, biodiversity, and governance. Current grants span climate adaptation, urban densification, and ecological networks.
Martin Seeleib-Kaiser is a Professor at the Institute of Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. He holds a venia legendi (habilitation) from Bremen University (2000) and has held academic positions at Oxford, Duke, and Bremen Universities. His research focuses on the politics of social policy, comparative social policy analysis, and the interplay between public-private social protection policies. His publications span topics such as globalization and welfare systems , EU citizenship and social rights , and dualization in welfare states . Recent works address pandemic-era welfare responses, stratified social rights, and occupational welfare trends in Europe. His team includes researchers like Cecilia Bruzelius, Jakub Sowula, and Mikko Kuisma, with affiliations to projects like the Journal of European Social Policy.
Markus Reichstein is a Professor for Global Geoecology at Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) Jena and Director of the Biogeochemical Integration Department at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry. His research focuses on ecosystem responses to climate variability, climate extremes, and the application of AI in Earth system science. He holds a PhD in Plant Ecology from the University of Bayreuth and has pioneered interdisciplinary approaches combining machine learning with environmental modeling. Key roles include leadership in the Michael-Stifel-Center Jena for Data-driven and Simulation Science and founding director of the ELLIS Unit Jena. He contributed to the IPCC Special Report on Climate Extremes and has received prestigious awards such as the Leibniz Prize. His work bridges ecology, hydrology, and atmospheric science, addressing critical global challenges like carbon cycle feedbacks and ecosystem resilience. Recent research emphasizes AI-driven early warning systems for climate risks, integrating observational data with mechanistic models. His team explores land-atmosphere interactions, soil-vegetation dynamics, and the impacts of climate extremes on societal systems. Notable projects include GartenDiv, a citizen science initiative for garden biodiversity, and advancements in global water cycle modeling using hybrid AI-physics frameworks. Awards include the Piers J. Sellers Award (2018), ERC Synergy Grant (2019), and Leibniz Prize (2020). He collaborates with international networks like ELLIS and Future Earth, advancing data-driven solutions for sustainability science.
Prof. Dr. Yanjun Ren is a Professor at the College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University (NWAFU), China, and has been an IAMO Visiting Research Fellow since May 2024. Prior to his IAMO role, he conducted research at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany, from 2012 to 2019. PhD in Agricultural Economics focusing on Food Consumption, Income Inequality, and Health-related Issues in China Former Research Assistant/Associate at Kiel University’s Chair of Agricultural Market Analysis (2012–2019) Dr. Ren’s research spans food chains, consumer behavior, and applied econometrics. His work explores how socioeconomic factors, digital transformation, and policy interventions shape food consumption, nutritional outcomes, and environmental sustainability in China and Central Asia. Key themes include food waste reduction, carbon labeling, internet use in rural economies, and intergenerational health behaviors. His 15 most recent articles (2023–2025) emphasize digital agriculture, sustainable consumption, and health economics. Topics include carbon-labeled products, television/media’s role in nutrition, contract farming sustainability, and the socioeconomic determinants of dietary choices. His methodology integrates econometric modeling, eye-tracking experiments, and spatiotemporal analysis. Email: ren@iamo.de
Dr. phil. André Fiebig is a Permanent Research Associate and PostDoc at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Technical Acoustics (ISTA) within Faculty V - Transportation and Mechanical Systems at Technical University of Berlin. From January 2019 to December 2024, he served as a Visiting Professor responsible for the field of psychoacoustics, funded by the HEAD Genuit Foundation. Since January 2025, he has been leading the 'Psychoacoustics and Noise Effects' working group at the Department of Technical Acoustics. His research spans multiple areas within psychoacoustics and soundscape studies, including fundamentals and modeling of psychoacoustic sensation variables, binaural psychoacoustics, assessment of ambient noise and soundscapes, and psychoacoustic evaluation of sound insulation measures. His work also addresses cognitive stimulus integration of auditory sensations, auditory recreation, acoustic quality of stay, characterization of quiet areas, and measuring sound-induced emotions. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on urban soundscapes, noise-conscious behavior in transportation, and the development of methodological frameworks for soundscape assessment. His work often integrates psychoacoustic principles with environmental considerations, particularly examining the relationship between sound environments and human health. Recent research shows increasing emphasis on cross-cultural studies of noise perception and the development of standardized assessment methodologies. Dr. Fiebig is involved in the EARS (Education and Applied Research on Soundscapes) initiative and has contributed to numerous collaborative research projects examining the intersection of urban planning, environmental acoustics, and human perception. His work frequently appears in major acoustics conferences and journals, demonstrating his active role in advancing the field of psychoacoustics and soundscape research. His laboratory work focuses on psychoacoustic testing methodologies, soundscape assessment techniques, and the development of evaluation instruments for noise protection measures. The 'Psychoacoustics and Noise Effects' working group under his leadership conducts research on both theoretical aspects of sound perception and practical applications for urban noise management.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Peichl is a leading academic in Economics, holding a Professorship in Macroeconomics and Public Finance at the Faculty of Economics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He is Head of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, and previously led the Research Group “International Distribution and Redistribution” at ZEW, Mannheim. His expertise spans macroeconomic policy, tax systems, income inequality, and public finance. Peichl’s work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis, focusing on policy implications for redistribution, fiscal sustainability, and labor markets. Education: PhD in Public Economics, University of Cologne Professorial appointments at LMU Munich (since 2013) and University of Mannheim (2008–2013) Research Interests: Peichl’s research emphasizes the interplay between tax policies, income distribution, and macroeconomic stability. Key themes include: Optimal design of tax systems to reduce inequality while maintaining economic efficiency Impact of fiscal policies on labor markets and household behavior Analysis of redistributive effects of social welfare programs Global and regional economic inequality dynamics His recent work explores post-pandemic policy responses, energy security challenges, and the political economy of taxation. Grants & Advising: Peichl has led numerous interdisciplinary projects funded by institutions like the EU, DFG, and ifo Institute. He advises policymakers on tax reforms, fiscal consolidation, and social security systems. Notable collaborations include the ECONtribute and EconPol initiatives. Labs/Teams: Directs the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, fostering collaboration between economists, policymakers, and data scientists. The center produces real-time analyses of economic trends and policy impacts.
Dr. Serena Ding is a Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, where she heads the Genes and Behavior department. She leads an interdisciplinary team studying the mechanisms and evolution of collective behaviors in nematodes through genetic, neuronal, and behavioral approaches. Education: PhD in C. elegans Developmental Cell Biology, University of Oxford (2011-2016) Postdoc in C. elegans Quantitative Behavior, Imperial College London (2016-2021) B.Sc. in Biology, University of Richmond (2007-2011) Research Focus: Dr. Ding investigates fascinating collective phenomena in nematodes including towering (collective dispersal), wurmuration (density-dependent swarming), and strain-specific aggregation behaviors. Her lab combines molecular biology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and complex systems modeling to understand both proximate mechanisms and ultimate evolutionary drivers of these behaviors across wild nematode strains. Publication Trends: Her research emphasizes quantitative behavioral analysis and innovative imaging methodologies, as exemplified by her 2020 work developing bioluminescence-based tracking of C. elegans foraging patterns. This aligns with her group's focus on high-throughput phenotyping of natural genetic variations in behavior. Team Leadership: Dr. Ding mentors a diverse research team including: 2 postdoctoral researchers (Daniela Perez, Assaf Pertzelan) 3 doctoral students (Narcís Font Massot, Youn Jae Kang, Gopika Ranjith) 1 master's student (Iris Bernstein) 1 technical assistant (Ryan Greenway)
Prof. Dr. Frank T. Piller is a University Professor and Co-Leader of the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) at RWTH Aachen University, where he also serves as Academic Director of the Executive MBA program at RWTH Business School. He leads a research team of approximately 30 doctoral students, 5 postdocs, and over 20 student researchers within the TIME Research Area of the School of Business and Economics. His educational background includes a doctoral degree in Operations Management from the University of Würzburg (1999) and a Habilitation degree from TUM Business School (2004) on "Innovation and Value Co-Creation." Prior to joining RWTH Aachen in 2007, he was a Research Fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management and faculty at TUM Business School. Prof. Piller is recognized as one of the world's leading experts in customer-centered value creation, specializing in mass customization, personalization, and customer co-creation. His current research focuses on how established companies can transform in response to disruptive business model innovations, with particular emphasis on digital transformation (Industry 4.0), AI-augmented innovation, and sustainable business models. He is particularly known for his work on innovation ecosystems, platform-based business models, and stakeholder-oriented technology development. His recent publications demonstrate a clear trajectory toward integrating artificial intelligence with traditional innovation management frameworks, exploring how AI transforms manufacturing systems, innovation processes, and business models. His work increasingly addresses the challenges of digital transformation in established industries while maintaining focus on customer co-creation and mass customization principles. His scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous awards: Co-Creation Award of the PDMA Nomination for "Innovating Innovation" Prize by Harvard Business Review and McKinsey "Lecturer of the Year" by Executive MBA students at TU Munich RWTH Aachen Rector's Prize for Excellent Teaching (since 2010) Grant for innovative "Flipping the Classroom" teaching concept ERC Synergy Grant for SAFER Grid project (2025-2031) Prof. Piller maintains an extensive research network spanning academia and industry. He collaborates with numerous corporations including 3M, Adidas, BASF, EON, J&J, P&G, Siemens, and Vodafone, as well as many technology startups across Europe and North America. As a co-founder, supervisory board member, and investor in innovative startups, he actively transfers research into practice. His research has received significant funding, most notably the prestigious ERC Synergy Grant for the SAFER Grid project. He leads the Technology and Innovation Management Group (TIM) within the TIME Research Area at RWTH Aachen, which comprises over 100 senior and junior researchers working at the intersection of innovation, technology management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. The institute is a leading European research institution for strategic, behavioral, and computer-supported technology and innovation management.
Daniel Schnurr holds the Chair of Machine Learning, especially Uncertainty Quantification at the University of Regensburg since August 2022, where he conducts research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, data economics, and digital market regulation. Previously, he headed the Data Policies research group at the University of Passau, building his expertise in the economic and regulatory aspects of digital markets. His educational background includes a doctorate in business informatics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2016), where he also worked for three years as a research associate at the Institute for Information Systems and Marketing. He completed his undergraduate and master's studies in Information Systems at KIT (2007-2013), with international experience at Concordia University in Canada and Singapore Management University. Professor Schnurr's research focuses on the technical, economic, and social implications of new machine learning methods and data as a decisive competitive factor and driver of innovation in digital markets. His work examines how data functions as both an economic asset and regulatory challenge, particularly in contexts of market power, competition policy, and AI governance. He investigates uncertainty quantification in machine learning systems while considering their broader economic and societal impacts. His publication portfolio demonstrates consistent output in top-tier journals including Management Science, Journal of Information Technology, and Journal of Competition Law & Economics, with recent work increasingly focusing on AI regulation, data access remedies, and uncertainty-aware AI systems. The trajectory shows evolution from telecommunications infrastructure research to contemporary digital market and AI regulation issues. As a Research Fellow at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) since 2022, he has authored numerous policy reports addressing regulation of cloud computing services, digital platforms, and data economy frameworks. His policy contributions bridge academic research with practical regulatory implementation, particularly regarding the European AI Act and Digital Services Act. His research program involves experimental approaches to understanding data markets, human-AI interaction dynamics, and regulatory effectiveness. Through his work at CERRE and collaborations with international scholars, he contributes to shaping evidence-based digital policy in the European context while maintaining strong connections to academic research communities in information systems and economics.
