Tim Würtele is a Ph.D. researcher at the Institute of Information Security at the University of Stuttgart. His work focuses on formal security analysis of cryptographic protocols, particularly those underpinning critical web standards like OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, FAPI, ACME, and Web Payment APIs. He has contributed to identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in these protocols, collaborating with standardization bodies such as the OpenID Foundation and W3C. University of Stuttgart Würtele's research interests include web security , cryptographic protocol verification , and formal methods for analyzing real-world implementations. His work addresses both theoretical and practical security flaws in protocols used by billions of users globally, spanning high-risk sectors like open banking and healthcare. He has published extensively in top-tier venues such as IEEE S&P, CCS, and ESORICS, often uncovering critical vulnerabilities and proposing formally verified fixes. In 2025, Würtele co-authored a paper introducing audience injection attacks , a novel class of vulnerabilities in Web-based authentication standards. His 2024 publications focused on fixing and verifying the FAPI 2.0 protocol , while 2023 papers addressed GNAP and layered protocol analysis . Earlier works (2021–2022) scrutinized the ACME certificate management standard and W3C Web Payment APIs , revealing over-charge vulnerabilities and formalizing security guarantees.
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Berger is a full Professor and head of the Software Engineering chair at Ruhr University Bochum's Faculty of Computer Science. His academic focus includes software engineering methodologies, IDE development, and autonomous systems, with teaching responsibilities spanning core software engineering courses, programming internships, and artificial intelligence applications in autonomous vehicles. His research group has produced numerous PhD graduates, including recent graduates Önder Askin (2024) and Floyd Zweydinger (2023). Prof. Berger maintains active memberships in several professional organizations including the Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security (HGI), DFG Excellence Cluster CASA, and the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR).
Johanna M. Lukate is a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Multicultural Societies in Göttingen, Germany, where she leads the Minerva Fast Track Research Group "Migration, Identity and Blackness in Europe" established in June 2023. Her work bridges social psychology, migration studies, and critical race theory with a focus on African and Black diasporas in Europe. Dr. Lukate obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Cambridge under a full PhD scholarship from Deutsche Studienstiftung. She was also the recipient of the Fox International Fellowship (2017-18) at Yale University in the United States. Her research centers on social identity and social categorization processes, migration, embodiment and belonging, with particular attention to hair politics and racialization experiences among African migrants in Germany. Dr. Lukate's work examines how Black identity is constructed and performed in European contexts, challenging monolithic understandings of race and migration. Through ethnographic and interview-based methodologies, she explores the complex intersections of race, gender, and national identity among Black communities in Europe. Dr. Lukate's scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on identity formation among Black populations in Europe, with particular attention to hair as a site of political and cultural significance. Her publications span social psychology journals and interdisciplinary collections, demonstrating her ability to bridge academic disciplines and engage with broader public conversations about race and identity in contemporary Europe. Full PhD scholarship from Deutsche Studienstiftung Fox International Fellowship (2017-18) at Yale University Dr. Lukate is actively mentoring emerging scholars in her research group and has secured funding for her Minerva Fast Track project. She co-edited the volume "Towards a Social Psychology of Precarity" and is the author of the forthcoming book "(Dis)entangled: Why black hair can't be just hair" (2025). Her research has been supported by prestigious fellowships and has led to impactful public engagement, including her TEDx Talk on "The Psychology of Black Hair." As leader of the Minerva Fast Track Research Group "Migration, Identity and Blackness in Europe," Dr. Lukate oversees a dynamic team investigating the complex interplay between migration experiences, identity formation, and racialization processes among African diaspora communities in Europe. Her "Being and Becoming Black" project examines self-(re)presentation, embodiment, and the hidden diversity of African migrants and refugees in German cities.
Anna-Carolina Haensch is a Lecturer at the University of Munich in the Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities and an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland in the International Program in Survey and Data Science. Her interdisciplinary work bridges statistics, computational social science, and natural language processing, with a focus on methodological innovation in social research. Education: PhD in Sociology, University of Mannheim (2017-2021) M.Sc. in Survey Statistics, University of Bamberg (2014-2017) B.A. in Political Science/Sociology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2011-2014) Dr. Haensch's research centers on missing data, synthetic data, and big data applications in social sciences. She develops advanced statistical methods for survey data harmonization, multiple imputation techniques, and leverages natural language processing to analyze complex social phenomena. Her work consistently addresses methodological challenges in social research with practical applications for data collection and analysis. Her recent publications reveal a significant trend toward integrating large language models with traditional survey methodology, exploring how AI can enhance data collection, analysis, and interpretation in social science research. She has made substantial contributions to understanding missing data patterns, developing synthetic data approaches, and examining the societal implications of AI tools across multiple domains including mental health, political science, and housing policy. Scientific Awards: 2022 AAPOR Burns "Bud" Roper Fellow Award 2022 AAPOR Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award (as part of CTIS team) 2022 AAPOR Policy Impact Award (as part of CTIS team) 2011-2017 Max-Weber-Programm (undergraduate and graduate stipend) Dr. Haensch actively mentors the next generation of researchers, currently supervising 3 PhD theses on statistical education, machine learning applications in social sciences, and synthetic data generation with LLMs. She has guided approximately 6 master's theses and 15 bachelor's theses at the University of Munich since 2022, with topics primarily related to synthetic data, multiple imputation, and LLM applications. Her teaching spans statistical methods, data science techniques for survey researchers, and specialized topics in big data analysis. She has secured teaching grants including a €20,000 promotion for the RAINER project (R Assistant IN Error Resolution) for 2024-2025 and a €10,000 LMU-NYU Scholarship in 2023. She serves on several important boards including the Eurostat EMOS Board (2024-2026), the Ethics Commission of Faculty 16 at LMU (2023-2025), and as Women's Representative at the Institute for Statistics, LMU (2024-2026). Her collaborative work with the University of Maryland Social Data Science Center and involvement in the Global COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey demonstrates her commitment to large-scale data collection initiatives and real-time social research.
Professor Kai Rannenberg is the Chair of Mobile Business & Multilateral Security at Goethe University Frankfurt since 2002 and holds a Visiting Professorship at the National Institute for Informatics in Tokyo since 2012. He previously worked with the System Security Group at Microsoft Research Cambridge on Personal Security Devices & Privacy Technologies. His extensive academic career spans over three decades with significant contributions to security and privacy research. His research interests focus on mobile and embedded systems, multilateral security in mobile business, location-based services, transport systems, and industrial applications. He has made significant contributions to privacy and identity management, particularly in attribute-based authorization, communication infrastructures and devices, and security/privacy standardization. His work emphasizes balanced security approaches that protect all stakeholders' interests. Professor Rannenberg's publications reveal a strong focus on practical privacy solutions for mobile and IoT environments, with recent work examining privacy-enhancing technologies adoption, mobile augmented reality security, and enterprise smartphone app risk assessment. His research consistently bridges theoretical security concepts with practical implementation challenges across various domains including e-commerce, social media, and critical infrastructure protection. IFIP Honorary Treasurer (2021-2024) and President-elect (2024-present) IFIP Vice President (2015-2021) and Councillor (2009-2015) Chair of IFIP TC-11 'Security and Privacy Protection in Information Processing Systems' (2007-2013) Academic expert in ENISA Management Board (2004-2013) and Advisory Group (2013-2022) Chair of CEPIS Legal & Security Issues Special Interest Network (since 2003) Editor-in-chief of IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology (since 2014) Professor Rannenberg has coordinated several leading EU research projects including the Network of Excellence 'Future of Identity in the Information Society' and the Integrated Project 'Attribute based Credentials for Trust' (ABC4Trust). He currently coordinates CyberSec4Europe, a pilot for the European Cybersecurity Competence Network. His leadership extends to ISO/IEC standardization work, where he served as Convenor of SC 27/WG 5 'Identity management and privacy technologies' and previously coordinated the 'Kolleg Security in Communication Technology' sponsored by Gottlieb Daimler & Karl Benz Foundation. His research group at Goethe University Frankfurt maintains active collaborations with industry and government agencies, particularly in the areas of mobile security, privacy-enhancing technologies, and standardization efforts. The group has recently received funding from the Goethe-Corona-Fonds for research on the German Corona Warning App adoption factors.
Yao Zhu is a Visiting Professor at the Chair of Information Theory and Data Analytics, RWTH Aachen University . His research focuses on advanced wireless communication systems, particularly in Edge Computing , Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) , and Physical Layer Security , leveraging Finite Blocklength Codes for next-generation network optimization. Key research areas include: Optimization of resource allocation and task scheduling in distributed edge learning and fog computing environments Reliability and energy efficiency trade-offs in Industrial IoT and V2X networks Novel applications of NOMA (Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access) and short-packet communication for secure and fresh data transmission Integration of physical layer deception with semantic reliability models His work explores the interplay between telecommunications and computer science principles to address challenges in low-latency, high-reliability networked systems. The Chair of Information Theory and Data Analytics serves as his academic base, focusing on theoretical and practical advancements in data-driven communication frameworks.
Anette Eva Fasang is a Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University, specializing in microsociology. She serves as the Director of the Institute and holds the Women's Representative role, indicating her commitment to gender equality in academia. Her research focuses on life course analysis, social inequality, family sociology, and labor dynamics across diverse contexts like Germany, Israel, Senegal, and Egypt. Institution: Humboldt University, Berlin Department: Institute of Social Sciences Role: Director and Women's Representative Her methodological expertise lies in sequence analysis and life course-sensitive statistical methods, with recent work examining economic vulnerability, time-use patterns, and intersectional inequalities. Publications highlight comparative social policy across Europe and the Middle East, emphasizing temporal dimensions in employment and family trajectories. The 2024-2025 articles particularly focus on youth economic opportunities, welfare state dynamics, and gendered labor supply patterns.
Faraz Ghahremani is a researcher affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS), part of the Max Planck Society. His work focuses on foundational and applied research in computer science, with a strong emphasis on algorithmic theory, programming languages, and system security. He contributes to interdisciplinary areas such as cyber-physical systems and distributed systems, addressing challenges in networked and mobile environments. His research interests span a broad spectrum, including formal verification, privacy-preserving technologies, and the intersection of social systems with computational methods. While specific publications or grants are not detailed in the provided text, his affiliation with MPI-SWS—a leading research institution—suggests involvement in cutting-edge projects at the forefront of computer science. No specific academic awards, supervised students, or detailed grants are explicitly mentioned in the available information. For further details, direct inquiry to MPI-SWS or his official profile would be required.
John Hughes is a Professor at Chalmers University of Technology. His research focuses on functional programming, software testing, and formal methods. He is a co-author of the Haskell programming language and a pioneer of QuickCheck, a property-based testing tool. His work bridges foundational theory with practical applications in software engineering. Research Interests: Development of functional programming paradigms and their applications Property-based testing and automated software validation Type systems and compiler optimization techniques Concurrency and parallelism in functional languages His publications span influential works like Why Functional Programming Matters (1989) and A History of Haskell (2007). He has contributed to open-source tools and frameworks widely used in academia and industry.
Kirstin Petersen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Science at Cornell University's Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. She leads the Collective Embodied Intelligence Lab, focusing on collective robotic systems that exhibit emergent intelligent behaviors through local interactions. Her research interests center on collective robotic construction, swarm robotics, soft robotics, and human-robot interaction. Petersen's work explores how groups of simple robots can collaborate to build complex structures, with applications ranging from construction to agriculture. She investigates the principles of embodied intelligence, where the physical form and environment of robots contribute to their capabilities, reducing the need for complex centralized control. Her publication trends show a consistent focus on distributed robotic systems, with recent work expanding into agricultural robotics, human-drone interaction, and novel actuation methods using phase-changing materials. Her research bridges theoretical principles of collective behavior with practical implementations in soft and modular robotic systems. Petersen has advised numerous graduate students who have become prominent researchers in robotics, including Steven Ceron, Nialah Wilson-Small, and Jiahe Chen. Her lab has secured funding for projects related to swarm construction, agricultural monitoring, and soft robotic systems. She leads the Collective Embodied Intelligence Lab at Cornell, which brings together researchers from computer science, mechanical engineering, and biology to develop novel approaches to collective robotic systems. The lab emphasizes both theoretical foundations and practical implementations, with projects ranging from tiny modular robots to agricultural drones.
Giacomo Boracchi is a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Milan , focusing on machine learning, computer vision, and signal processing. His work spans anomaly detection, change detection in data streams, 3D imaging, and biomedical applications. Key Collaborations : Diego Carrera, Luca Magri, Cesare Alippi Industries : Embedded systems, medical imaging, environmental monitoring Recent research explores adaptive Kalman filtering for battery estimation, zero-shot anomaly detection, and explainable AI for vision-language models. Publications highlight applications in waste sorting, histological data generation, and cardiac monitoring. His technical focus includes convolutional networks, ensemble learning, and domain adaptation. Boracchi's work bridges theoretical advancements with real-world systems in fraud detection, semiconductor manufacturing, and wearable health devices.
Alexander Weiße is a tenured researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, where he also serves as Head of IT. Previously, he was a junior professor for computational physics at the University of Greifswald (until 2009). He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Bayreuth (2002) and completed postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, University of New South Wales (Sydney), and University of Greifswald. Research Interests : His work spans condensed matter physics, mathematical physics, and integrable systems. Recent focuses include spin systems (e.g., XXZ Heisenberg chain), disorder/randomness in quantum systems, and computational methods (e.g., Chebyshev expansion, kernel polynomial method). He also contributes to high-performance computing and programming tools (C, Form, Julia). Teaching & Leadership : He has taught courses on computational physics, group theory, numerical many-particle physics, and computer algebra. Notable collaborations involve the Bergische Universität Wuppertal group on spin model correlation functions. He co-edited the textbook Computational Many-Particle Physics (Springer, 2008). IT Responsibilities : As Head of IT, he manages IT infrastructure security and strategy, with interests in cybersecurity and computational resource optimization.
Ina Berenice Fink is a Researcher and PhD candidate at RWTH Aachen University's Chair of Communication and Distributed Systems. She holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science (2019) and is affiliated with both the Security and Privacy Group and Cyber-Physical Systems Group. Her work focuses on securing communication in critical infrastructure and industrial environments. She has served as a part-time lecturer at FH Aachen and actively contributes to teaching through seminars, labs, and thesis supervision. Notable awards include the 2020 Women’s STEM Award for her master’s thesis on in-network security and the 2019 Female Student Travel Award. Her research spans projects like VeN2uS (low-latency critical infrastructure communication), CONSENT (smart home security), and myneData/TRINICS. She has published extensively on topics including network monitoring, resilient smart grid communication, and industrial IoT security. Her work combines programmable networking, protocol evaluation, and cybersecurity frameworks to address real-world challenges in distributed systems. In teaching, she supervises bachelor’s/master’s theses on network emulation, industrial security, and programmable data planes. Her advising record includes over a dozen theses with topics ranging from starlink performance evaluation to secure industrial MUD frameworks. She collaborates across RWTH departments and external institutions, contributing to both academic conferences and applied security solutions.
Dr. Anton Sumser is a researcher at the Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he contributes to Prof. Laura Busse's research group and the Vision Circuits collaboration (Busse & Katzner). His work focuses on neural circuit mechanisms underlying sensory processing in mouse models, with emphasis on thalamic function in vision and touch. Sumser's research investigates how active versus passive sensory inputs are differentially processed in the thalamus, revealing specialized neural pathways for touch perception during movement. His studies integrate in vivo electrophysiology, viral tracing, and behavioral paradigms to dissect visuomotor coordination, demonstrating how thalamic hub-and-spoke networks enable visual perception during action. Additional work explores panoramic visual statistics shaping retinal organization and develops advanced rabies viral vectors for neural circuit mapping. His publication record (2016-2025) shows consistent contributions to sensory neuroscience, with recent work highlighting thalamic roles in multisensory integration. Key trends include methodological innovation in circuit tracing and the characterization of neural coding principles across visual and somatosensory systems. Sumser is embedded in the Vision Circuits group at LMU Munich, which examines the neural basis of visual perception in behavioral contexts. No information is available regarding students advised or research grants secured.
Prof. Georg Neugebauer is a Professor at RWTH Aachen University, specializing in cybersecurity, privacy-preserving protocols, and secure multi-party computation. His research focuses on developing frameworks for secure data reconciliation, enhancing information security management systems, and addressing cybersecurity challenges in AI, industrial systems, and smart environments. Research Interests: Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC) Privacy-Preserving Systems Cybersecurity Education & Training Artificial Intelligence in Security Management Industrial IoT and Operational Technology (OT) Security Digital Forensics and Incident Response Recent work highlights a shift towards cybersecurity education initiatives (e.g., CampusQuest ), AI-driven security solutions, and addressing vulnerabilities in public AI tools. His frameworks like SMC-MuSe have advanced MPC applications for multi-set operations. His publications span conferences such as ARES, ICISSP, and AHFE, addressing topics from smart building protocol security to forensic triage tools. Collaboration with researchers like Schuba, Höner, and Meyer marks his interdisciplinary approach to solving real-world security challenges.
