University funding

Chairman

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Prof. Dr. Heinz-Dieter Quack (opens your email program) –  Vice President for Research, Development and Technology Transfer

Professors

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Prof. Dr. Jana Kühl (opens your email program) – Faculty of Transport-Sports-Tourism-Media

Prof. Dr. Lars Kühl (opens your email program) – Faculty of Supply Engineering

Prof. Dr. Lobermeier (opens your email program) – Faculty of Social Work

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Meyer (opens your email program) – Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Prof. Dr. Holger Brüggemann (opens your email program) (1. Deputy) – Fakultät Maschinenbau

Prof. Dr. Böse (opens your email program) (2. Deputy) – Faculty of Trade and Social Work

Prof. Dr. Ehleben (opens your email program) (3. Deputy) – Faculty of Automotive Engineering

Scientific Assistants

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Dr. Thomas Potempa (opens your email program) – Faculty of Automotive Engineering

Dr. Jörg Hagenah (opens your email program) (1. Deputy) – Faculty of Transport-Sports-Tourism-Media

Klaus Bolze (opens your email program) (2. Deputy) – Faculty of Automotive Engineering

Technical and Administrative Staff

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Jörn Mueller (opens your email program) – Central Service Unit for Finances and Controlling

Hannah Bullerjahn (opens your email program) (Deputy)

Students

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Karl Schmidt (opens your email program)– Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Riekeberg, Neele (opens your email program) (Deputy) - Faculty of Computer Science / IT

Research program 2021-2026 in the teaching and research area of vehicle safety

The research activities can be divided thematically into the following two research areas:

• Active safety, driver assistance and automated vehicles
• Passive safety and lightweight vehicle concepts

In the field of active vehicle safety, the focus of research activities is on the safe design of highly automated and autonomous vehicles and vehicle networks. Professor Bachem is responsible for the teaching and research area of vehicle safety (LFF) and has extensive experience in the development of automated driving and perception functions. In particular, simulation tools and artificial intelligence (AI) methods are used. The infrastructure includes a laboratory for mobile (vehicle) robots, a test vehicle with extensive measurement technology for testing driver assistance systems on the test track or in real road traffic and various environmental sensors such as LiDAR and camera sensors.

In passive safety, research projects for the development of vehicles, components and parts are optimized with regard to their behaviour in traffic accidents. The work includes in particular the conception and design, the structural design of the short-term dynamic failure behavior using finite element calculations as well as the experimental validation using real crash, strength and stiffness tests. In this context, the laboratory has a wide range of tools, measurement technology and test benches available.

Further information on the research areas and the available equipment can be found here.

Digitalization and resource efficiency in production

Prof. Brüggemann's research programme aims to develop digitalization approaches in production to improve resource efficiency in companies. The research approaches are in the areas of recycling for 3D printing, digitalization and resource efficiency in the learning factory, robotics and artificial intelligence to improve production processes and automated disassembly. Further information on his research areas can be found at www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/ipt/personal/brueggemann/.

Digitalization and new technologies in health and care, strengthening health and care provision through new care approaches and research

In her research program, Prof. Hasseler has planned to investigate the paradigm shift in digital innovations in healthcare and AI-based technologies for the support of people in need of care. She will analyse the development and use of sensor-based technologies on the basis of nursing and health science findings and characterize human-technology interaction in nursing care. Maintaining the culture of care when using modern technologies and AI is of particular importance in her research, also with regard to the skills and competencies required in the nursing professions. You can find out more about Prof. Hasseler's research at www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/pws/hasseler/.

Zero-emission supply strategies for buildings, neighborhoods and industry

Prof. Kühl will investigate strategies for the supply of residential and non-residential buildings as well as districts and production facilities based on renewable energies, taking sustainability into account. The main contents of his research program include the implementation and scientific monitoring of PlusEnergy buildings as residential and production buildings as well as the integration of renewable energies into the energy supply of industrial production sites. In this context, the reduction of energy consumption in building operation through the integration of renewable energy and control optimization and the use of industrial waste heat is of great importance. Prof. Kühl uses simulative methods to determine the optimum supply strategy for district development. Further information on the research activities can be found athttps://www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/v/fakultaet/fakultaetsteam/profil_prof_/kuehl_lars/. (external link, opens in a new window)

Promoting participation through digitalization and assistive technologies

Prof. Meyer plans to use the approved concept to deepen her research in the field of assistive technologies for people with disabilities. In the field of care, she is looking at the question of the acceptance of assistive technologies and the opportunities they offer carers to gain time for emotional attention. In the area of everyday support for older people, her research includes the use of digital means of communication to prevent social isolation and the requirements for the practicability of digital media for older people. Further information on the research areas can be found at https://www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/pws/meyer/dm-vita/ (external link, opens in a new window)

Digitalization in rehabilitation and participation

In her research, Prof. Dr. Sandra-Verena Müller (Chair of Rehabilitation and Participation) is investigating the extent to which the potential of digitalization can be harnessed for vulnerable groups of people. Digitalization offers particular opportunities for this group of people, but at the same time has particular hurdles to overcome. The extent to which assistive technologies can be used for participation and to maintain the health of people with cognitive impairments is also one of the research topics during the funding period of the research corner professorship. The RehaGoal app developed in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Schiering is used in various fields of practice (https://www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/projekte/rehagoal/). As part of the sub-project “Cultural Participation in the Museum - the Potential of Digitalisation” of the Leibniz ScienceCampus Postdigital Participation Braunschweig, technical support options to facilitate the cultural participation of vulnerable groups of people are currently being developed and tested in a participatory manner (https://www.postdigitalparticipation.org/en/projects/per-app-zum-museum-fuer-alle).

Prof. Müller has also been pursuing the topic of early dementia detection in people with intellectual disabilities for many years.

For further information, please click on the following link www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/pws/muellers/.

Research professorship suspended during activity as Dean (WS 2024/25 to WS 2025/26).

Participation, production and reception in post-digital spaces: Media-mediated communication in the dynamics of social change perspectives.

Prof. Dr habil. Harald Rau is a media economist. He and his team at the Chair of Communication Management analyse different perspectives on media-mediated communication. One focus is participation: What role does the broadest possible social participation play in media production today, how can decisive forces be better integrated? What should modern and participatory media look like? Other focal points lie in the media-economically significant question of how so-called meritocratic needs are to be evaluated or what role attention and recognition play as non-monetary currencies of the media industry. Anyone considering these research approaches together must also look at the media system, think about the sense and nonsense of regulation or the future of public service media. Another field of research focuses on media management and the question of how the markets in moving image production and marketing are changing. Further information on his research areas can be found at https://www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/imm/mitarbeiter/harald-rau/ (external link, opens in a new window). 

Research professorship suspended during activity as Dean (SS 2023 to WS 2025/26).

Increasing the availability of water for people and the environment and protecting people from the dangers of water

Professor Röttcher's research focuses on the current and future availability of water, as well as the associated risks to humans and the environment in the context of climate change. The various research projects are investigating four options for increasing water availability. These are: keeping precipitation in the landscape for longer; efficient water utilisation; tapping into alternative water resources (waste water, flood water and cooling water); and promoting education and training to enable the rapid implementation of new findings. Digitalisation offers new possibilities for recording and managing water use more efficiently in all of these areas, and various research projects and practical trials are also being carried out in this area. Given the challenges facing water management in north-east Lower Saxony and future developments, providing water for agricultural field irrigation plays a special role in the research projects. Further information on Professor Röttcher's research can be found at www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/b/forschung/forschungsprojekte/ and https://wasser-suderburg.de/en/welcome/ (external link, opens in a new window).

Privacy by Design and Data Governance in Digital Transformation

As part of the Research Professorship, Professor Schiering is conducting research into the overarching issues of 'Privacy by Design' and 'Data Governance'. On the one hand, this involves protecting personal data when using assistive technologies. Secondly, data-based business models must be designed in such a way that data protection is also guaranteed in the event of collaboration. This includes questions of data sovereignty and partial access to data when several partners collaborate, particularly in the medical field. Further information on Prof. Schiering's research activities can be found at: www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/pws/schiering/.

Sustainable transformation of logistics processes

Dr Kirsten Wegner is a professor for logistics processes in retail at the Faculty of Trade and Social Work at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences in Suderburg. She teaches and conducts research in logistics and process management. As part of the research professorship, her research activities focus on logistics processes and digital transformation. In particular, she focuses on how companies can overcome the challenges posed by current megatrends, such as connectivity, mobility, and neo-ecology. She is currently overseeing two research projects on the digital transformation of logistics processes.

Since 2018, she has conducted research in the logistics laboratory that she founded at Ostfalia in Suderburg. There, she is dedicated to further developing digital assistance systems for warehouse logistics in a test environment. 

Further information on Prof. Wegner's research can be found at: www.ostfalia.de/cms/de/h/Organisation-Gremien-Personen/fakultaetsteam-00001/.