On 28 April, HU will elect two new vice-presidents. Prof. Dr Ulf Leser from HU is standing for election as Vice President for Research. The public hearing will take place on 14 April. Prof. Dr Dr Björn Bohnenkamp, Karlshochschule International University, and Prof. Dr Beate Lütke from HU are standing for the post of Vice President for Academic Affairs. Their public hearing will take place on 21 April.
The candidates introduce themselves
Prof. Dr Ulf Leser has been Professor of Knowledge Management in Bioinformatics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2002. Should he be elected Vice President for Research, he has set himself the following tasks, amongst others: supporting researchers in securing structure-building projects; promoting scientists at all career stages, particularly postdocs. Furthermore, he plans to introduce training for newly recruited staff on topics such as good academic practice, appropriate supervision, and equality and diversity.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Björn Bohnenkamp holds degrees in theatre, film and television studies and business administration. He has been active in higher education for 20 years and has served as Vice-President for Teaching at Karlshochschule in Karlsruhe since 2022. Should he be elected Vice President for Academic Affairs, he intends to further develop the quality of teaching by creating space for innovation and exchange, whilst taking the perspectives of students, lecturers and future employers into account in equal measure. He also wishes to further strengthen the ‘Humboldt’ brand – as a synonym for excellent teaching, international appeal and a passion for lifelong learning.
Prof. Dr Beate Lütke has been a professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2013, and since 2016 has held the chair in Didactics of the German Language and German as a Second Language. She is also dean of the Faculty of Language, Literature and Humanities. Should she be elected Vice President for Academic Affairs, she has set herself the goal of driving forward structural, curricular and digital transformations, systematically improving the quality of teaching, and strengthening the HU campus as an open and internationally connected place of learning.
Election of Vice-Presidents at Humboldt-Universität
The Vice-Presidents of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin are elected for a five-year term by the Academic Council, upon the recommendation of the Board of Governors, by a majority of its members’ votes. The Academic Council’s meetings on 14 April, 21 April and 28 April will be streamed live for the interested public. The provisional results will be announced on the day of the election. The Central Election Board will publish the final election results on 4 May, once the objection period has expired.