Reactions to the election
The President of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Prof. Dr Julia von Blumenthal:
“I warmly congratulate Beate Lütke and Ulf Leser on their election as Vice-Presidents of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and look forward to working closely with them. The Presidium faces important tasks, and I am convinced that, with their experience and commitment, both will provide significant impetus in research and teaching and thus for the further development of our university.”
The Chair of the HU Council, Prof. Dr Ulrike Vedder:
“On behalf of the Academic Council and also personally, I warmly congratulate Beate Lütke and Ulf Leser on their election as the new Vice Presidents for Research and for Academic Affairs. With their election, the Academic Council has expressed its conviction that they will carry out their duties with a high degree of competence, commitment and a sense of responsibility in order to successfully further develop our university.”
About Prof. Dr Ulf Leser
Ulf Leser is Professor of Knowledge Management in Bioinformatics at HU and has been conducting research there since 2002 in a wide range of interdisciplinary projects. He is currently spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Centre “Foundations of Workflows for Large-Scale Scientific Data Analysis (FONDA)”, deputy spokesperson for the Research Training Group “Computation in Cancer” and also vice dean for Research at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Leser studied Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich and obtained his PhD in 2000 from the Technical University of Berlin on the topic of data integration. After spending around three years in the software industry, he returned to academia in 2002. His research focus is on biomedical data management, infrastructures for the analysis of large-scale scientific data, and data science/artificial intelligence, primarily in collaboration with medical and natural scientists. In his new role, he aims to improve support for researchers applying for structure-building projects and to establish new forms of personal funding, particularly at the postdoctoral level. He also intends to champion targeted training for all researchers starting at Humboldt-Universität in key cross-cutting topics, such as ‘good academic practice’ and appropriate supervision, in order to further improve the quality of research and research practices at Humboldt-Universität.
Prof. Dr Ulf Leser: “It is a great honour to have been elected Vice President for Research at Humboldt-Universität. I look forward to doing my utmost to support researchers at all career stages, both in their pursuit of excellence and in the challenges of their daily work.”
About Prof. Dr Beate Lütke
Beate Lütke has been Professor of German Language Didactics and German as a Second Language at HU since 2016, as well as dean of the Faculty of Language, Literature and Humanities. She obtained her PhD in language didactics at the Technical University of Berlin and passed her first and second state examinations in English and German studies. Prior to her full professorship, she served as a lecturer for special assignments from 2006 and as an assistant professor (Juniorprofessor) for “German language didactics with a focus on teaching in multilingual learning groups” at HU from 2013. She is co-director of a sub-project within the Collaborative Research Centre “Register”, and her research focuses on register acquisition, professionalisation and the development of teaching quality. As Vice President for Academic Affairs, she aims to play a responsible role in shaping and strategically developing the area of teaching and studies. On the one hand, she plans to further develop structural, curricular and digital transformations in a future-proof manner and ensure they are equitable. Furthermore, she aims to systematically enhance the quality of teaching in order to strengthen an innovative and internationally competitive teaching and learning culture. Finally, she is committed to promoting the HU campus as an open, internationally networked place of learning. Students should be given greater visibility, a stronger professional focus and diverse spaces for learning and exchange.
Prof. Dr Beate Lütke: “I am delighted that the Academic Council has placed its trust in me to responsibly lead and shape the area of teaching and studies. As Vice President for Academic Affairs, I will strategically position Humboldt-Universität as an excellent and forward-looking teaching and learning institution and further strengthen its visibility both nationally and internationally.”
About the HU Academic Council
The Academic Council is the highest governing body of Humboldt-Universität. It elects the members of the Presidium on the recommendation of the Board of Governors, decides on matters relating to the constitution and the electoral regulations, and discusses the Presidium’s annual report. The Academic Council comprises 61 members: the members of the University Senate, plus 18 professors, six academic staff members, six students and six staff members from the technical, service and administrative departments. The members of the Academic Council are elected together with those of the University Senate. The term of office for members is two years.