pioneers: university college freiburg sends off first graduating class manager: ralf dieter runs a global company unesco director: mechtild rössler protects our cultural heritage computer scientist: wolfram burgard develops intelligent robots 2017 the alumni magazine of the university of freiburg | www.alumni.uni-freiburg.de/magazin ralf dieter: chief executive of dürr ag mechtild rössler: earth scientist with an international mission wolfram burgard: head of the lab for intelligent autonomous systems

e k r h e g a i v l i s : o t o h p dear alumni, team spirit, visionary networks, and a culture of cooperation are among the university of freiburg’s special strengths, both within the university and together with our partner institutions on the upper rhine. these qualities enable us to find scientific solutions for the challenges of the present and the future beyond the bounds of individual disciplines – with research and teaching as the driving forces. it is therefore my firm conviction that the successful trinational partnership we are building up as one of the world’s leading research universities will be the key to our success in the upcoming excellence competition. we have made a lot of progress toward realizing this goal in the past months. the partner universities from freiburg, basel, mulhouse, strasbourg, and karlsruhe opened the european campus in may 2016. we now form a european grouping of territorial cooperation, which considerably enhances our inter- national visibility and attractiveness. the “sustainability center freiburg,” initiated jointly in 2015 by the university of freiburg and freiburg’s five fraunhofer institutes, is developing new tech- nologies and solutions with industry partners. furthermore, we are also closely involved in a number of groundbreaking joint projects with our seven neighboring higher education institutions in south baden. other important milestones along our path into the future are the strategic realignment of the freiburg institute for advanced studies (frias) to serve as a platform for developing new research fields and the university college freiburg (ucf), which offers germany’s only bachelor’s program in liberal arts and sciences and focuses on research-oriented teaching. i invite you to learn more about the ucf, our university’s teaching and learning lab, in the cover story of this issue. enjoy reading the magazine – and stay in contact! sincerely, prof. dr. hans-jochen schiewer rector of the university of freiburg 3 contents cover story ursula glunk and paul sterzel first graduates at university college freiburg survey: study different 4 7 hans-joachim gehrke maintains international relations 8 alumni network caroll h. neubauer the ucf’s north america campaign 10 caroll h. neubauer supports an innovative path 11 12 danial dahna: studying as a refugee 13 more influence for alumni clubs 13 alumni freiburg now for students too mechtild rössler protects the world heritage 14 tales from the cafeteria: dirk schumacher 15 christiane nüsslein-volhard supports female scientists 16 17 between the lines: farina de waard 17 historical greats: gregor reisch alumni answer: full of suspense 18 20 ralf dieter runs a global company my course certificate: bärbel schäfer 21 university news ursula wittwer-backofen wolfram burgard makes robots cleverer my tweet: daniel leese continuing education: business ethics mike schwörer attracts students to freiburg sabine wieland-poscher: planning buildings ursula wittwer-backofen: promoting health my start-up: geospin a look back: collegiate building iii campus bulletin city life 22 23 23 24 25 26 27 27 28 yvonne faller yvonne faller maintains the freiburg minster new city hall in stühlinger freiburg gets a new center pictures: university objects in a new context 30 31 31 32

55 the first 50 graduates of the university college freiburg’s bachelor of liberal arts and sciences degree program show off their diplomas. photo: jörg blum ucf were testing out an educational model that had not yet been offered in this form in germany. ursula glunk names the main points that set the new course of study apart from traditional bachelor’s programs: it is designed to be completed in four rather than three years – “but the students also have to earn 240 rather than 180 ects credits. that’s 1800 more hours of work than are required for a three-year program.” the ucf offers four major fields. all of them are interdisciplinary and require that the students treat their topics from the per- spective of several disciplines. the main difference, however, is that “questions or problems serve as the starting point for learning,” stresses glunk. “this means that the students need to acquire their knowledge on their own. it is not simply provided to them. finally, what is also important is the interna- tional dimension, which we emphasize by making english the language of instruction.” communicating in typical everyday situations. this ensures that the college is not cut off from its german-speaking surroundings. “the first year involves a great adjustment for many of the students,” sterzel admits. this is also the phase in which the dropout rate is highest. however, only around 20 percent of the students have dropped out of the program so far, most of them before the second year. thus, the 80 percent of students per class who succeed in completing the first year go on to select one of the broad inter- disciplinary major fields. there are four majors to choose from: two with a natural sciences focus, one with a social sciences and economics focus, and one with a humanities focus (see info box on page 9). students also take electives as a comple- ment to the required courses in their major. they may be chosen from the other majors or from the broad course offerings of the university. “core knowledge” in the first year the tripartite curriculum begins with a structured first year of study focusing primarily on the philo- sophy of science and scientific methods. in addi- tion, the students have to learn to write academic texts in an english that meets the standards of the anglo-saxon world. this “core knowledge” is required of all students enrolled in the program. non-german-speakers – around one-third of the las students – also have to take german lessons to achieve a level of proficiency that is sufficient for the breadth of the curriculum provides the students with an overview of many different fields of knowledge, something a course of study in a specific field cannot hope to match. the freedom the students enjoy under this model to put together their own bachelor’s program ensures that “no two paths to the degree are the same,” says ursula glunk. this is precisely what the las students appreciate about the program. some of them find “their” major only after taking a detour. for exam- ple, veronika vazhnik first chose earth and envi- veronika vazhnik is going on to earn her phd in the usa. photo: private vahid asimi is studying molecular medicine at charité – university medicine berlin. photo: patrick seeger

cover story uni‘alumni 2017 7 survey study different it took pioneering spirit to enroll in the new bachelor of liberal arts and sciences (las) degree program in the first year of its existence. verena adt asked several members of the first graduating class what is so special about the program. clara gerstner, las major in life sciences, is now working toward a master’s in education at john hopkins university in baltimore, usa, and teaching biology and physics at a high school: “the program’s problem-based learning approach is unique in germany, as far as i am aware. the 15 to 20 students in each seminar are fully responsible for determining the content of the course, and it’s the teacher’s job to support them. we all learned very quickly that not much would happen in our seminars if we didn’t come to class prepared and motivated. i think the main thing that is different from traditional degree programs is that las students have to take full responsibility for their own studies from the start. we have the freedom and the obligation to select our own courses, our major, the topics we want to study in more depth, the languages we learn, and much more. that takes a lot of discipline, a talent for organization, and passion, and these are things i learned in freiburg that will definitely come in handy in the future.” e t a v i r p : o t o h p yared abdeta debalo, las major in governance, is now a trainee at a social organization in north rhine-westphalia and aims to work toward a phd in social sciences at the humboldt university of berlin: “i’m from ethiopia, and i studied political science there for three semesters before coming to germany in 2009. i had already been accepted to another university when i heard about the brand new program that was supposed to start in freiburg in 2012. so i decided to study at the ucf, and i don’t regret it. what sets the las program apart is especially the interdisciplinarity and the practical relevance. the program assumes that the complex problems we are confronted with today cannot really be solved it we consider only one perspective or dimension. climate change is one such issue whose complexity cannot be treated adequately by any single discipline. besides environ- mental aspects, it is also necessary to take account of political, economic, and social perspectives.” i k s w o k l o p s u a k l : o t o h p lea nienhoff, las major in culture and history, is now a production assistant at theater freiburg and aims to go on to earn a master’s in dramaturgy: “the fact that las courses are structured as compact courses makes them very different from courses in other degree programs. having a course almost every day for just a few weeks means that you can really grapple with the subject matter. but it’s also a big challenge, because the students have to be capable of writing a research paper in a discipline they were often previously unfamiliar with after just a few weeks. the fact that the program was in english wasn’t a deciding factor for me; sometimes it was even annoying later on, especially when we read german philosophers in english. on the other hand, i’m very glad to have made friends from places like columbia and nepal here. their way of looking at germany and their perspective on world events taught me a lot about myself and the world.” e t a v i r p : o t o h p matthias haslberger, las major in governance, is now working toward a master’s in compar- ative social policy in oxford, england: “one special thing about the las program is the many student initiatives. what i have in mind in particular is a moot court on a human rights issue held in the 2015/16 winter semester as part of the global order project. we participated with a four-person team and managed to make it to the quarterfi nals in strasbourg, even though it was a legal topic and we were not law students. while i was working on my bachelor’s thesis, i helped organize a two-day conference on mobility and identity with experts and students from all around germany as well as from the netherlands and switzerland. that was a swig from the bottle of real life. it was a challenge even just fi nding the necessary space for the conference at the university, but it was fun. p o p s u a k k s w o k : o l i l t o h

cover story uni‘alumni 2017 9 the first graduating class poses for a farewell photo. photo: jörg blum was founded in 2002 and is more scientifically ori- ented than many american las programs. the “big sister,” as glunk refers to the dutch model institution, provided advice on building up the freiburg las program from the start. it is only logical that the two colleges also created a dual degree. two graduates – one each from freiburg and maastricht – also received this diploma at the ucf graduation ceremony. the ucf was anxious whether there would be any students at all in the fall, and summer 2016, when the first class took its final exams. a new ucf class – already the fifth – met for “welcome week” at the same time the first class was celebrating graduation and organized its own kick-off party in the peterhof cellar. the ucf will hold more graduation ceremonies in the future, but the first one of all, the one with the pioneers, is now over. a place where you’re not alone verena adt all members of the first graduating class praise the direct personal contact with their professors in small learning groups and the sense of together- ness among the students. “there are hardly ever more than 20 people in a course,” says matthias haslberger. altogether, the ucf has around 500 students, teachers, and employees. it’s small enough that everyone gets to know everyone else. what makes the sense of togetherness all the more important is the fact that the students take different paths through the program, says vice dean of university college maastricht teun dekker, who represented his institution at the graduation ceremony in freiburg: “everyone does their own thing in an las program. it can make you feel quite alone sometimes. that’s why it’s important that everyone is part of the college. that’s a place where you’re not alone.” building up an ucf alumni network is therefore at the top of paul sterzel’s list of priorities. a lot of progress was made between summer 2012, when » www.ucf.uni-freiburg.de julia wertheim is working toward a doctorate in neuro- sciences. photo: patrick seeger four majors earth and environmental sciences: this major has to do with the planet earth. it focuses on the interaction between human beings and the environment, cover- ing classical theories and methods of ecology and geology as well as current topics at the interface between environmental science, political science, and law. life sciences: this is a research-oriented major involving the structures and functions of the human body, including the brain, and how they interact with the environment. relevant disciplines include biology, neurosciences, biotechnology, and behavioral and cognitive science. governance: this major concentrates on the analysis of social systems, especially communities, nations, and markets. the analyses are supported by methods and theories from the social sciences, political science, and law. culture and history: students of this major take an interdisciplinary look at cultural and historical topics from around the world. they apply methods and theories from history, ethnography, philosophy, art history, and literary studies.

directors of b. braun melsungen ag, president of the german american chamber of commerce in new york – and a devoted university of freiburg alumnus: caroll h. neubauer is spear- heading the campaign for the benefit of the university college freiburg (ucf) together with the steel entrepreneur jeffrey himmel. nicolas scherger spoke with jurist and manager about the ucf, the university of freiburg’s learning lab. the uni’alumni: mr. neubauer, what fascinates you about the ucf and its flagship degree program, the bachelor of liberal arts and sciences (las)? caroll h. neubauer: the novelty. the students don’t have to decide right off the bat that they want to become a jurist, doctor, engineer, or teacher but first receive a broad education that can serve as a basis for later specialization and development. i consider the model better than the classical german educa- tion i received. i find it great that the university of freiburg, an institution with so much history and culture, is taking this innovative path. you began your studies by enrolling in a law program in freiburg in the 1970s, so you chose to major in a specific field. would you do things differently today in view of the ucf/las option? acquire a broad education fi rst, then choose a specialization: caroll h. neubauer considers the university college freiburg’s approach better than a classical academic education. photo: baschi bender finance had been a required subject in my degree program, for instance, i would have had a lot less trouble figur- ing out how to deal with operating figures or read a balance sheet when i first became a manager. how do you aim to convince potential students and sponsors in north american of the ucf? portr ait “it will be a surefire success” 11 caroll h. neubauer is campaigning for the university college freiburg in north america h e is a member of the board of to create a ucf campus in the old uni- versity and its courtyard. the ucf has an incredibly attractive opportunity to make itself a home for the future here. what prospects do you see for graduates? i fi nd it outstanding that the students are taught in english, the world language. a lot of people speak english, but only few really speak it fluently. the language skills are therefore a great advantage for the las graduates. but it will be a challenge to get them into jobs directly after they finish their bachelor’s degree, so that they can first achieve a certain level of professional maturity and then, equipped with a wealth of experience, earn their master’s degree. the univer- sity and alumni like me will work to support them in this endeavor. my degree program provided me an outstanding education. i love being a jurist, and i’m proud to call myself a freiburg jurist. the legal thinking i was taught here is still an essential part of my strategy for success today. but if i had the chance to start all over again, i could see myself acquiring a broad general education at the ucf first and then going on to study law. if i had done that, it would have made a lot of things easier for me in my later work as a man- ager in the industrial sector. if public i don’t think we’ll need to do anything special to advertise the ucf at all. it’ll be enough to just make it known. the students receive outstanding training in english, learn german, get to know european culture on the cross-border european campus with the partner uni- versities on the upper rhine – and all that in freiburg, a town with a quality of life only few cities in the world can match. that’s why i’m sure it will be a surefire success. i also hope we’ll find more people to support us in our effort

13 representatives from the alumni clubs were elected to the board of directors of the booster association alumni freiburg. photo: thomas kunz besters-dilger, and vice president for research prof. dr. gunther neuhaus. since alumni freiburg e.v. makes funding available to all faculties, the ar- ticles association were also amended to allow for increased faculty involvement. prof. dr. uwe edward schmidt from the faculty of environment and natural resources was elected to the extended board of directors to speak on behalf of the faculty alumni representatives. the faculty level. the freiburg economists are the first organization to take advan- tage of this possibility to help shape alumni work in freiburg. the executive board of directors, made up of rector prof. dr. hans-jochen schiewer, secretary general of the german academic exchange service dr. dorothea rüland, and director of the university of freiburg offi ce of public relations rudolf-werner dreier, will continue to hold responsibility for convening general assembly meetings, bookkeeping, report- ing to the general assembly, and making decisions on the allocation of funds. cornelia staeves » www.alumni.uni-freiburg.de booster association more infl uence for alumni clubs alumni freiburg e.v. elected an extend- ed board of directors in 2016 as a result of a 2014 amendment to its articles of association. the goal was to give the national and international alumni clubs more infl uence in the booster association, because the wide range of club events is what convinces many former students to support their university and become members of the association. the follow- ing six alumni club representatives were elected to the extended board of direc- tors: marie-claudine zangna, cameroon; jeffrey a. himmel, north america; prof. dr. masahisa deguchi, japan; dr. ekkehart meroth, south baden; hans-joachim stalf, rhineland; dr. wolfgang thost, bavaria. as a means of intensifying the contact between alumni and the university’s leadership team, the board of directors now also includes further members of the rectorate: head of administration dr. matthias schenek, vice president for academic affairs prof. dr. juliane adnan zogaj will represent freiburger wirtschaftswissenschaftler e.v., a regis- tered society of freiburg economists, in the extended board of directors. alumni freiburg’s new articles of association give institutionalized alumni organizations the opportunity to become members at membership alumni freiburg – now for students too alumni freiburg has been offering former university of freiburg students interesting programs in various german cities and abroad for many years via its alumni club network. now alumni freiburg is also making it possible for current students to take part in the club program. prizes for student involvement and achievements – with funds donated by alumni. alumni freiburg has succeeded in improving the conditions for studying at all university of freiburg faculties, providing travel grants for academic excursions, and supporting institutions that benefit students in the past years thanks to the support of former students. most students are familiar with alumni freiburg because the booster association supports student projects and awards now alumni freiburg chair rector prof. dr. hans-jochen schiewer has advanced the idea of allowing students to become members of the booster association. student member- ships are discounted to accommodate tight student budgets: all it takes to join is a one-time fee of 10 euros, and students are exempted from regular membership dues for up to five years after they complete their degree. student members can use the alumni network, participate in club events, es- tablish professional contacts with alumni, subscribe to the alumni newsletter, and learn about alumni funding projects. but the most important thing is that the students strengthen the bond between the university and its alumni – until they graduate and become alumni themselves. membership at a discount: students can join alumni freiburg for next to nothing. photo: sandra meyndt cornelia staeves

15 tales from the cafeteria: dirk schumacher watch out for low-flying food field of study: law period of study: winter semester 1982 to summer semester 1989 current position: director of the freiburg-stadt tax offi ce my favorite meal at the cafeteria: milk rice (honestly!), with a lot of stewed plums. it’s also something i regularly ate too much of, which was bad for my concentration in the afternoon and led to my having to read some chapters twice. a meal i liked less: there were surely also less successful compositions, but as a young man of little financial means and with a big appetite, i always found something and regularly ate it up. strangest experience at the cafeteria: there must have been a well-known public figure during my time, possibly a member of the city council, who was not matriculated at the university but had obtained the right to eat lunch in the dirk schumacher appreciated the cafeteria as a place to meet up with classmates. photo: private cafeteria through some devious means or other. i can’t remember the details anymore, but that was of course a topic of conversation. personal notes: all in all, my memories of the cafeteria are positive. not just because i always got enough to eat but also because i met and socialized with classmates there – a welcome change from the quiet work in the law library. but visiting the cafeteria could be risky: even if you made it past rempartstraße without being run over, there was always the risk of being hit by low-flying food due to the cramped seating and the difficult balancing act of carrying a full tray. too much milk rice with stewed fruit can make you sleepy. photo: thomas kunz – whether it is really a site of outstand- ing universal value or not. but what makes my day-to-day work difficult is intervening when the people on location fail to take responsibility for protecting the site. an example is the construction of waldschlößchen bridge in dresden, which led to the loss of the dresden elbe valley’s status as a world heritage site. you have visited many world heritage sites. is there one you are particularly fond of? i was deeply impressed by the banaue rice terraces in the philippines. it’s not for nothing that they’re called the “steps to heaven.” it was also moving to fly over the victoria falls between zimbabwe and zambia in a small air- plane and see this gigantic water vapor rising up to 300 meters above the ground. the locals call it “mosi-oa-tunya,” the thundering smoke. i’m from speyer, though, and i have to say that i’ve always been impressed by the speyer cathedral. speaking of germany, you studied geography and german studies at the university of freiburg. do you still visit frei- burg from time to time? oh yes. after all, i married a freiburger. we met as students. i come to freiburg again and again and do things there that aren’t possible in paris, for instance eat- ing a sausage on münsterplatz or drink- ing wine from the barrel on schönberg. what is important to you besides your job? i have a project that’s very important to me: each year i organize an exhibition with local artists in south france and invite the entire village to it. my family is also very important to me. and my hobbies: i do yoga, i enjoy being in na- ture, and i hike. i have to keep myself fit even just for my job, because it can happen from one day to the next that i have to go on a business trip that takes me to 4500 meters altitude.

17 between the lines: farina de waard between the university and a fantasy world farina de waard dreamed of a myste- rious fantasy world from the time she was 14 years old. that’s when she started writing the series das vermächtnis der wölfe (“the legacy of the wolves”). she has completed three volumes so far and plans to write two more. the hero of the series is called upon to liberate her people from oppression. farina de waard tries to draw parallels to real-life power structures in her books. she wants to entertain her readers but also encourage them to reflect on the world and their lives. her books are self-published through her own publishing company, which she founded while working on a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences. for her first novel, zähmung (“taming”), she received the 2015 indie author prize the leipzig book fair. writing at is “independently and something to farina de waard. constantly” that comes naturally she would like to devote her career to environmental journalism, which would allow her to combine her passion for writing with her interest in the natural sciences. as an author, however, she wants to continue treating the philo- sophical issue of the nature of evil. her next book, a medical thriller, will be set in the real world. the young author aims to try out various genres in the future, without abandoning her work on the fantasy world she has created. felicitas kahles historical greats: gregor reisch father of the first printed encyclopedia farina de waard studied environmental natural sciences in freiburg from 2008 to 2013. she is currently working toward a degree in biodiversity and ecology in greifswald with the aim of becoming an environmental journalist. photo: private the encyclopedia britannica once encompassed 32 printed volumes. now available only in a digital version, the voluminous reference work contains a lengthy entry on the history of encyclo- pedias. the author of the entry praises gregor reisch’s margarita philosophica as “one of the most delightful of all en- cyclopedias.” the margarita philosophica was pub- lished in freiburg im breisgau in the year 1503. it remained a widely read textbook at universities for more than a century. it is regarded as the first print- ed encyclopedia, and its latin was praised for its conciseness and style. its author gregor reisch, born in balingen, studied at the university of freiburg starting in 1487. reisch completed a baccalaureate degree in 1488 and his magister one year later. he then began a career as a university lecturer. one of his students was martin waldseemüler – the carto- grapher who later called a newly dis- covered continent “america” on his world map. reisch worked on his opus alongside his teaching duties. the twelve-volume margarita discusses the seven liberal arts as well as other knowledge domains, such as anatomy and ethics. in the renaissance, the en- cyclopedia could lay claim to providing an overview of the full range of knowl- edge available at the time. gregor reisch completed his manu- script in 1496 and bequeathed it to the university faculty as a kind of parting gift. he entered the carthusian order and became a prior in 1501 but contin- ued the margarita philosophica for subsequent editions. improvements to make to he traveled to the netherlands, where he met with the humanist erasmus of rotterdam. as a theologian, reisch was a fervent opponent of the teachings of martin luther and the reformation. gregor reisch died in freiburg on 9 may 1525. martin jost a standard reference work at universities for a century: gregor reisch’s margarita philosophica. photo: sandra meyndt

alumni network uni'alumni 2017 19 suspenseful anne grießer fields of study: european ethnology, modern german literature, ethnology years: 1990–1997 “my two minors, and even more my major in european ethnology, were a perfect way to prepare for life as an author of historical crime novels: i was forced to eat 100-year- old cheese on a field trip in switzerland (good practice for working in a profession with no money in it), one of my classmates enjoyed talking about his hobby (digging up war graves), and a former student cursed the departmental library where i worked at the desk, much to the amuse- ment of the other patrons. ment of the other patrons. how could i have how could i have become a sober become a sober scholar under circumstances like these? incidentally, i also encountered also encountered the topic of my latest novel, the pilgrimage to the holy blood of walldürn, while studying in freiburg – but the literary ver- sion was clearly the more pleasurable!” photo: private latest crime novel: das heilige blut – der roman der walldürner wallfahrt (“the holy blood – the novel about the walldürn pilgrimage”), sutton, 2016 (2nd edition) oliver becker fields of study: german studies, political science years: 1994–1999 e t a v i r p : o t o h p e t a v i r p : o t o h p “crime novels set in hamburg? check. in berlin? ditto. in frankfurt’s red light district? but of course. and when do you fi nd time to read them? for example when you’re a student in freiburg and you skip class more often than you should. that’s how it was with me. and while reading i thought: ‘too bad there aren’t any freiburg crime novels. after all, the town does have something gloomy about it despite its beauty.’ you don’t believe it? go to the old cemetery at dusk. that’s good location for a thriller. or what about the grotto at st. ottilia’s chapel? or even a homicide in the cathedral? you see what i mean: even beautiful towns can be good places for murder. at least in literature. so i just ‘had’ to write a freiburg crime novel: in schmetterlingstod (“death of a butterfl y”), even private detective john dietz has to learn how surprisingly dangerous freiburg can be.” petra busch fields of study: mathematics, computer science, modern german literature, mu- sicology, german medieval studies years: 1987–1996 “there’s evil everywhere all the time – even in freiburg. i known there is evil hidden behind the sunny idyll of the town from being mugged there, from my 26-year friendship with detective superintendent karl-heinz schmid, and from being present at numerous postmortems. experiencing the grind of bone saws, the clink of scalpels, the gurgle of blood, and the smell of disinfectants, metal, and decay in a white-tiled hall – no, this is not a cliché – inspires you to plumb the depths of human nature. this is what good crime novels and thrillers do. i of course want my novels to be suspenseful and entertaining, but i also look for answers in them. what makes us humans torment, kill, and betray each other? transcend boundaries set by morals, laws, religion, or our own fears? can anyone be turned into a murderer? yes, of course. any time. even in freiburg.” latest crime novel: das raunen der toten (“the murmuring of the dead”), ars vivendi, 2015 latest crime novel: das lachen des bösen (“the smile of evil”), droemer knaur, 2015

alumni network uni‘alumni 2017 21 that is the approach i take to this day. i only demand of my employees what i myself am ready to give. i flew economy too during the financial crisis. there were no extras for me. you have had to make some un- comfortable decisions in the course of your career. when you started at the schenck group, you had to implement a corporate re- structuring plan. that is correct. i had to lay off several hundred employees. a few years later i made the decision to lay off 800 people at dürr. i had no choice; the company was in a difficult situation. but i consid- er it part of my job in such situations to not just hide in my office but to face the people at the employee meeting. when the first people start crying, it’s not a good feeling. dürr’s annual turnover fell to 1.1 billion euros during the financial crisis – now it’s back at almost four billion. how did you manage that? i stood up at the employee meeting and said: “we need to get the word ‘crisis’ out of our heads. this is no crisis; it’s a downturn.” this time was an opportunity for us to prepare for the next upturn. and it was sure to come, unless you be- lieved it was the end of the world. so we went to china, which was hit less strongly by the crisis, and expanded our operations in the development of paint systems for the automobile industry there. i hired people there without hav- ing enough orders. we worked at full capacity even before the demand picked up again. i thought to myself: if this plan works, we’ll notch up a suc- cess. if not, i’ll resign and someone else will take over my job. it worked: in 2010 we increased our market share in china to 80 percent in this segment. you once said: “i’m not a manager who drinks coffee and looks at the numbers.” what do you do instead? in principle, i could do my job any place where i have internet access and a telephone, but that’s not what i want. i’m also not the type of manager to en- gage in “helicopter management”: flying somewhere to look at a company for two hours and getting an unrealistic pic- ture because everything was brought into order beforehand. i consider it im- portant to be close to the employees, because the only way to find out about morale and trends is by being around in person. for all the benefits the digital revolution has brought us, nothing can replace a face-to-face discussion. when a company buys a paint system that costs between 50 and 150 million euros from us, i want to be there at the nego- tiations. how often does that happen? every time i go on vacation. i don’t get much free time. most of my weekends get interrupted by work. a place i can relax well is on nighttime flights: no one can call me, no one can write me emails, and i finally have time to reflect. you’ve been supporting the univer- sity of freiburg for years by funding a scholarship for the deutschland- stipendium program. why is it important for you to support your alma mater? i earned my degree at public expense. i want to give something back, and i find that perfectly normal. what confirmed me in my decision later on was a letter i received from a student. she thanked me for the freedom the scholarship gave her. when i was a student, i had to pay for everything myself – i spent every free minute driving a truck. my father passed away a year before my gradua- tion, so i spent my days liquidating his firm and earning money and my nights studying for exams. i feel good knowing that a young person today has less stress than i did back then. my course certificate: bärbel schäfer “do something else with your time” “i’ll never forget the beginning of my studies at the university of freiburg in the 1978 summer semester. i wanted to begin my law studies with a course on criminal law. the rector welcomed us newly arrived students but added that the alma mater was not ready for us because the central offi ce for admissions, which was responsible for granting admission to german law pro- grams back then, had sent out the letters of acceptance without fi rst con- sulting the university of freiburg. and this was his pragmatic advice: ‘we unfortunately cannot allow you to start taking courses immediately. do some- thing else with your time. use it to settle in and get to know freiburg.’ i didn’t wait to be told twice. we quickly found a large enough group of classmates to set off in two fully packed cars for a holiday in the south of france. but don’t get me wrong: i still ended up working hard during my fi rst semester. i earned a course certifi cate to fulfi ll the economics requirement for law students.” bärbel schäfer has served as chief administrative officer of the freiburg administrative district since 2012. she studied law at the university of freiburg from 1978 to 1982 and passed the second state examination to complete her legal training in 1985. photo: freiburg regional council

university news uni‘alumni 2017 23 continuing education: thales academy for economics and philosophy business ethics without moralizing undertones finding the right line of action in a globalized world is no easy task for businesses. terms like responsibility, transparency, and trust are becoming increasingly important. but how can these values be implemented at the company level? corporate social re- sponsibility is a popular catchword in this context, but companies often lack basic orientation in the jungle of accred- itations and certifi cations. “we see ourselves as playing an inter- mediary role between researchers and businesses,” says dr. philippe merz, managing director of the nonprofi t thales academy, which offers lectures, in-house seminars, and – in coopera- tion with the university of freiburg – an in-service continuing education pro- gram in philosophy of economics and business ethics. the program familiar- izes current and future managers with recent fi ndings from philosophy, psy- chology, and behavioral economics, knowledge that is becoming more and more important for success in business management. corporate ethics pay off “many studies indicate that coopera- tive behavior is more successful than competitive behavior in rigidly hierarchi- cal structures. corporate ethics are therefore important even just in and of themselves – but they also pay off,” says merz. this may be seen among other things in human resources management: today’s employees are interested in more than just earning money; they also want to be- lieve that their work serves a purpose. companies need to react to this trend if they want to keep their employees. “corporations like vw or deutsche bank would not be fi ghting for their survival today due to a loss in confi dence if they had given serious thought to questions of business ethics,” says merz. philippe merz founded the academy in 2013 together with the philosophy scholar and black forest family-business owner dr. frank obergfell. the academic director of the continuing education program is prof. dr. hans-helmuth gander, dean of the university of freiburg’s faculty of humanities. students of the program complete online modules and on-campus seminars over a ten-month period to earn the internationally recognized cas cer- tifi cate. “the lifeblood of the program is a respectful exchange of experience across generations, lines of business, and hier- archies,” summarizes merz, and that is an important factor in broadening one’s horizons. petra völzing » www.thales-akademie.de philippe merz (left), managing director of the thales academy, and hans-helmuth gander, academic director of the continuing education program. photo: sandra meyndt y r t s o v n a t s i r t : o t o h p my tweet: daniel leese mao in 140 characters mao zedong had a lasting impact. the chinese dictator’s more than 30- year reign brought unspeakable suffer- ing to the chinese people and cost millions of lives. mao’s communist party of china (cpc) is still in power today. it has yet to allow any critical public discussion of its former chair- man’s era and its consequences. prof. dr. daniel leese aims to change that – and he’s tweeting about it. his channel “maoist legacy” provides information on findings from the research project of the same name that have been pub- lished on the project website. the sinol- ogist and his team are using court case files to determine how the cpc has dealt with crimes committed against the people under the maoist regime. the researchers are receiving a starting grant worth 1.44 million euros from the european research council to conduct this pioneering work. leese’s colleagues dr. amanda shuman and puck engman, who are conducting research within the context of the project, also post tweets on the channel. their posts also refer to current information, talks, and other events on related topics and provide academically informed commentary on current events in chinese politics. “this draws attention to our project, as may be seen in the amount of visitors to our homepage, requests for inter- views, and people contacting us with other requests,” reports leese. start- ing in 2017, visitors to their site will also be able to register for access to an online portal containing historical sources like court files, texts, and pictures. this resource will provide a further boost to maoism research and pave the way for future projects. yvonne troll » https://twitter.com/maoistlegacy

25 strategic planning and media management are sabine wieland-poscher’s areas of specialization – and both are important parts of the work at her office. photo: thomas kunz portr ait always two steps ahead the architect sabine wieland-poscher is head of the new office for construction and developmental planning bauhaus, functionalism, modernism: this is the professional tradition sabine wieland-poscher sees herself as representing. “a building should meet the demands that arise from its use,” says the architect. that also goes for the more than 160 buildings at the university of freiburg. a variety of con- struction projects are on the agenda in the coming years: examples include the refurbishment of the collegiate buildings (kg) and their offices, lecture halls, seminar rooms, and libraries, the prob- lem of creating alternative space while this construction work is being done, for instance by building a new kg v, and the construction of new laboratory build- ings on the faculty of engineering cam- pus. the university of freiburg created the office for construction and devel- opmental planning at the start of 2016 to prepare the ground for all of these projects – with sabine wieland-poscher at the helm. the new offi ce provides services to the faculties and functions as a connect- ing link to the university’s building author- ity: “we are responsible for developing construction strategies and working out concrete solutions to ensure that the fac- ulties receive appropriate infrastructure for their further development in research and teaching,” explains the architect. but construction planning is a time-consum- ing process. the challenge thus lies in identifying now what the faculties will need in the coming years: “we always need to be two steps ahead.” what makes this even more diffi cult is that the university is not concentrated on a cam- pus but has evolved with the city through- out the course of a long history. “it is therefore closely intertwined with the city. although there are positive aspects to this, it can also appear as a kind of hodgepodge.” the faculty of law, for ex- ample, is spread over eleven locations, while the faculty of environment and natural resources even uses 23 build- ings. “the upcoming projects now pre- sent the university with an opportunity to reorganize everything and bring it all to- gether” – with the help of the master plan for construction development her offi ce is currently preparing. suited perfectly for the task wieland-poscher is suited perfectly for this task. born in northern hesse, she fi rst completed an apprenticeship as an interior decorator after completing her schooling. “i wanted to create, to translate ideas into action, and the technical aspect also ap- pealed to me, but in the long term i missed an intellectual quality,” she says in retrospect. so she studied architecture in kassel and berlin, gained experience working at architectural fi rms, and fi nally launched her own business in berlin in the early 1990s. her company offered project development, urban planning, and feasi- bility studies – everything that happens before the actual construction starts and is therefore termed “phase 0” in the in- dustry. “that was always my hobbyhorse.” alongside her work, she also completed a master’s degree in architectural media management. helping the public to better understand construction projects, winning people over for them, making them curi- ous about new things – “this is a task i consider very important.” now she is able to combine her two areas of special- ization in her work at the new offi ce. “that is a nice twist of fate for me.” sabine wieland-poscher has already been at the university of freiburg since 2009, as has her husband ralf poscher, professor at the faculty of law and man- aging director of the centre for security and society. her fi rst position at the uni- versity was at the construction planning department, from which the new offi ce was formed. she has sung soprano for several years in the university choir, which includes students and employees from many university faculties and depart- ments. she has also found her favorite building here: kg ii. “representative rooms in the lower fl oors and functional ones in the upper fl oors, plus a large transparent hall that creates a high-quality public space – that makes this modernist building into a wonderfully structured place for teaching.”

university news uni‘alumni 2017 27 my start-up: geospin a wealth of data we leave an enormous trail of data behind us every day – when we shop, tweet, ride the train, or purchase theater tickets. companies collect this informa- tion, but they often do not make as much use of it as they could. “there is a great wealth of data here, but you can only tap into it if you know how to read it,” says dr. christoph gebele, head of sales and marketing at the company geospin. the spin-off was founded by five university of freiburg business informatics researchers in march 2016. what they do is analyze data collect- ed by companies to determine where it would be worth it for them to open up new locations. if a gumball machine company wants to find the most profita- ble places to install its next machines, for example, the experts at geospin take a look at how many gumballs have ball machines are in particular demand in parts of town with a lot of movie theat- ers, or perhaps they will discover that more gumballs are sold from the al- ready installed machines on hot days. “we work with explanatory and pre- dictive methods to help the companies derive maximum benefit from the data they collect,” says gebele. the partners received funding from the german fed- eral ministry for economic affairs and energy and the “university-based busi- ness start-ups” initiative for their idea, and it’s taking off: the demand for geo- spin’s services is high. claudia füßler » www.geospin.de geospin uses algorithms that filter out relevant factors from various data sources and combine them to form an overall picture. illustration: geospin been sold from the company’s existing machines and combine this information with other factors. “in addition to the data provided by the company itself, we also use so-called open data, explains dr. tobias brandt, expert data scientist at geospin. this may include census, weather, or traffic data. the team might then come to the conclusion that gum- a look back odd and a bit inconspicuous lecture halls nicknamed “the aquar- ium” because you sit behind a big glass facade and feel like you’re on display, a stairwell in a hall with a wall that used to be part of an external facade, com- plete with oriels and windows, and steps that lead you up and down again because the fl oor height is not the same as that of the adjacent building: these are just a few of the curiosities of these are just a few of the curiosities of collegiate building (kg) iii on the uni- collegiate building (kg) iii on the uni- versity’s main campus. it versity’s main campus. it is home to a number is home to a number of humanities of humanities departments and departments and libraries, accommodates seminar rooms, lecture halls, and language labs, and is built over a two-level underground garage. upon completion of reconstruction after the second world war, the univer- sity had to start growing to keep up with the rising student enrollment. new build- ings on the university’s main campus built by the end of the 1960s included the by the end of the 1960s included the cafeteria on rempartstraße, collegiate cafeteria on rempartstraße, collegiate building ii, and kg iii, building ii, and kg iii, which was completed in 1968. the task of kg iii’s architect, albrecht haas, was to make the best possible use of the site. he had to take account of the historic peterhof and haus zur lieben hand and create a link between the large architectural forms of kg i and ii and the smaller buildings of the neigh- boring historic city center, as the project manager and later director of the university building authority ortwin müller writes. the building cost a total of 19.2 mil- lion d-marks, including all necessary preparation work and the design of the surrounding space. fifty years after the topping off ceremony in november 1966, kg iii still fulfi lls its purpose – a bit odd and a bit conspicuous. martin jost collegiate building iii and its historical neighbors. photo: patrick seeger

university news uni‘alumni 2017 strengthening entrepreneurial culture the university of freiburg has received two awards for concepts in support of entrepreneurial culture. the centerpiece of the strategic concept “windows for entrepreneurship,” which was successful in the national “exist entrepreneurial culture – the entrepre- neurial university” competition, is the freiburg abcs of entrepreneurship: the academy for entrepreneurship offers a broad continuing education program tailored to the needs of specific groups, networks organized by the founders office help to professionalize start-ups, and a transfer coaching service helps entrepreneurs explore utilization oppor- tunities and prospects for their research findings early on. in addition, the state of baden-württemberg has approved funding for the program “zug: zugänge zum gründen,” which is designed to get students interested in founding their own companies and teach them the necessary skills to do so. » www.gruenden.uni-freiburg.de alternative city tours geography students developed the smartphone app “freiblick” in a seminar at the university of freiburg. it currently includes three tours to places of interest in freiburg that are not part of the program in classical sightseeing tours. the first gives users tips on where and how they can make their lives more environmentally friendly and sustainable, the second traces the development of the environmental movement in freiburg from its origins to the present day, and the third explores places of protest and resist- ance from freiburg’s past. the app is available free of charge from the google play store. 29 photo: sandra meyndt texts, pictures, and videos from campus the university of freiburg is active on all important social networks: on face- book we keep you informed about learning, research, and life on campus with texts, pictures, and videos. our twitter channel provides compact information on research and teaching, announcements of events, and news. the engaging photo- graphs we post on our instagram account provide perspectives on daily life at the university and a look behind the scenes – helping people to identify with freiburg as a place to study. in addition to photographs, moving pictures are also becoming increasingly popular on social networks. we have responded to this trend with a new youtube channel that presents the university as an interesting place to research and teach and provides important practical tips on studying in freiburg. » www.pr.uni-freiburg.de/publikationen/soziale-medien quality seal for good foundation administration karl v. ullrich named honorary senator thirty-four foundation trusts, a total endowment of more than 17 million euros, and outstanding standards: a committee from the association of german foundations has awarded the university of freiburg the “quality seal for good foundation trust ad- ministration.” the university’s founda- tions support students as well as young scholars with scholarships, grants for studies and research, and awards for outstanding achievements. the univer- sity’s endowment includes real estate, plots of land for agricultural use, a fishery on the feldberg, the mathisle- wald forest tract in hinterzarten, a his- toric black forest farm from the 17th century, and the vineyards used to produce the university wine. » www.pr.uni-freiburg.de/go/stiftungen edith wiesen-emmerich (left) and andreas lang from the university of freiburg accept the award from birgit radow from the association of german foundations. photo: deutscher stiftungsservice/christian thomas rector hans-jochen schiewer (right) thanks karl v. ullrich for his many years of involvement at the university of freiburg. photo: jörg blum the university of freiburg has conferred the title of honorary senator on dr. karl v. ullrich, who served from 2005 to 2016 as chair of the friends of the university association. this is the highest distinction the university can bestow. ullrich enriched freiburg’s academic and cultural diversity in his more than 30 years of commitment to science and research at the university of freiburg as well as to its students. he played an instrumental role in build- ing up the friends of the university association, which now has 800 mem- bers and an endowment of 2.5 million euros and provides more than 100,000 euros in funding for students each year – for instance for conferences, excur- sions, internships, or study abroad.

city life uni‘alumni 2017 31 the new city hall more services under a single roof freiburg’s city government is growing and needs more space. its administra- tive departments will soon be concen- trated at a central location instead of being spread over 16 locations around town as previously. this will reduce the distances citizens need to travel to reach them. the new city hall on fehrenbacha- llee in the stühlinger neighborhood is currently being built in three phases: the fi rst phase – a fi ve-story oval- shaped building with space for 840 city employees – is scheduled for comple- tion in march 2017, three months later than planned. the second and third phases, also consisting of oval-shaped buildings, are still awaiting approval by the city council. a decision on the sec- ond building is expected in mid 2018. all in one place: freiburg’s new administrative center will provide services previously performed at 16 different locations around town. photo: thomas kunz the fi rst building is a so-called net plus energy building, meaning that it produces more energy than it consumes. the roof and the 9000-square-meter facade are fi tted with solar modules. the power for heating and cooling is generated with ground water by means of near-surface geothermal energy, and the building en- velope is built to passive standards. this means that the building will be able to cover most of its heating needs through heat recovery. the fraunhofer institute for solar energy systems ise is oversee- ing the construction and operation of the new city hall, and the project is receiving funding from the federal government’s “energy-optimized construction” program. however, the city hall designed by the fi rm ingenhoven architects is not just innova- tive from an architectural standpoint: new- ly designed offi ces, a new system for the record offi ce, and new forms of coopera- tion between the departments in the new building will completely change the way the administration works. the goal was to design a more convenient city hall that of- fers more services under a single roof. the ground fl oor of the fi rst building has a citizen service center with around 70 ser- vice spaces under two glass domes – the heart of the new administrative center. claudia füßler cit y center freiburg’s new center freiburg’s city center is getting a makeover, and it will change the look of the town more than almost any other municipal project completed in the past ten years. the second largest square in the city center – after münsterplatz – is currently under construction be- tween the theater and the collegiate buildings. the platz der alten syna- goge is being rebuilt and rotteckring completely redesigned as part of an ex- tended pedestrian zone reaching all the way to the main train station. “freiburg’s city center will become even more attractive for citizens in the com- ing years,” promises mayor dr. dieter salomon. the big project on rotteck- ring also includes 1.9 kilometers of new tram tracks. there will be five stops on the stretch from kronenstraße over rotteckring to siegesdenkmal. four tram lines will meet at a new barrier- free junction at the stadttheater stop. automobiles will no longer be able to use this stretch but will be rerouted to bismarckallee alongside the main train station. what is now a large construction site will soon be a new central square for freiburg. photo: thomas kunz the 130-by-130-meter platz der alten synagoge is being paved with large light-colored granite slabs surrounded by a darker border according to a design by the freiburg architects martin schedlbauer and volker rosenstiel. granite blocks will serve as benches, and trees and a large fountain will cre- ate a relaxed atmosphere in the middle of the city. the fountain will follow the ground plan of the freiburg jewish congregation’s former synagogue, which was built on this site in 1870 and de- stroyed on the morning of 10 november 1938 by national socialist commandos. remains of the foundation walls of the synagogue were found during the con- struction work. the city government aims to pull down the three rows of walls obstructing the building of a pool and integrate them into another memo- rial. the square is due to be completed and ready for use by freiburg citizens by the end of 2017. claudia füßler

city life uni'alumni 2017 33 quack, quack: a rubber ducky from the uni’shop meets living water fowl at seepark. swans may have longer necks, but they don’t have an academic cap or a diploma. ancient thinker, modern architecture: the greek philosopher plato, here as a plaster cast from the archaeological collection, would surely be happy to know his writings are in safe keeping at the new university library. modern mobility in freiburg’s newest neighborhood: an electric car from the central university administration fits right in on the streets of environmentally friendly rieselfeld.

masthead uni’alumni, the magazine for former students of the university of freiburg, is published once a year. publisher albert-ludwigs-universität freiburg, der rektor, prof. dr. hans-jochen schiewer publisher albert-ludwigs-universität freiburg, rector prof. dr. hans-jochen schiewer responsible for content rudolf-werner dreier, director of the offi ce of public relations editorial staff verena adt (head editor) dr. cornelia staeves nicolas scherger rimma gerenstein yvonne troll address of editorial staff presse- und öffentlichkeitsarbeit albert-ludwigs-universität fahnenbergplatz, d-79085 freiburg phone: +49 (0)761 203-4229 fax: +49 (0)761 203-4288 email: unialumni@pr.uni-freiburg.de print run 6,000 copies english translation dr. david heyde cover photos klaus polkowski, unesco, patrick seeger design, layout, production kathrin jachmann advertisements gregor kroschel phone: +49 (0)761/203-4986 email: gregor.kroschel@zv.uni-freiburg.de printing and production burger druck, waldkirch distribution offi ce of public relations yearly subscription rate 4 euros uni’alumni is available free of charge for members of alumni freiburg e. v. issn 2193-5572 this magazine was printed on fsc®-certifi ed paper. the paper was produced in germany. © albert-ludwigs-universität freiburg. all rights reserved. reproduction, also of excerpts, only with permission from the editors. articles indicating the author’s name do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of the publisher or the editors. the editors reserve the right to edit or abridge articles sent in by contributors. uni’alumni is available online at www.alumni.uni-freiburg.de/magazin