The University Senate has confirmed the three Vice-Presidents in their posts: Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, Vice-President for Research; Prof. Dr Gunilla Budde, Vice-President for Student Affairs and Teaching; and Prof. Dr Bernd Siebenhüner, Vice-President for Early-Career Researchers and Quality Management.
University President Prof. Dr Babette Simon said she was delighted to be able to continue working with such a highly competent team. “In recent years, we have achieved a great deal together with all members of the university.”
She would continue to devote considerable effort to providing further support for the development of new research projects and the establishment of early-career research groups during her second term of office, Al-Shamery explained to the University Senate. The successes of recent years had demonstrated the immense potential of this university. The Cluster of Excellence ‘Hearing4all’, the “Turbulence and Wind Energy Systems” research building, the extension of the Collaborative Research Centre “Safety-Critical Systems”, several new research groups and graduate colleges, and the University of Oldenburg’s recognition as a ‘start-up university’ were just a few outstanding examples, Al-Shamery emphasised. It is important to build on these successes.
Budde, Vice-President for Studies and Teaching, told the University Senate that her primary goal for the future remains to safeguard and strengthen Oldenburg’s appeal as a place to study. This includes the further development of the research-oriented teaching and learning profile, as well as making degree programmes more flexible in light of an increasingly diverse student body. Budde emphasised that she views diversity as an opportunity. The internationalisation of the range of degree programmes is therefore also at the top of her agenda. She identified the launch of the pilot degree programme in Human Medicine in the coming winter semester and successful participation in the forthcoming call for proposals in the Excellence Competition for Teacher Training as the greatest current challenges.
Siebenhüner will continue to head the ‘Early-Career Researchers and Quality Management’ department – newly established in 2010 – for the next two years. The establishment of the Graduate Academy and a new Graduate School in the humanities and social sciences demonstrates the high priority placed on the consistent and professional support of early-career researchers at the University of Oldenburg. He intends to continue along this path with determination. He also described the further expansion of quality management and the strengthening of the university’s sustainability as challenging tasks.
The vice-presidents took up their two-year posts on 1 October 2010; their second term of office ends on 30 September 2014.
