To kick off the Ask a Scientist discussion series in the summer semester 2025, we are delighted to welcome Dr Ulrike Leistner. She studied social work at HTWK Leipzig and worked as a researcher in the ‘Social and Health’ research group from 2010 to 2017. Her research focussed on trust in the work process and the comprehensibility of health information. At the same time, Ms Leistner completed a cooperative doctorate at the TU Dresden on the mediation tasks of social work in the case of communication barriers in job centre letters. Since then, she has been coordinating local health promotion at the Leipzig Health Department. During the interview, we talk about her career and her current work as a researcher outside the university.

Time: Tuesday, 15.04.2024 from 12:30-13:30

Location: follows soon

The second interview in the summer semester 2025 is with Dr Mirjam Müller. She studied Energy and Environmental Engineering at HTWK Leipzig. She began working at the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ) in 2011 as a research assistant in the Small Plant Technology working group. Since 12/2023, Ms Müller has held the position of acting head of the working group. In 2020, she completed her cooperative doctorate at the University of Leipzig together with the HTWK Leipzig and the DBFZ. During the interview, we will talk about her career, her career decisions and her work as a scientist in a non-university research institute.

Time: Tuesday, 20.05.2025 from 12:30-13:30 Uhr

Location: follows soon

For the kick-off event of the Ask a Scientist discussion series, we will be talking with Professor Nataša Živić. Since June 2022, she has been a professor of information and coding theory as well as real-time image processing at the Faculty of Digital Transformation at HTWK Leipzig. In her research, she explores methods in both coding and information theory as well as cryptography to make communication systems more efficient, robust against interference, and secure against attacks. During the one-hour Lunch Talk, she will share with us her career journey and her current work as a professor at HTWK Leipzig.

For our next event, we will meet Professor Katharina Gelbrich. The law graduate and PhD holder has been a professor of law (business private law) at HTWK Leipzig since April 2023. Her research focuses on insolvency law and business private law topics, particularly consumer protection law and changes in private law due to sustainability efforts and digitalization. In addition to her role as a professor at HTWK Leipzig, she works at the law firm Flöther & Wissing. She will share with us her career journey and her start as a professor at HTWK Leipzig in our conversation.

During our last meeting in the 2024/25 winter semester, we will have a conversation with Professor Gabriele Hooffacker. She is a journalist and lecturer specializing in digital journalism. Since 2013, she has been working as a professor in the field of "Media-Appropriate Content Preparation" at the HTWK Leipzig. Her current research focuses on AI in journalism, interactive and participatory formats, as well as digital teaching and learning media. Additionally, since 2019, Professor Hooffacker has held the position of Deputy Director at the Institute for Digital Teaching and Learning (IDLL) and has been a member of the University Council at HTWK Leipzig since 2020. She will share with us her career journey and her passion project, "The Long Night of Computer Games," which attracts around 2,000 visitors to HTWK Leipzig annually and has been organized by her since 2017.