English 
German Excellent research needs scientists who navigate challenges without losing sight of their ideals.
What is this all about
Being a researcher means setting out to solve the big puzzles of the universe and the challenges facing our society. This vision is exciting and motivating. However, staying with it means being persistent and dealing with setbacks, with constantly changing tools and technological infrastructure, with sometimes difficult collaborators, with the conditions of academic employment and with a range of pressures. You do not have to face these alone.
Having spent many years doing neuroscience and having developed a bird’s-eye view of the academic landscape, I now support and empower individual researchers, research groups and institutions in doing the best possible research. If excellence is the summit, I see myself as a guide who knows the terrain and the routes, helping you find your own best path and navigate hurdles without overexertion and without losing sight of why you started.
Excellence with integrity
Everyone talks about scientific excellence. What is rarely talked about is that real excellence depends on research integrity. Excellence with integrity is what I want to support with my work: meaningful and ambitious research that is done thoroughly, reported honestly, and robust enough for others to build on. That is hard to maintain in an academic system that often rewards paper counts more than it rewards good scientific practice.
Recent AI developments are a double-edged sword for research excellence. Used badly, these tools make it easy to mass-produce scientific-looking but poor research output. Used responsibly, they hold enormous potential to make research more efficient, more transparent and more reliable.
What I do
- train researchers in developing a fundamental understanding of the technology, so they can make full use of its potential while avoiding its pitfalls.
- facilitate discussions about integrity and bring a wider perspective on the academic system, which is not something that happens to us but something we all take part in and are responsible for.
- focus on the human side: supporting individuals in building a successful career in a fast-changing world, and helping teams develop a productive working style in which dilemmas can be voiced and disagreements lead to a more comprehensive picture of the research rather than to lingering conflicts.
Possible formats
Training
If you are looking to improve on specific skill sets that are crucial for academic success, consider training. I offer trainings in various formats and tailored to your specific needs. Topics include technical skills, research integrity and professional development.
Coaching
If you are looking for individual support with your specific situation or goal, coaching provides the room for reflection and gaining important insights. As a coach, I help you to develop strategies to overcome challenges in the academic world and to increase your productivity and well-being.
Mediation
If you are experiencing a conflict in your research group, mediation is a powerful tool to help. Mediation is a structured process, during which I create the setting for everyone involved in the conflict to work together. The goal is to find a solution that is attractive to everyone involved.
Other possible formats include:
- Keynotes
- Team building
- Consulting
- Event moderation
- Retreat organisation
Why take the journey with me?
I combine three backgrounds that rarely come together.
Firstly, I have a broad perspective on the academic system. I hold a PhD in brain imaging and after spending years as a full-time researcher in Austria, the UK and Germany, I have worked in science management on institutional strategy and support structures for good research. Through international networks, I am connected with many people who are working to improve the academic system.
Secondly, I have a deep technical understanding of scientific programming and AI development. My own research involved scripting complicated analysis pipelines, including for training neural networks.
Thirdly, I have a strong background in psychology, extended by certified training as a mediator, coach and interactive didactics. What the combination gives you is support in various formats that is technically sound, takes the realities of the academic system into account, and flexibly adapts to the people in the room.
Learn more about my background and motivation.
Selected institutions I have worked with
- BERD NFDI
- COST Actions
- Digital Research Academy
- European University Viadrina
- Friedrich-Schiller University Jena
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Leipzig, Halle, and Jena
- Leipzig University
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
- Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
- Robert Koch Institute
- Potsdam University
- University of Applied Sciences Wismar
- University of Halle
- University of Hamburg
- University of Göttingen
- University of Münster
- Weingarten University of Education