The inauguration traditionally takes place as a ceremonial investiture [de]. The term ‘investiture’ derives from the Latin verb ‘vestire’ (‘to dress’). In Greifswald, the newly elected Rectors have been inaugurated with a ceremonial handing over of the insignias for centuries. During this ceremony, the dignitary is symbolically ‘dressed’ in the Rector’s gown. Due to the current hygiene and distancing regulations, this traditional part of the ceremony that is usually open to the public, could not be executed. Instead, a video on the history of the ceremonial investiture at the University of Greifswald was shown for the first time during the event.
The new Rector
Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel is now the University’s 353th Rector at the University of Greifswald. Prof. Riedel studied Biology at the Technical University of Munich and gained her Ph.D. from its Institute of Microbiology in 1998. In 2006, she gained her habilitation at the University of Zurich. Having been professor at the University of Braunschweig, she became Chair of Microbiology at the University of Greifswald in 2011. She has been Managing Director of the Institute of Microbiology since 2013. From 2016 to 2017, Prof. Riedel was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and from 2017 to her inauguration as Rector in 2021, she was Pro-Rector for Research and Transfer, International Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Since 2020, she has also been the provisional Founding Director of the Helmholtz Institute in Greifswald.
‘Together with my team, I will do everything in my power to further develop the University of Greifswald into a cooperative and competitive research university, where all subjects are equally valued; a university that is characterised by a modern and attractive range of degree courses and that is dedicated, just like a human employer, to all members of the university’, says Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel, new Rector. She stands for participation, transparency, and cooperation. Among other things, she would like to establish new formats of communication, such as an online forum of the Rectorate. This platform is supposed to provide a space for important topics and issues in direct exchange with the University’s governance, says Prof. Dr. Katharina Riedel: ‘Communication, cooperation, and flexibility are the basic principles of our new leadership culture; with these principles, we want to guide our University through the pandemic’.
The new Pro-Rector for Communication Culture, Staff Development and Gender Equality
Since April 2019, Prof. Dr. Konstanze Marx (Faculty of Arts and Humanities) has been Chair of German Linguistics at the University of Greifswald and since April 2020, she has been Managing Director of the Department of German.
‘There are three main themes for my work in this office: the University of Greifswald as a place for interaction, a place of identification, and as a place for diversity, which I look forward to shaping together – for example in further developing a culture of feedback and appreciation, for extending counselling services for crisis management, for strengthening the mentoring programme and anti-discrimination as well as improving the accessibility of university buildings and the University’s websites,’ says Prof. Dr. Konstanze Marx.
The new Pro-Rector for Research, Digitisation and Transfer
Since 2015, Prof. Dr. Lars Kaderali (University Medicine Greifswald) has been Chair of Bioinformatics; he brings with him several years of experience as a scientist, experience in the industry and politics, as an expert, consultant, and also IT entrepreneur.
‘In my opinion, it is particularly important that as academics, we do not just apply academic methods and generate scientific results, but that we also pass these on and adopt them for society. With regard to digitalisation, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that many things are already possible; however, it has revealed weaknesses and limitations as well as the need to expand our digital infrastructure,’ says Prof. Dr. Lars Kaderali.
The new Pro-Rector for Teaching, Teacher Training and Internationalisation
Since 2001, Dorthe G. A. Hartmann (Faculty of Law and Economics) has been Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Law and Economics; among other things, she has been responsible for the legal English courses. She has already been awarded the University’s Teaching Prize for Good Teaching Practice twice.
‘Quality in teaching is very important to me. I will do my best to ensure good conditions for collaborative and competence-oriented teaching by using digital formats. As Pro-Rector, it will be one of my main focuses to develop an overall strategy for languages and internationalisation that will make the University more attractive for national and international students, teachers, researchers, and other members of staff’, says Dorthe G. A. Hartmann.
Contact at the University of Greifswald
Jan Meßerschmidt
Domstraße 11, Entrance 1
17489 Greifswald
Tel.: +49 3834 420 1150
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