H-BRS International Chair
Overview of previous H-BRS International Chair holders
Prof. Dr. Ing. Karim Baïna holds a PhD in Computer Science from Henri Poincaré University (France). At his home university Mohammed V University in Rabat (Morocco) he is Dean and Professor of the National School for Computer Science (ENSIAS). His expertise lies in the areas of Big Data and Data Architecture. Prof. Baïna already worked at the H-BRS from 2016 to 2018 as a project assistant on the Moroccan side in the DAAD project OPEN. Together with Prof. Dr. Rainer Herpers, he worked on a research project to develop better and faster methods for tackling the regional and local challenges of digitalisation. In addition to teaching in the Department of Computer Science, Prof. Baïna will be conducting a research project on the Internet of Things and Big Data for the International Chair during his stay at the H-BRS.
Prof. Dr. Rosemond Boohene is Dean of the Centre for International Education at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. She has extensive experience in entrepreneurship and small business development, both in research and teaching at universities and in non-university activities. Prof. Boohene's research focuses on gender and entrepreneurship, as well as new venture creation. In the past, Prof. Boohene has participated in various projects, conferences and workshops at H-BRS. From 2012 to 2014, she led the project "Teaching for Development, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Economic Development" on the Ghanaian side in cooperation with the H-BRS. As part of her H-BRS International Chair position, Ms Boohene will teach at the Department of Economics and contribute to the DAAD-funded project "BET Ghana".
Arthur Ngasani is Assistant Professor and Head of the Faculty of Social Protection and Insurance at the Institute of Finance Management (IFM) in Tanzania. Mr Ngasani holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University and is currently working on his PhD. He specialises in health financing, pension schemes and social security, among other areas. In the past, Mr Ngasani has worked with international organisations such as the ILO, UNICEF and OECD on national social policy in Tanzania. In 2018, he also initiated the cooperation between IFM and H-BRS. Mr Ngasani is representing Prof. Dr Esther Schüring from the Department of Social Policy and Social Security in her research semester. The Vice President for Internationalisation and Diversity welcomes this form of substitution of research semesters by an H-BRS International Chair Holder and wishes that this becomes common practice at the H-BRS.
Dr. Zhanlu Ma-Högemeier received her Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China, in Hefei, China. The research for her Bachelor's thesis was conducted at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With further research experience in molecular genetics and transgenic animals, she joined the research group of Professor Dr Nicolas Wernert at the University Hospital Bonn for Cancer Research. During her doctoral studies at the Chair of Biochemistry I - Receptor Biochemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum, she is a scholarship holder of the IGSN (International Graduate School of Neuroscience) and a DAAD STIBET scholarship holder. Her PhD and postdoctoral research aimed to investigate the rules for the assembly and intracellular trafficking of functional ion channels. Two of Dr Ma-Högemeier's research articles were selected as cover articles of peer-reviewed journals. Dr Ma-Högemeier was appointed as a special assignment teacher in the Department of Applied Natural Sciences. During her teaching period in the winter semester 2018/19, she supervised Bachelor projects, especially for international students.
Abla Alzagameem is currently doing her PhD at the Department of Applied Natural Sciences under Prof. Dr. Margit Schulze. Ms Alzagameem studied in Jordan before coming to the H-BRS in 2013 on an ERASMUS Avempace II programme. Her thesis is entitled "Biomass and Green Chemistry: Building a Renewable Pathway" and was awarded the Sustainability and Responsibility Prize by the International Center for Sustainable Development (IZNE) at H-BRS. Ms Alzagameem will support the Department of Applied Sciences at H-BRS from winter semester 2018/19 to summer semester 2020. In addition to teaching various modules in the department's Bachelor's and Master's programmes, she is involved in internationalisation and supports the establishment of new collaborations with Jordanian universities.
Dr Karl Kirschner holds a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Georgia (USA). His expertise is in computational chemistry, particularly force field optimisation, molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanical calculations. He has broad research interests ranging from unbound clusters to biological and drug topics. A common theme is the use of modelling to make predictions that can be tested experimentally. Dr Kirschner has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, with publications covering molecular clusters, biological modelling and drug design. From summer semester 2017 to winter semester 2018/19, he successfully worked as H-BRS International Chair Holder at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Technical Journalism in the development and implementation of English-language study programmes. Mr Kirschner was also involved in other internationalisation projects at the university.