Research Database: Projects

Through my work, emotions are given a voice in coaching. Coaching is intended to support people in achieving their personal and professional goals. For a long time, the focus has been primarily on the cognitive level. The role played by emotional states has, to date, been little researched. My PhD research therefore focuses directly on the coaching conversation: using real coaching sessions and computer-assisted voice analysis, I am investigating how the affective expression of coachees changes within a single session and across several sessions. Three studies will examine how changes in affective state affect the coachee, what triggers such changes, and how affect develops over the course of the entire coaching process. LEONIE SEYNSCHE’s project combines psychology, linguistics and computer science. The findings are intended to contribute to a better understanding of affective processes in coaching and to enable more targeted support.

The higher the academic career level, the lower the proportion of women. Can allies for gender equality – so-called ‘Equality Allies’ – help to retain women within the academic system? This PhD project investigates how effective (female) allies are at German universities and what factors determine their influence. Their effectiveness is assessed, on the one hand, by their ability to instil a sense of identity security in women and thus positively influence their career intentions. Secondly, the study examines how allies describe their own effectiveness and whether they can convince other university members of the importance of gender equality. It also considers the role played by the allies’ gender and sexual orientation, and the communication strategies they use to convey messages of gender equality most persuasively – for example, through a personal account of their own experiences or a self-reflective admission of mistakes. This is being investigated through three experimental online studies and a qualitative interview study. The aim is to transform allyship from an individual commitment into a strategic resource for higher education development. This research is being conducted by Josephine Kullat.

The processing of recycled plastics poses major challenges for manufacturers of blow-moulded packaging, such as bottles or canisters. This is due to the significant batch-to-batch variations in the quality and material properties of the recycled materials, which can compromise the stability of the end products. The proposed PhD research aims to combine experimental and simulation-based approaches to facilitate the use of these materials in blow-moulded products. On the one hand, the variations in the mechanical properties of the materials are to be investigated experimentally. The aim here is to develop a simplified evaluation strategy for recycled materials by identifying potential correlations between properties. On the other hand, efficient workflows for material modelling and the simulation of recycled products are to be developed, with the aim of creating strategies for robust product design based on these findings. The aim is to ensure that, in future, products made from recycled materials can be designed to be stable – and therefore safe – despite fluctuating material properties. Overall, TIZIAN VONESTER’s PhD research aims to simplify the use of recycled plastics and support the packaging industry in its transition towards a sustainable circular economy.

MARCO ETTELT’s PhD project investigates why young people, in particular, are subject to varying degrees of vulnerability to disinformation in digital public spheres. The focus is on how social factors such as education, cultural resources and trust in institutions interact with the visibility and evaluation mechanisms of digital platforms. The research examines how algorithmic recommendation systems influence which information becomes visible, to whom credibility is attributed, and how epistemic authority – that is, the socially recognised ability to help determine knowledge and its validity – changes. Rather than viewing susceptibility to disinformation solely as an individual cognitive deficit, this work understands it as the result of social inequalities and technologically structured information environments. Methodologically, the thesis combines quantitative and experimental approaches with qualitative methods. The aim is to develop an integrated model that explains how social position, platform structures and information evaluation interact.

The aim of this thesis by SARAH VERMEEREN is to develop and apply a multivariate analysis method for the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using thermodesorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). The method is intended to enable the rapid and reproducible identification of characteristic patterns and markers in complex VOC profiles. The focus is on investigating the VOCs in healthy potatoes and those infested by various pests. The aim of the analysis is to enable both differentiation between the individual pests and a clear distinction from healthy potatoes. By identifying such disease-specific VOC markers, the potential of VOC profiles as a diagnostic tool in plant pathology is to be investigated. The research combines chemical-analytical methods, multivariate data analysis and plant pathology research with the aim of establishing new approaches to the non-invasive detection of plant diseases.

In my PhD research, I, MIRIAM NAß, am investigating how cybersecurity communication can be structured within universities. The focus is on the question of which factors influence perceptions of and engagement with cybersecurity, and how appropriate communication design principles can be developed and embedded within the university context. The research combines perspectives from communication studies with organisational issues and contributes to the further development of security communication in the academic environment.

The subject of LINA MEBUS’s doctoral research is the attitudes of volunteer end-of-life carers towards information technology. ‘Attitude’ is understood here as an embodied, value-based and relational ‘way of behaving’. The analysis of this type of ‘attitude’ is carried out in the project from a media-aesthetic perspective. To this end, (media) aesthetics is understood in particular as the sensory-affective quality of situations, materials and interactions that (co-)shape such attitudes. The empirical data collected for the project is based on 17 interviews with end-of-life carers from three different hospice organisations. The data is also being prepared for a participatory format, the specific details of which are currently still in the planning phase. The overarching aim of the project is to develop a media-aesthetic contribution to the discourse on design and technology, in which central themes of end-of-life care (such as dying, death and bereavement, as well as care) are treated as key concepts within the discourse.

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier that has recently attracted more attention. Through electrolysis, surplus renewable energy can be converted into hydrogen, stored, converted back into electricity at a later date, or used in other energy sectors. Storage systems based on this principle can be implemented on various scales: from self-sufficient energy supply for several houses to the stabilisation of energy supply networks. PhD student MICHAEL BAREEV-RUDY is working on the metamodelling of hybrid hydrogen storage systems to enable optimal sizing and control for different scenarios.

JULIANE KARNEBOGE’s doctoral thesis examines how polyolefin packaging plastics change over the course of their service life. In addition to traditional ageing parameters such as chemical influences from UV radiation, heat input and contact with media, the aim is also to understand the ageing process of recycled materials. In plastics, ageing leads to a deterioration in material properties, which are essential for safety and functionality, particularly in the packaging sector. For both virgin plastics and recycled materials, the effects arising from natural and accelerated ageing are compared, and the durability of the recycled materials is investigated. By analysing and correlating the material properties in this study, the aim is to minimise future testing efforts, thereby reducing the consumption of virgin plastic and increasing the use of recycled materials in the long term.

In Germany and Europe, the energy transition pursues the overarching goal of creating a climate-neutral, secure and economically viable energy supply. Germany has enshrined its goal of climate neutrality by 2045 in law. All levels of government face considerable challenges: rising investment requirements, a volatile regulatory framework and complex coordination processes between politics, business and society. Against this backdrop, the local authorities in the district of Kleve also face considerable financial, political, legal and societal challenges. Whilst ambitious climate targets require the expansion of renewable energy and the decarbonisation of local infrastructure, viable financing models and clear legal frameworks are often lacking; this is particularly true given the high level of volatility in federal and state regulation in recent years. This doctoral thesis by CHRISTIAN PETERS examines how, in the district of Kleve – which, with its 16 local authorities, has a predominantly rural structure – the energy transition can be efficiently managed despite the limited budgetary resources of the individual local authorities and the district itself, and develops practical solutions that combine economic viability with legal feasibility. The innovative contribution lies in combining an empirical cost analysis with an interdisciplinary assessment of options for local authority action.