RWTH Aachen on the Right Path According to Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen
Inaugural visit to the University of Excellence by the new NRW Science Minister. The University's new Board of Governors is there to welcome her.
"RWTH Aachen University is a University of Excellence in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Federal State is obviously proud of its recent successes and achievements in research and teaching," declared Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen, NRW Minister of Culture and Science during her official inaugural visit to RWTH Aachen. The Aachen native had a discussion with the Rectorate about the progress made at German universities, in NRW as well as nationwide. She congratulated RWTH on the first results achieved in the new excellence strategy in the areas of research and teaching as well as on its progress with the RWTH Aachen Campus Project. "North Rhine-Westphalian universities are well positioned to succeed in the Excellence Strategy; the first decision shows how strong this location for conducting research is. RWTH Aachen is one of the flagship universities of the Federal State and it is pursuing a target-oriented strategy in order to remain in this position in the future. We will certainly support RWTH Aachen in this endeavor," said Pfeiffer-Poensgen.
The Rectorate welcomed the in-depth exchange with the Minister. " We are looking foward to working together. The University has great expectations with regard to a necessary reduction in bureaucracy. Decision processes must be accelerated and we must overcome the stagnation in the development of Campus West," commented Rector Ernst Schmachtenberg. "The focus on the areas of digitalization in teaching and research and on building and investing in universities and university hospitals recently formulated by the minister is in line with the important topics that we have been intensely engaged in at RWTH for quite some time already."
Welcoming the new Board of Governors
During her visit, the NRW Science Minister also saw off the outgoing members of the Board of Governors and welcomed the new members of the Board, which, among others, takes part in rectorate elections. In addition, the Board of Governors supervises the Rectorate's manner of conducting business and authorizes the university development plan, the target agreements and economic plan of the University. The new Board of Governors is made up of Professor Artemis Alexiadou, Humboldt-University Berlin (Professor for English Linguistics and Deputy Director at Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft); Dr. Bernd Bohr (formerly Managing Director of Robert Bosch GmbH and Chairman of the Automotive Engineering Division); Dr. Roland Busch (Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of the Siemens AG); Professor Koenraad Debackere (Leuven University, Economics); Professor Simone Fulda (Member of the Board of Directors of the University Cancer Center Frankfurt); Dr. Robert G. Gossink (Chairman of the Board of RWTH Aachen University Hospital); Dr. Waltraud Kreutz-Gers (University Chancelor, Mainz University); Professor Ingrid Mertig (Professor for Theoretical Physics, MLU Halle, Physics Science Council); Christine Peters (doctoral candidate RWTH Aachen) and Professor Georg Rosenfeld (Member of the Board of the Fraunhofer Society). Previously on the Board of Governors and remaining are Dr. Bernd Bohr and Dr. Robert G. Gossink; all other members are newly appointed. The term of office of the Board is five years, beginning November 28, 2017 and lasting until November 27, 2022.
Caption
NRW Science Minister Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen (third from left) during her inaugural visit at RWTH Aachen University pictured with the Rectorate: Deputy Chancelor Thomas Trännapp, Vice Rector Professor Malte Brettel, Rector Professor Ernst Schmachtenberg, Vice Rector Professor Doris Klee and Vice Rector Professor Aloys Krieg (from left).
Source: Press and Communications