Padberg-Gehle

A moment with...
Professor Kathrin Padberg-Gehle

“It all started with a teacher training course in Paderborn. As Professor of Mathematics, I still really enjoy educating young people, plus I get to work on cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research projects!”

(1) What I love about my current job is...
...that it’s so diverse: scientific research and intensive discussions with colleagues; the acquisition of third-party funding and publication and presentation of research results; traditional and digital forms of teaching, the continuous development of this and the dialogue with students; participation in academic self-governance – and much more!

(2) One of the highlights of my career so far has been...
...the most important milestone in any academic career: my appointment to a lifetime professorship! This allows me to push ahead with my research projects over the long term and to constantly keep my finger on the pulse by educating young people.

(3) When I look back on my career so far, I’d say that what has particularly shaped me has been...
...my time as a research assistant in Paderborn University’s Department of Applied Mathematics, of which my doctoral supervisor Professor Michael Dellnitz is Chair: This rather close-knit, highly committed, diverse group made for a highly inspiring working environment with many international guests and fascinating research projects.

(4) I’d advise any young women wishing to pursue a career similar to mine to...
...network early on and intensively within your academic and scientific community by, for example, participating regularly in academic and scientific conferences, workshops and summer schools at home and abroad – events that are just as important for their opportunities to socialise in the evening!

(5) I associate my time at Paderborn University with...
...an amazing, carefree, but also formative time as a student and research assistant, during which not only the foundations for my future professional career were laid, but during which I also met people who are still a big part of my life – like my husband.

(6) For the next 50 years, I wish Paderborn University...
...to continue to successfully address the urgent challenges facing society and, as a “University for the Information Society”, to constantly reinvent itself to this end.

(7) As a positive effect of the “Hall of Femmes” for readers, I hope that...
...young women in particular will be inspired and empowered by the broad diversity of career paths taken by the women in profile here to pursue the subjects, issues and ideas they are passionate about.

Also worth seeing

Windt, Karin-Farbe
Dr Karin Windt
Karin Windt advises companies on issues relating to their online presence. After a doctorate on novels by Czech author Libuše Moníková, she made the move into IT and set up her own business as an online media consultant in Berlin in 2010.
Dilger, Bernadette
Professor Bernadette Dilger
Bernadette Dilger is Professor of Business Education at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. She completed her doctoral degree on “The self-reflective learner” at Paderborn University in 2007. Her research focuses on impact-oriented business didactics.
Flaßkamp, Kathrin
Professor Kathrin Flaßkamp
Kathrin Flaßkamp is Professor of Modelling and Simulation of Technical Systems at Saarland University. She is a Paderborn University alumna, having studied Engineering Mathematics and completing her doctoral degree here in 2013.
Habig, Therese
Therese Habig
Therese Habig is Managing Director and co-founder of safety innovation center gGmbH in Paderborn, which specialises in research and digitisation for civil safety.
Professor Andrea Kaimann
Andrea Kaimann is a professor at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. As Vice-Dean, she’s also responsible for developing the university’s Gütersloh campus. She completed her doctoral degree on “Reducing process times by curing adhesive bonds using inductive heating” at Paderborn University in 2001.