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.

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Junior Professor Eva Jakob
Eva Jakob is Junior Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Bayreuth. From 2014 to 2021, she worked as a research assistant and post-doc at TecUP – Paderborn University’s business start-up centre.
Dr Kathrin Wunsch
Kathrin Wunsch is a post-doc researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She conducts research into the psychological determinants of physical activity and develops mobile health apps. She completed her doctoral degree on “Anticipatory action control” at Paderborn University in 2015.
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Professor Anke Lenzing
Anke Lenzing is Professor of English Language Teaching at the University of Innsbruck. She completed her habilitation at Paderborn University in 2018, receiving the Venia Legendi for English Linguistics and Psycholinguistics.
Dr Anna-Lena Berscheid
Anna-Lena Berscheid completed her doctoral degree in Sociology at Paderborn University in 2019 and has been working as a consultant in the Research Career group at the German Research Foundation (DFG) since May 2020.