Expert Database
Are you a journalist looking for academic expertise to contextualize or explain a current issue?
The University of Kassel offers a wide range of experts who are happy to share their specialized knowledge with you in interviews.
Topics in the News - Our Expertise
- Eastern German State Elections
- Health Care Reform
- Economic Transformation, Labor Market, Innovation
- Water, Drought, Heat, Climate Change
- Child Protection, Crime
- Renewable Energy, Grids
- Transportation, Mobility, Electric Drives
- Infrastructure, Materials of the Future
- IT Technology Design, Data Protection
- Design, Sustainable Design
Eastern German State Elections
Department of Social Sciences
Biography: Chair of the Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany—Statehood in Transition
Point of contact for the party system, the AfD, election results, coalition-building and implications for federal politics
Department of Human Sciences
Biography: Sociologist and visiting professor at the Kassel Institute for Sustainability
(Interview with Prof. Dr. Klaus Dörre)
Contact person for the Social causes of voting behaviour, social conflicts, structural change and political alienation
Department of Social Sciences
Biography: Research Associate, Section: Political System of the Federal Republic of Germany - Statehood in Transition
Point of contact for Ideological and social foundations of right-wing populism, political mobilisation and political narratives
Art College
Biography: Professorship for Design Theory and Practice
Point of contact for Visual communication, digital design strategies, and the AfD’s and New Right’s social media presence
Health Care Reform
Department of Social Work and Social Welfare
Biography: Professor of Theory and Empirics of Health; former director of a public health department
Department of Human Sciences
Biography: Professor of Social and Health Law, Law of Rehabilitation and Disability; Adjunct Judge at the Federal Social Court; Member of a thematic working group of the DGB Pension Commission (2026).
Economic Transformation, Labor Market, Innovation
Kassel Institute for Sustainability
Biography: Head of the Sustainable Technology Design; former Head of the Future Energy and Industrial Systems Department at the Wuppertal Institute
Biography: Head of the Economic Policy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Member of the EFI Expert Commission
International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER)
Biography: Professor of “Higher Education and the Labor Market” and researcher at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
Water, Drought, Heat, Climate Change
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Prof. Dr. Matthias Gaßmann is the head of the Hydrology and Material Cycle at the University of Kassel.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of Group Urban Water Engineering
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of the Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management Department; author of numerous studies on flood protection along German rivers
Child Protection, Crime
Department of Human Sciences
Biography: Professor of Children’s and Youth Law; Chair of the German Association for Juvenile Courts and Juvenile Court Services (2026)
Renewable Energy, Grids
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Biography: Martin Braun heads the Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems research group, which is part of the Competence Center for Decentralized Electrical Energy Supply Technology (KDEE). He also serves as director of Fraunhofer IEE.
Department of Social Sciences
Biography: Professor of International and Intersocietal Relations, Co-Director of the Käte Hamburger Research Center “Raw Material Worlds”
Transportation, Mobility, Electric Drives
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of the Department of Transport Planning and Transport Systems
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of the Cycling and Sustainable Mobility Departement. Germany’s first “bicycle professor”
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Biography: Jens Friebe heads the Power Electronics Departement and focuses on active and passive components for the development and operation of electrical power supply systems in electric vehicles.
Infrastructure, Materials of the Future
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of the Mechanics and Dynamics Department
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Biography: Head of the Metallic Materials Departement
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography: Head of the Department of Construction Materials and Construction Chemistry
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Biography: Hans-Peter Heim heads the Plastics Engineering Department and coordinates research and development in the areas of materials, structures, digitalization, and the functional integration of plastics.
IT Technology Design, Data Protection
Department of Economics
Biography: Head of the Public Law, IT Law, and Environmental Law Departement
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Biography: Head of the Deep Semantic Learning Research Group, member of the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence (hessian.AI), member of the Scientific Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG)
Design, Sustainable Design
Art College
Biography: Susanne Ritzmann holds a professorship in Sustainable Product Design and Development. She is a member of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (dgtf).