New University Electoral Committee confirms incumbent Rektor for a further four years

Today (30 April), Rektor Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer was confirmed for a second term by a large majority of the members of the University Electoral Committee, consisting of the Senate and the University Council combined. The appointment was made at the proposal of a “Rektor selection committee” of ten, who had recommended the uncontested incumbent.

Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer has been Rektor at Bielefeld University since 1 October 2009. The new term of office commences on 1 October 2015 and ends on 30 September 2019.

Rektor Sagerer’s first term was notable for challenges like the introduction of a new study model, tackling the double intake of school leavers, successful participation in the second round of the Excellence Initiative as well as the start of extensive architectural changes at Bielefeld University. Under his direction, the Rektorat launched an intensive strategy process to make Bielefeld University fit for the future in light of the changing environment regarding higher education policy and financial conditions.

Locally, Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer supports cooperation between universities and industry also as a board member of both the “It’s owl” Cluster of Excellence and the study fund foundation OWL. At the level of national higher educational policy, he is on the research commission of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz [HRK - German Rectors’ Conference]. Internationally, he is spokesman for the German side of the German-Canadian university research alliance.

Gerhard Sagerer (born in 1956 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein) has been Professor of Applied Informatics at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Technology since 1990. Prior to this, he studied Computer Science at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he completed his doctorate and received his post-doctoral habilitation in 1985 and 1990 respectively.

His research interests include cognitive and social robotics, human-robot interaction, speech and dialogue systems, and the architecture of intelligent systems. He has served as coordinator and member of the executive board for numerous EU projects (VAMPIRE, COGNIRON) and Collaborative Research Centres (SFB) (360: Situated Artificial Communicators, 673: Alignment in Communication). Sagerer played a key role in establishing two central academic institutes at Bielefeld University: the Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics (CoR-Lab) and the Excellence Cluster CITEC (Cognitive Interaction Technology).

Professor Sagerer has held various offices in the academic self-administration of Bielefeld University, including as a member of the academic Senate (1991 to 1993), as dean of the Faculty of Technology (1993 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2001), as well as vice-rector for Studies and Teaching (2001 to 2007).

The University Electoral Committee is a new organ established in the new North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Education Act. It consists of all the members of the University Council and the entire Senate. Due to weighted voting, both organs have the same percentage of votes. Five members each from the University Council and the Senate belong to the “Rektor selection committee”.

“Congratulations on being re-elected,” says Dr. Annette Fugmann-Heesing, Chair of the University Electoral Committee and of the University Council. “A challenging agenda awaits Professor Sagerer. The framework conditions for Bielefeld University are changing. Under his leadership, it must, and will, continue to position itself successfully in the academic arena.”