Farewell interview with Christoph Scope
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Christoph Scope has been appointed Professor of Sustainability Management at HTW Dresden, where he has been working since March 1, 2025.
He has worked at the Faculty since 2018 at the Chair of Business Administration, in particular Sustainability Management and Corporate Environmental Economics, initially as a Research Associate and doctoral student and since 2022 as a postdoc. In this interview, he looks back on his time at the faculty.
1. What were the most important stages you went through during your time at the faculty?
My time at the Faculty as a Research Associate started in June 2018 with a joint research project on the sustainability assessment of carbon concrete. Looking back, I always felt at home - no matter where the renovation periods of the TU Campus meant that our Chair and I had to move into temporary office space: in the Schumann Building, the Falkenbrunnen or most recently in the Hülße Building. The regained proximity to campus quickly made us forget the tough phase of the coronavirus pandemic and social interaction with the administration, especially our Dean's Office, doctoral students, postdocs and professors flourished again. After all, it's the people who add humor, fun, interest and simply memories to moments - in research, teaching and the beloved summer and faculty parties. My own team around Prof. Remmer Sassen, Chair of Business Administration, in particular Sustainability Management and Corporate Environmental Economics, which changed several times over the course of 2025, helped me with this and shaped this pleasant atmosphere on a daily basis. As is certainly common with many Chairs, the time as a WiMi is characterized by phases of "staying alone at the ball" and this team sport idea in strong alternation.
2. Looking back, which projects and tasks were particularly important to you and will probably remain in your memory?
On the one hand, you naturally remember the first hours and the first project most intensely. For example, the Schumann Building and the abbreviation C³ V2.10 for my joint project on carbon concrete. At the beginning, you are still a bit more unbiased, you ask people, colleagues, rely on their patience, but also your own new ideas in the implementation. These early memories also include the first successful publication; and the disputation.
On the other hand, our brain also makes the most recent events seem more present: The faculty party 2024 for dies academicus in the best weather - and this strong sign of the collegiality of the helping professors behind the bar and the inspiring, amusing conversations with all kinds of people in the warm summer air remains a fond memory. Or the small brown bag seminars, the public discussion rounds with high-caliber guests, e.g. Wirtschaftsweisen initiated by Prof. Christian Leßmann - all of this remains in our minds.
Academic self-administration tasks for the faculty, such as my work on the Examination Committee, were also characterized by this cooperation and professionalism with regard to the scarcity of time, benefits and solution orientation. I am very grateful to Prof. Michael Dobler and Prof. Stefan Eichler, the chairs of the Examination Committee, for example, but also to all those involved.
I would have to list dozens of people here, each of whom has shaped my time in their own way. It would be unfair to name just a few. Because I have taken on a wide variety of roles, was part of our professorship, part of the RTG 2250 IMPAKT research training group under Prof. Mechtcherine, cooperated closely with UNU-Flores under Prof. Edeltraud Günther, the Chair of Energy Economics of Prof. Dominik Möst and the junior professorship of Prof. Dominik Möst. Dominik Möst and the Junior Professorship of Samanthi Dijkstra-Silva, was a faculty member, a member of the Graduate Academy, a participant in various workshops, a sustainability ambassador, a member of the Eco-Audit working group ... True to the motto "The whole is more than the sum of its parts", all these puzzle pieces and people have made me the person I am today. Thank you all! In addition to these highlights, there are also some minor failures - of course. I'll keep those to myself :).
3. What happens now professionally?
I was appointed Professor of Business Administration / Sustainability Management at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTWD) at the end of 2024 and started this new job on March 1, 2025. The first month is over and it feels very good. I have been teaching courses since mid-March and have gotten to know my new colleagues very well: I am looking forward to these new challenges for which I feel excellently prepared thanks to my time at the Faculty of Business and Economics. I look back fondly, look forward to future cooperation between TUD and HTWD and always enjoy coming back to campus.