Members 2024
Elected members
With the online elections held on 10th and 12th June 2024, the following GA members have been elected postdoc representatives of the Graduate Academy for 2024/2025:
| Dr. Sabine Apelt | Institute of Materials Science, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Dr. Ismail Bayram | Chair of Psychology of Learning and Instruction, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Dr. Samuel Cosper | Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Dr. Siavash Ghiasvand | Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing (ZIH), Technische Universität Dresden |
| Dr. Martin Zwanzig | Chair of Forest Biometrics and Systems Analysis, Technische Universität Dresden |
Current members
Here the members present themselves with their original motivation for candidacy:
Dr. Sabine Apelt
Institute of Materials Science,
Technische Universität Dresden
I would like to join the TU Dresden Postdoc Council for a second term. I’m an engineer and a research associate at the Chair of Biomaterials and my research focuses on materials, ferroelectrics, corrosion, surfaces, interfaces, anti-ice coatings, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and sustainability. Beside my research I’m quite passionate about teaching here at the university. As a member of the Postdoc Council I would like to further strengthen the cross-disciplinary networking and collegial coaching. I would like to give a voice to the postdocs of TU Dresden, their needs, concerns and interests.
Dr. Ismail Bayram
Chair of Psychology of Learning and Instruction,
Technische Universität Dresden
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Chair of Psychology of Learning and Instruction, as well as the Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI) at Technische Universität Dresden (TUD). My research focuses on multi-sensory behavioral experiments to investigate sensory-motor skill acquisition and development, particularly exploring how different types of interventions and feedback influence the learning process.
As a new member of the Postdoc Council of GA, I have actively participated in various events organized by GA. My experiences have motivated me to further expand my involvement and impact by nominating myself as a Postdoc Council representative. I would like to address the challenges and needs of new postdocs and believe that my background and enthusiasm will enable me to contribute effectively to the council. I am eager to collaborate with other Postdocs to develop solutions that enhance the postdoctoral experience at TUD and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR).
Dr. Samuel Cosper
Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience,
Technische Universität Dresden
My name is Dr. Samuel Cosper and I have been a postdoctoral researcher in Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience within the Faculty of Psychology since Sept. of 2022 and the deputy speaker of the Postdoc Council since 2023. My motivation for becoming a Postdoc Representative is to further postdoc skill development both scientifically and in terms of networking and important social and organizational skills required in academia. I also am a proponent of active representation and transparency. Not only do I want to represent my own thoughts, goals, and opinions, but I want the goals, opinions, thoughts, and wishes of others to be represented. For transparency, I believe it is difficult enough to navigate academia, including both staying in academia or leaving academia. I would like to assist others in understanding the academic system, understanding the qualification period for postdocs, being able to work effectively within the system, as well as have knowledge of other options. I find this especially important or international postdocs. Being an international member of the TUD who has lived and worked in Germany for over a decade, I feel I have a unique opportunity to interpret information and share it in an understanding manner for those who do not know the system as well. Only by working together can we strive to understand the current system and bring our voices together to suggest changes to make things better. I would like to be a part of that. Our academic community is a strong community which relies on sharing information, experiences, and problems. Together, we can help each other and take a step towards achieving our collective and individual goals.
Dr. Siavash Ghiasvand
Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing (ZIH),
Technische Universität Dresden
In 2015, a wonderful team of PhD students and I established the “DDocs”, the first GA Doctoral Council of TU Dresden. DDocs was born to support all PhD students during this amazing (but sometimes frustrating) path. Doing so, I learned a lot, gained colourful experiences and greatly expanded my circle of friends. I remained an active member of DDocs and was honored to be elected in all following elections until accomplishing my PhD in 2020. Since 2023, I had the opportunity again to collect more experiences in the Postdoc Council, get to know further talented people, and share all my experiences from the past years.
Dr. Martin Zwanzig
Chair of Forest Biometrics and Systems Analysis,
Technische Universität Dresden
I am postdoc at TU Dresden since 2019. My activities include teaching and research with a focus on individual-based ecology and modelling. Since June 2022, I have been the spokesperson for the joint postdoc council of TU Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, gaining experience in committee work and getting to know the specific challenges and perspectives of postdocs at both institutions. As I am also the postdoc representative of the advisory board of the German University Association of Advanced Graduate Training (GUAT) since May 2023, I see great synergy potential in coupling these activities and would like to be re-elected to the postdoc council.
One of my objectives is to further consolidate the Network of Postdoc Representations in Germany that I initiated and to intensify our dialogue, both on our organisation and influence on decision-making processes, as well as on the support offers and perspectives of postdocs at our respective institutions. I hope this will also provide new impulses for TU Dresden and HZDR. As the father of four children and the husband of a woman doing her doctorate at TU Dresden, I am familiar with the challenges that arise for young scientists in combining work and family. I would be happy to further contribute all these experiences and perspectives as a member of the postdoc council.