Dresden Fellows at a glance

Prof. Dr. Namchul Shin

Degree: PhD Management | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: August 15, 2023 – November 14, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: International Institute (IHI) Zittau, Chair of Business Administration, esp. Environmental Management | Host: Prof. Dr. Remmer Sassen

Prof. Dr. Namchul Shin received his Ph.D. in Management from the University of California at Irvine. He has been working as a Professor at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems at Pace University, New York, since 2006.

During his fellowship at TU Dresden, Prof. Shin will conduct a research project in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Remmer Sassen on information and communication technologies (ICT). It aims to empirically examine the impacts of ICTs and smartphones on environmental sustainability. Subsequently, a joint publication as well as grant applications for further joint projects is planned. In addition, Prof. Shin will contribute to teaching by holding guest lectures for students, a faculty colloquium to introduce his research project, and a Ph.D. workshop for the Faculty of Business and Economics. Furthermore, he will hold a session at the conference “From change to transformation” supported by IHI Zittau.

The research interests of Prof. Shin are sustainable development, environmental sustainability, global innovation networks, Geographic Information System (GIS), and nonprofit organizations. One of his current research projects examines how information and communication technologies are used to create environmental sustainability. So far, he has published countless high-ranked journal articles.

Dr. Alison Sperling

Degree: English Literature and Cultural Theory | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: July 10, 2023 – August 20, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies, Institute of English and American Studies, Chair of North American Literature with a Focus on Future Studies | Host: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Moritz Ingwersen

Dr. Alison Sperling currently works as an Assistant Professor of English at Florida State University, USA. During her stay as a fellow, she will support Jun.-Prof. Moritz Ingwersen at the annual conference of the Science Fiction Research Association and the Society for Fantasy Research, which he is organizing. Among other things, they will hold a joint workshop and a public lecture on pedagogies at the intersection of Environmental Humanities and Speculative Fiction. The results will be published in a journal. The collaboration builds on cooperations between Dr. Sperling and Jun.-Prof. Moritz Ingwersen that have existed since 2021, including a jointly held online seminar and joint conference papers.

Dr. Sperling is one of the internationally most renowned cultural scholars in the field of Speculative Fiction Studies with a unique research profile on the negotiation of emancipatory futures, queer-feminist science and technology studies and representations of the climate crisis in literature and art. Already during her time as a postdoc at the renowned Institute for Cultural Inquiry Berlin and at the Center for Interdisciplinary Women's and Gender Studies at the TU Berlin, she contributed significantly to the internationalization of Speculative Fiction Studies in Germany. Through her commitment as a curator of international dialogue and exhibition formats in Berlin, she has also opened up a high-profile network of artists for the interface of cultural studies, science and art in Germany.

Dr. Anthony Halog

Degree: PhD Engineering Economics | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: July 9, 2023 – July 22, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Department of Hydro Sciences, Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy | Host: Prof. Dr. Christina Dornack

Dr. Anthony Halog completed his PhD at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2002. Since 2012, he has been a university lecturer and head of the Industrial Ecology and Circular Economy Research Group at the University of Queensland, Australia.

During his fellowship, Dr. Halog will work on a collaborative research project on paradoxes in resource and waste management for green innovation in the transition to a decarbonised circular economy. The long-term goal of this collaboration is to submit a joint funding proposal with Prof. Dornack. In addition, opportunities for further interdisciplinary research collaborations will be explored. Dr. Halog will also be involved in teaching, including offering research seminars and workshops.

Dr. Anthony Halog has more than 20 years of teaching and research experience in Japan, Canada, the USA and Australia. He has also published more than 130 peer-reviewed publications. His current research focus is on the increase of sustainability through understanding the interconnectedness of material and energy systems. Dr. Halog has conducted several LCA projects and co-authored publications on circular economy in the construction industry in Malaysia.

Prof. Dr. Spyridon Nikolaidis

Degree: PhD Electrical Engineering | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: July 3, 2023 – July 28, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Institute of Circuits and Systems | Host: Prof. Dr. Ronald Tetzlaff

Prof. Dr. Spyridon Nikolaidis received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Patras University, Greece, in 1994. Since 1996 he has been with the Department of Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece where he is currently a Full Professor. He also used to belong to the contract teaching staff of the Hellenic Open University for the period 2003-2017.

During the fellowship, Prof. Nikolaidis will work on a joint research project with Prof. Tetzlaff. The aim of this is to explore the possibility of using memristors in the development of digital electronics. This is to further improve CMOS technology, the current technology for the design and implementation of microelectronic circuits. Students will also be involved in this project. In order to perpetuate their research, a joint application for third-party funding is planned.

Prof. Nikolaidis is the author and co-author of more than 160 scientific articles in international journals and conferences. His current research interests include modelling the operation of fundamental CMOS structures, developing analytical expressions for the propagation delay and power consumption of logic gates, designing high-speed, low-power digital circuits and embedded systems, and modelling the power consumption of embedded processors. He organises the annual international conference on modern circuits and systems technologies (MOCAST). In addition, Prof. Nikolaidis contributes to a number of research projects funded by the European Union and the Greek government, for many of which he has scientific responsibility.

Dr. Mahmoud Nasrollahzadeh

Degree: PhD Organic Chemistry | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: July 1, 2023 – October 15, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Institute of Materials Science, Chair of Biomaterials | Host: Dr. Benjamin Kruppke

Dr. Mahmoud Nasrollahzadeh completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry at the Bu-Ali Sina University, Iran in 2012. Since 2017 he has been Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry, at the University of Qom, Iran.

During his stay as a fellow in Dresden, he will work together with Prof. Kruppke on a research project on cartilage tissue engineering using hyaluronan hydrogel. The aim is to identify and synthesize new synthetic polymers that exhibit controllable degradability in vivo. Subsequently, these materials will be tested for their biocompatibility using cell culture studies. Furthermore, the materials will be modified to stimulate bone regeneration. At the end of the fellowship, it is planned to submit both joint publications and a funding proposal to continue the research. In addition, an international workshop and an online seminar will be organized during the fellowship, where PhD students from both chairs can present their research to each other and expand their network for future collaboration.

Dr Nasrollahzadeh's research focuses on organic/organometallic chemistry, greener approaches to nanomaterial construction and sustainable applications of recoverable catalysts. In recent years, his research activities have been mainly devoted to solving environmental problems, such as the development of catalysts for the production of fuels from biomass and the development of new catalysts for water treatment and hydrogen production. Dr. Nasrollahzadeh has been awarded numerous Iranian and international scientific prizes and has published over 275 papers to date.

Dr. Maryam Javadi

Degree: PhD Social Sciences - Sociology | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science, Institute of Sociology | Host: Prof. Dr. Antonia Kupfer

Dr. Maryam Javadi received her PhD from the Islamic Azad University in cooperation with the University of Tehran and TU Dresden. Since 2014, she has been working as a researcher and senior expert in civic education at the Tehran Municipality.

During the fellowship, Dr. Javadi will conduct research on the development of novel online education systems in the field of Global Citizenship Education under the supervision of Prof Kupfer. This research will provide an opportunity to learn more about the importance of Global Citizenship Education in improving the quality of life internationally and collaborating effectively on global challenges. The fellowship will take place in collaboration with World Academies, a global teaching and research collaboration organization that is advancing the development of new online global education platforms.

Dr. Javadi is an experienced social science researcher. Her research interests include civic responsibility, impact of globalization and localization on sustainable development, global online education and impact of internet and technology on social behavior. She has been a guest lecturer at Azad University, Asia Research Institute and NGOs. Dr. Javadi is a member of the Iranian Sociological Association as well as the Iran Future Association. Since March 2022, she has maintained a research collaboration with the UNESCO Chair of Social Health and Development in Iran.

Prof. Dr. Ernesto Medina

Degree: PhD Physics | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: June 25, 2023 – August 8, 2023| Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Institute of Materials Science | Host: Prof. Dr. Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Prof. Ernesto Medina holds a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since 2021, he has been a research professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Prof. Medina was invited to TU Dresden by Prof. Dr. Gianaurelio Cuniberti.

The focus of his research activities is on nanoscience and -technology, in particular on spintronic effects in helical and point chiral molecules. During his stay, several research tasks are planned, such as modelling chiral-selective chemistry. In addition, Prof. Medina will offer several seminars for students on chirality-induced spin selectivity.

Prof. Medina has published more than a hundred scientific articles with more than 3500 citations. Prior to joining Universidad San Francisco de Quito, he worked at INTEVEP Venezuela, a research branch of the oil industry, and IVIC Venezuela, where he was head of the Statistical Mechanics of Disordered Systems Lab for 18 years, among others. Prof. Medina received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2015 and was appointed Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2018.

Dr. Ivan Stacy

Degree: PhD English Literature | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: June 2, 2023 – August 15, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies; Institute of English and American Studies; Chair of British Cultural Studies | Host: Prof. Dr. Cornelia Wächter

Dr. Ivan Stacy received his PhD from Newcastle University in 2013. Since 2019, he has been working as an Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Languages and Literature at Beijing Normal University in Beijing.

During his fellowship, Dr. Stacy will undertake a project titled “Global Complicities” in collaboration with Prof. Wächter. The project aims to address complicity as a global phenomenon. Within the frame of the project, an international symposium on the theme of global complicities will take place. Subsequently, an edited collection on the topic will be published. In terms of teaching, Dr. Stacy will offer a course to students within the department of English and American Studies.

Dr. Stacy's research is closely aligned with the topic of complicity: his doctoral thesis and subsequent research focused on this theme, culminating in the publication of his monograph “The Complicit Text: Failures of Witnessing in Postwar Fiction” in 2021. Dr. Stacy is also a member of the “Complicity: Enfoldings and Unfoldings” network. So far, Dr. Stacy held academic positions in China, Hong Kong and Bhutan, and worked in the education sector in Thailand, Libya and South Korea. His observations of the way that complicity is conceptualized differently in a range of cultural and political environments are the basis for his research trajectory, while his contacts will enable him to introduce diverse perspectives into the study of complicity.

Dr. Frances Guerin

Degree: PhD Cinema Studies | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: May 01, 2023 – July 28, 2023| Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science; Institute of Art and Music | Host: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schankweiler

Dr. Frances Guerin completed her PhD in Cinema Studies at New York University and has since worked at the University of Kent (UK), currently as Senior Lecturer at the School of Arts. Her stay in Dresden is hosted by the Institute of Art and Music.

Within the framework of the fellowship, Dr. Guerin will contribute to research and teaching at the TU Dresden. Among others, a public evening lecture, a seminar for Bachelor students, and a colloquium talk are planned, each dealing with the close connection between cinema and painting in portraits by Gerhard Richter - a current focus of her research. In addition, she will organize an international symposium in cooperation with the Gerhard Richter Archive at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. During her stay in Dresden, Dr. Guerin will also continue her work on a monograph on cinematic painting in Gerhard Richter's portraits, using the rich resource of the Gerhard Richter Archive.

Dr. Guerin’s work is motivated by a series of questions that investigate the relationship between modernist images and the historical world in which they are conceived, produced, exhibited and received. Beyond her academic writing, she is involved with the art world in various capacities. She takes tours of exhibitions, curates, and works with young and emerging artists towards having their work exhibited.

Dr. Tomasz Kitlinski

Degree: PhD Philosophy | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: May 1, 2023 – October 1, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science; Institute of Art and Music; Chair of Visual Culture Studies in a Global Context | Host: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schankweiler

Dr. Kitlinski taught and conducted research for 25 years at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. He is an expert in political philosophy, gender and queer studies, cultural studies, and visual studies with a special focus on contemporary Polish art. He earned his PhD from the Université Paris Diderot. From February 2021 to February 2023, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Margherita von Brentano Center of the Freie Universitӓt Berlin through the "Academy in Exile" initiative.

At TU Dresden, Dr. Kitlinski will conduct a research project on the intersection of art and activism, which will be embedded as a region-specific extension of the DFG project "Image Protests in Social Media" at the TU Dresden Department of Art History. Dr. Kitlinski will also offer a block seminar and workshop for TU Dresden students on artistic forms of protest and LGBTQ+ history in Central Eastern Europe in comparative perspective. He will also give a public lecture titled "The Philosophical and Political Perspective on Queer and Feminist Art and Activism in Poland."

Dr. Kitlinski has been a visiting scholar at numerous universities in Europe and the United States and is well connected internationally. In addition to his academic work, he is also a prominent activist against homophobia and antisemitism. Among other things, he publicly advocated for the LGBTQ+ community in Poland. As a result, he came under increasing pressure under the current right-wing conservative Polish government, until in 2020 he was advised to leave the country. He then lost his job at the university and has been living in exile in Berlin ever since.

Dr. Katherine Christ

Degree: PhD Environmental Accounting | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: February 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Business and Economics; Junior Professorship in Sustainability Assessment and Policy | Host: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Samanthi Dijkstra-Silva

Dr. Katherine Christ is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the at the University of South Australiaand holds a PhD in Environmental Accounting focusing on water management in the Australian wine industry. She is an expert in accounting for modern slavery risk and modern slavery risk management in business operations and supply chains.

During her stay at TU Dresden, Dr. Christ and Professor Dijkstra-Silva work on a joint research project on due diligence of sustainability in supply chains, which focuses on corporate response to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. In addition, they prepare an introductory paper for the Special Issue on "Zero-carbon Energy" of the “Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal”, for which they are the two main guest editors. Dr. Christ is also involved in teaching, e. g. she will give a presentation on “Modern Slavery” during a research colloquium at the Faculty of Business and Economics and will hold a PhD workshop. Furthermore, she offers co-supervision and potential to act as external examiner for PhD students. The purpose of the fellowship at the TU Dresden is to lay the foundations to build a strong, international connection between the TU Dresden and the University of South Australia including cross-institutional exchanges and visits for staff and students as well as the development of world class research collaborations.

Dr. Christ is the founder of the recently formed South Australian Modern Slavery Research and Practitioner Network and regularly engages with multiple stakeholders on the topic of modern slavery. She has received funding from the accounting organization CPA Australia for the development of a Modern Slavery Compass for use by business and more recently from the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand to investigate the role of gender in modern slavery reporting by business.

Dr. Sarah Neelsen

Degree: PhD German Studies | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: February 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies; Institute of German Studies and Media Cultures; Chair of Media Studies and Modern German Literature | Host: Prof. Dr. Lars Koch

Dr. Neelsen works as an assistant professor at the Institute of German Studies at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris and is the director of the Master's program "German-French Art and Cultural Mediation" there.

During her stay as a Junior Fellow at TU Dresden, she will be working on negotiations of language and disability in theatre productions. This research project is affiliated with the DFG project "Theater of Trans-lation. Dynamics and Constellations of Translating and Degrading in Theater and Performance of the 21st Century”. Dr. Neelsen will also run a workshop on "Inclusion, Institution, Imagination" in cooperation with the European Centre for the Arts Hellerau and the German Hygiene Museum. Meetings with Saxon initiatives in the field of inclusion are also planned.

The collaboration with Dr. Neelsen should lead to a long-term cooperation. To this end, an application is to be submitted for the establishment of a bilateral project group. In addition, an institute partnership via the DAAD is being sought, within the framework of which teaching and research stays at the respective partner institute can be financed in the longer term.

Dr. Sarah Neelsen is an expert in the field of cultural translation research. Her research focuses on the relationships between literature and other arts, the museum and exhibitions, and the professionalization of university education programs. Among other things, she led the research project "Translation and plurisemiotic practices", which resulted in an international lecture series and a publication of a special issue of the journal “JoSTrans. Journal of Specialised Translation”.

Dr. Ahmed Elshafei

Degree: PhD Mathematics & PhD Architecture | Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: February 1, 2023 – July 31, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Mathematics; Institute of Geometry; Research group Geometric Modeling and Visualization | Host: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniel Lordick

Dr. Ahmed Elshafei holds a PhD in both mathematics and architecture. Most recently, he was a lecturer at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'architecture de Paris Malaquais (ENSAPM). As a fellow at TU Dresden, he works in the Geometric Modeling and Visualization group at the Faculty of Mathematics.

Prof. Lordick's research group is characterized by interdisciplinary research projects, with geometric issues forming the core of all projects. The aim is to link basic research and application. Dr. Elshafei supports the research group in a DFG priority program. Specifically, he is working on the modularization of lightweight concrete structures for fabrication with a 3-D printer, which is also one of his previous areas of focus. Dr. Elshafei will also focus on submitting a proposal to the DFG's Walter Benjamin Program to lay the groundwork for further research. Workshops together with ENSAPM are also planned, as well as further collaborations in this framework.

Dr. Elshafei complements his special subject combination of architecture and mathematics with professional experience in both fields. From 2003 to 2008, he worked for various architectural firms, including the internationally renowned UNStudio. This practical experience adds to his ability to tie mathematical considerations back to appropriate applications. Since 2008, he has been a lecturer in mathematics (TU Delft) as well as architecture (ENSAPM, University of Amsterdam, among others). He has also been a member in two application-oriented research projects in the field of geometry.

Prof. Dr. Paulo Lozano

Degree: PhD Space Propulsion | Program: Dresden Senior Fellowship | Timeframe: January 28, 2023 – July 15, 2023| Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering; Institute of Aerospace Engineering | Host: Prof. Dr. Martin Tajmar

Prof. Paulo Lozano is Miguel Alemán Velasco Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Director of the Space Propulsion Laboratory and Faculty Director of the MIT-Mexico Program. His main interests are plasma physics, space propulsion, ion beam physics, small satellites and nanotechnology.

He heads a research group focused on the development of space propulsion technologies, in particular for small satellites. This research is complementary to the work done by his host at TU Dresden, Prof. Tajmar, who is an expert in Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP). The fellowship is therefore an ideal mechanism to establish collaboration between their two groups and potentially other groups at TU Dresden. Additionally, Prof. Lozano teaches a graduate level course on space propulsion during his stay at TU Dresden and mentors students.

Prof. Lozano’s research focuses on the development of highly efficient and compact ion thrusters for application in space systems, including pico- and nano-satellites. He received the Young Investigator Program Award from the US Air Force for his work on micropropulsion and the “Future-Mind” award from Quo Science Magazine and the Discovery Channel. Dr. Lozano has authored over 10 patents and 100 conference and journal publications.

Prof. Dr. Bahee Hadaegh

Degree: PhD Transnational Literature in English| Program: Dresden Junior Fellowship | Timeframe: January 29, 2023 – April 14, 2023 | Host Institution in Germany: Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies; Institute of German Studies and Media Cultures; Chair of Media Studies and Modern German Literature | Host: Prof. Dr. Lars Koch

Professor Bahee Hadaegh has been working as Assistant Professor in Transnational Literature at Shiraz University in Iran since 2010. She received her PhD from the University of Wollongong in Australia.

During her stay at TU Dresden, she conducted an interdisciplinary research project on interpretive sovereignties on Persian mysticism in the context of the European Enlightenment and modern Iran. One focus was on examining the dialectical role of women in mystical texts. For this purpose, she primarily used the Persian manuscripts in the manuscript collection of the SLUB. The sources relevant to her research were digitized for this purpose and made accessible to the public in the SLUB's Digital Collections. In addition to these digital copies, the transliterations of selected text excerpts created by Prof. Hadaegh as well as contextual information were added and published. The results of her research are to be published in a leading cultural studies journal. During her stay at TU Dresden, Prof. Hadaegh also offered an interdisciplinary block seminar for TU Dresden students and gave a public lecture on Persian manuscripts.

Prof. Hadaegh has taught at various universities for over 15 years. She is a member of the Comparative Literature Committee at the Faculty of Humanities at Shiraz University and works with the Children's Literature Research Centre at Shiraz University. She has also worked with translation agencies for many years and has translated literary, philosophical, technical and medical texts.

Welcome to TU Dresden