Mittweida University of Applied Sciences elects new vice-rectors

With this election, the Senate endorsed the proposals put forward by the new Rector, Professor Volker Tolkmitt: Meyer has been appointed to the post of Vice-Rector for Education, whilst Mahn has been elected to a second term as Vice-Rector for Research.

Tolkmitt is delighted with the overwhelming support for his proposals: “The Rector’s team is now complete with my preferred candidates, and I look forward to working together with my colleagues towards a future for our university that is full of challenges.”

Prof. Dr. phil. Christoph Meyer (56) is the new Vice-Chancellor for Education at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences. He succeeds Prof. rer. oec. Volker Tolkmitt, who has been the university’s Chancellor since 15 February 2023. The Vice-Rectorate for Education is responsible for all matters relating to study and teaching. This includes, amongst other things, developing the university’s teaching profile, providing pedagogical support to teaching staff through innovative formats, promoting students’ academic success, designing teaching programmes and supporting them through various measures, as well as conducting quality assurance of teaching.

Meyer has been Professor of Education and Culture in Social Work in Mittweida since 2011. He is also Director of the university’s Institute for Competence, Communication and Languages (IKKS). Following today’s election, his membership of the University Council – to which he has belonged since 2018 – comes to an end in accordance with the Saxon Higher Education Freedom Act. Meyer studied history, politics and German language and literature at the University of Cologne, where he was awarded his doctorate in 1997. Among other things, he volunteers as chairman of the Herbert and Greta Wehner Foundation in Dresden.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Mahn (47) has been elected for a second term as Vice-Rector for Research. Under his leadership, the Vice-Rector’s Office supports and promotes the intensive research activities of academics in the faculties and institutes at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences across its four key areas: laser technologies, product and process development, digitalisation in business and society, and Applied Computer Science. This includes, amongst other things, the transfer of scientific achievements to business and society, cooperation with partners from academia and industry, and, last but not least, the promotion of early-career researchers at the university.

Mahn has been Vice-Rector for Research since 2017. In 2008, he was appointed to the Chair of Design Engineering at what was then the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. From 2013 to 2015, he served as Dean of that faculty and, following the restructuring of the faculties in 2015, became Dean of the Faculty Engineering Sciences. Mahn studied Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology, where he worked as a research assistant and was awarded his PhD in 2005. Before his appointment to Mittweida, he worked in the automotive supply industry. He is actively involved in numerous committees promoting Saxony as an industrial hub and fostering collaboration between academia and industry in the region.

The election of the vice-rectors follows the same cycle as the election of the rector, taking place every five years. Unlike the election of the rector, which is carried out by the Extended Senate from a list of candidates proposed by the University Council, the rector nominates the vice-rectors to the Senate for election. In the Senate of Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, the academic staff, students and staff are currently represented by a total of 17 members with voting rights.

Two further personnel matters were discussed at today’s Senate meeting:

The committee reappointed Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Hartig, Professor of Renewable Energy at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Head of the Institute for Energy Management (ifem), for a further term as a member of the university’s University Council. Appointment to this supervisory and advisory body will then be made by the Ministry of Science.