Around the world in 16 fellows: Prof. Dr. Farhat Naz
In 2025 and 2026, sixteen researchers from thirteen countries will be conducting their research and teaching at TH Köln as International Fellows. One of them is Prof. Dr. Farhat Naz. In this interview, she talks about what India can learn from Germany in terms of disaster management and what she likes about intercultural exchange.
Name: Prof. Dr. Farhat Naz
Home university: Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
Hosting faculty at TH Köln: Faculty of Process Engineering, Energy and Mechanical Systems
Fellowship title: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Policy reflection on Disaster Risk Reduction in Germany and India
Duration of stay: 1 September 2025 – 28 February 2026
The International Fellowship interested me because…
it gave me the opportunity to do critical research on how Civil Society Organizations work in Germany in context of disaster, relief and recovery.
Specifically, during the fellowship I wanted to…
explore the field sites where Civil Society Organizations in the context of Disaster Risk Reduction are active in Germany and what India as a country can learn from the good practices. I wanted to study diverse CSOs and understand their partnership with academia and industry in Germany.
During my time in Germany, I wanted to find out…
how policy intersects with research which is people centric.
I think international exchange is…
intellectually stimulating and helps to celebrate diversity.
Something that is different at my home university than at TH Köln is that...
the international office is very vibrant here.
What I take back to my home university is that...
engineers and social scientists can work together, understand and communicate with each other on the same projects despite different academic training and perspectives.
What I like about TH Köln is…
how creative, innovative and intellectuals the faculty members are.
About PLan_CV
The International Fellows program is part of the project PLan_CV („Professur-Laufbahn an Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften neu denken: Collaboration und Vernetzung“). Its goal: Finding excellent candidates for professorial careers at TH Köln and achieving greater permeability between the academic world and the business sector. The project’s budget of 12.4 million Euros is funded through the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space program “FH-Personal” (staff for universities of applied sciences).
March 2026
