Around the world in 27 fellows: Prof. Dr. Jörg Finsterwalder
From 2025 to 2027, 27 researchers from 19 countries will be conducting their research and teaching at TH Köln as International Fellows. One of them is Prof. Dr. Jörg Finsterwalder. In this interview, he discusses the connection between storytelling and food and what he likes about TH Köln.
Name: Prof. Dr. Jörg Finsterwalder
Home institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Host faculty at TH Köln: Faculty of Economics and Law
Fellowship title: Regionality of Food – Myth versus Reality
Duration of stay: Nov. 1–Dec. 31, 2025; May 1–June 30, 2026; Nov. 1–Dec. 31, 2026
I was interested in the International Fellowship because…
it allows me to work on a topic together with colleagues at TH Köln over an extended period of time.
Specifically, during the fellowship I will be focusing on…
the locality or regionality of food and how the relationship between food and consumers can be improved.
During my time in Germany, I would like to find out…
how storytelling can be used to strengthen the relationship between local food and consumers.
I find international exchange…
very important for investigating significant research topics on a global level.
Something that is different at my home university compared to TH Köln is…
a different structure of the semesters due to the different seasons in the Southern Hemisphere, where summer falls during the Christmas season.
What I’m taking back to my home university is…
that Cologne and TH Köln are always worth a visit.
What I like about TH Köln is that…
the environment is very inclusive and my colleagues are very warm and approachable.
What I absolutely wanted to see/experience in Cologne is…
the Südstadt with its charm.
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).
May 2026
