Career Clusters
Thematic and interdisciplinary networks are indispensable in the world of science - not only for professors, but also for early career researchers. In order to promote exchange early on and strengthen regional cooperation, scientists from Cologne and the surrounding area are now joining forces to form career clusters.
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- Die Öffentlichkeit der Kultur (The publicity of culture)
- Soziale Netzwerke und soziale Ungleichheit (Social Networks and Social Inequality)
- Metamaterialien (Metamaterials)
- Spiel | Museum (Game | Museum)
- Wissenschaftskommunikation auf TikTok: Forschung und Praxis (Science communication on TikTok: Research and practice)
Regional, professional and scientific networking - that is the goal of the Career Clusters at TH Köln. Like in research clusters, scientists unite in interdisciplinary subject groups between basic and applied research with colleagues from regional universities, associations, institutes or research centers. A central concern: the integration of mid-level faculty. In the future, further project ideas and publications are expected to emerge from the Career Clusters and third-party funding is to be acquired so that the exchange can be consolidated.
The Career Clusters are part of the project "Rethinking Professorship Careers at Universities of Applied Sciences: Collaboration and Networking" (PLan_CV). For their successful implementation, 20,000 euros in annual funding are available until the end of 2026 for meetings, workshops, retreats and scientific conferences.
Five Career Clusters have been established:
Die Öffentlichkeit der Kultur (The publicity of culture)
Although cultural scientists look at socio-critical aspects in their research, there has been a lack of projects that bring together individual perspectives. This is where the Career Cluster comes in. It connects researchers from TH Köln, the University of Cologne and the Academy of Media Arts. The scientists want to identify application possibilities and transfer perspectives of practice-oriented cultural studies through scientific conferences, exhibitions and publications.
The speaker of the Career Cluster is Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler.
Impressions from the ""Diversifying Perspectives" symposium, Dec 12 9, 2024
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Luis Gimenez Amoros talked about "The Revitalization of the African Sound Archive Beyond Postcolonial Nationhood". (Image: privat)
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Rahab Njeri shed a light on "Intellectual Activism at Universities: A Black feminist and decolonial perspective". (Image: privat)
Impressions from the "Intervening Drawing" conference, June 6-8, 2024
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Prof. Dr. Gesa Foken and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler during their introduction to the "Intervening Drawing" conference. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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Peter Bertram presented four definitions of a diagram. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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The painting was created in the run-up to the conference in the "Collective Drawing" workshop. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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Marc Pfaff reconstructed the origins of the earliest documented plan drawings in human history. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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Christian Driesen talked about doodling as disfigurement. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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Diana Lucas-Drogan and Dr. Lidia Gasperoni investigated the performative value of counter-mapping as an intervening practice. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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The work of Mbaye Diop, visual artist and performer from Senegal, is based on black and white reproductions of images from his everyday life. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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Larissa Fassler talked about mapping and counter-mapping processes and the use of subjective systems to survey public spaces. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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What role do collaborative sketching and prototyping play in collective creativity? Prof. Dr. Canan Akoglu explored this question. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
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In his lecture "Technoid Realism", Björn Kühn explored the aesthetic and political implications of technical drawing. (Image: Patrick Schwarz)
Soziale Netzwerke und soziale Ungleichheit (Social Networks and Social Inequality)
Publications from the career cluster „Soziale Netzwerke und soziale Ungleichheit“
How well people cope with challenges depends on the personal networks they can build on. The extent to which such relationships, and thus the chance of participation, health, or professional success, can differ has been well studied. What is unclear so far is where these differences come from. In order to understand and overcome causes, the Career Cluster "Social Networks and Social Inequality" brings together researchers from TH Köln, the University of Cologne and Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences and initiates further collaborations. The Career Cluster is a forum for scientists at all career levels.
The speakers of the Career Cluster are Dr. Philip Roth (TH Köln) and Prof. Dr. Lea Ellwardt (University of Cologne).
Metamaterialien (Metamaterials)
Kick off to the Career Cluster „Metamaterialien“
(Image: privat)
In the Metamaterials Career Cluster, the team at TH Köln, together with scientists from the University of Siegen, is researching the practical utilization of so-called mechanical metamaterials. These are synthetically produced structures that exhibit properties that are rarely or never observed in naturally occurring materials. In principle, this is achieved through intelligent and usually periodic cell structures of different sizes (micro/meso or macro scale). In this way, the acoustic, thermal and structural component properties – such as vibration behavior, energy absorption capacity, stiffness or deformation behavior – can be tailored within certain limits depending on the application.
The speaker of the Career Cluster is Prof. Dr. Marcel Walkowiak.
Physical test specimens and geometries still to be printed
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Sandwich structure with a core of periodic minimal surfaces. (Image: TH Köln)
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Clockwise from top left: Sandwich panel with 2.5D auxetic core, Sandwich panel with 3D auxetic core, Auxetic 3D grid structure, Auxetic hybrid structure. (Image: TH Köln)
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From left to right: Synclastic curvature of auxetic metamaterials, macroscopic deformation behavior. (Image: TH Köln)
Spiel | Museum (Game | Museum)
It is not for the first time that museums have faced the challenge of combining new technologies with established ways of working. Nevertheless, the use of playful forms in exhibitions has not been sufficiently studied. In order to create common foundations and to research the topic in an application-oriented way, the cluster will network key players from science and museum practice. In cooperation with museums and other cultural institutions, and with the special involvement of early stage researchers, they will develop questions that open up a space for joint research projects and the acquisition of third party funding.
The speaker of the Career Cluster is Dr. Philipp Bojahr.
Impressions from the "Game | Museum. Building a bridge" conference, November 16/17, 2023
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Philipp Bojahr from the Cologne Game Lab welcomed everyone to the conference. (Image: TH Köln)
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Björn Blankenheim from the University of Wuppertal spoke about game designers and software artists as an exhibition and method in his lecture “Complicated convolutes instead of canonical constructs”. (Image: TH Köln)
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Ana Daldon from the Vienna Technical Museum took a look at “New Special Show of Technical Toys”. (Image: TH Köln)
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Björn Reich from Justus Liebig University Giessen examined “Printed worlds of play - the significance of early modern play materials for museums”. (Image: TH Köln)
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In his keynote speech, Christian Stein from the Gamelab Berlintraced an arc “From exhibition space to playing field: Homo Ludens visiting the museum”. (Image: TH Köln)
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Björn Redecker from Bielefeld University spoke about “Walking simulators as a formal-aesthetic parallel to the museum”. (Image: TH Köln)
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How is the artistic represented in digital game worlds? Daniela Diefenbach from the University of Bayreuth answered this question. (Image: TH Köln)
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Nina-Marie Schüchter from the University of Düsseldorf presented “The Wunderkammer of the Altona Museum”. (Image: TH Köln)
Wissenschaftskommunikation auf TikTok: Forschung und Praxis (Science communication on TikTok: Research and practice)
Scientists have recognized the potential of TikTok for communicating scientific findings. However, the platform has so far received little research from the science communication sector. To change this, the cluster aims to establish a research network to promote the networking of scientists active on TikTok and to enable those interested to conduct science communication on TikTok themselves. In addition, the Career Cluster wants to identify best practices for science communication on TikTok, for example by creating and publishing guidelines and recommendations for the scientific use of social media.
The spokesperson of the Career Cluster is Dr. Eva-Maria Grommes.