Sometimes it helps to look back to see how far you've come – or in our case: how far our former PhD students and postdocs have come.
Many of them have remained committed to academic work and have taken on responsibilities in research, teaching, and policy advising – at renowned universities across Germany and beyond.

A few examples?

• Markus Dertwinkel-Kalt is now a professor at the University of Münster.
• Germain Gaudin heads the Chair of Economic Policy, in particular Competition Economics in Freiburg.
• Annika Herr researches and teaches as a professor at the University of Hanover.
• Hanna Hottenrott researches and teaches as a professor at the Technical University of Munich in the fields of innovation and industrial economics.
• Matthias Hunold contributes his expertise in competition and regulation as a professor at the University of Siegen.
• Daniel Kamhöfer holds a professorship for Quantitative Methods in Economics at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.
• Andreas Lichter has taken up a professorship at TU Dortmund University.
• Dennis Rickert is now an assistant professor at the École des Mines in Paris.
• Shiva Shekar teaches as an assistant professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
• Biliana Yontcheva conducts research as a professor at the University of Hamburg.
• And Jens Wrona is now a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

All of them completed key stages of their academic careers with us – whether as PhD students, postdocs, or junior professors. Today, they are applying their ideas and expertise in responsible academic roles across Europe. Many lead their own research projects, supervise students, and contribute to current economic and social debates. We see this as a clear sign that the combination of close mentoring, freedom for independent research, and a collaborative working culture – all of which we value – offers a strong foundation for academic development.

And our current early-career researchers are already preparing for their next steps:
Kai Fischer will soon join WU Vienna as Assistant Professor,
Jana Gieselmann will take up a Lecturer position at the University of Edinburgh,
Hendrik Döpper is heading to CUNEF Universidad in Madrid as Assistant Professor,
and Tomasz Sulka will become a Research Associate at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Beyond the university track, our researchers are also pursuing exciting new paths:
Anja Rösner will soon join the Rockwool Foundation in Copenhagen,
Alexandra Gibbon is starting as an Applied Scientist at Zalando in Berlin.

The large number of appointments and career paths shows that our research environment provides targeted preparation for scientific and analytical activities in a wide range of institutions - both nationally and internationally, within and outside academia.