Team Freiburg

Katja is a researcher, educator and leader of international projects in mathematics and science education. She holds a master’s degree in mathematics and biology, acquired her PhD in mathematics education in 2004 and was awarded professorship in the same year. Her main professional interests are modelling and applications (solving open, realistic problems with the help of mathematics) and inquiry-based science teaching. Her research has been published widely in the most prestigious journals in the field. Next to teaching and research in these fields, her work is characterised by a strong practical and melioristic concern towards advancing science teaching. Katja has successfully coordinated numerous large-scale European projects to foster innovation in STEM education, including award-winning projects like PRIMAS, mascil or COMPASS. She has acted as the German representative in the EC’s working group on science and mathematics education with a particular focus on low achieving students and co-initiated the European STEM Professional Development Centre Network. Katja is also a highly experienced and renowned professional development course instructor of in-service teachers and facilitators in the German-speaking countries and her focus on transferring research into practice is also mirrored in publications directly addressing teachers. Her work is distinguished by both a local and international orientation and she relies on excellent networks to research, policy and practice. As the founding director of ICSE she aims to take European collaboration in STEM education to a next level so as to maximise quality, equality and innovation in day-to-day STEM teaching.

Diana holds a Master’s degree in business administration and a PhD in educational sciences. She has specialized in higher education and research management with a focus on higher education in international contexts and brings more than 15 years of experience in this field to her current position.

As the Managing Director of our research centre she draws on her experiences with private companies, the NPO sector as well as different universities across Europe. She is an expert in international collaboration in higher education, commercial managment and the handling of research funds. Diana also relies on her background in Open Science and scientific publishing, innovation and quality management, and transfer-oriented networking and PR work in higher education.

Diana has previously held positions as the commercial director of the Austrian Research Foundation for International Development and as a project manager and academic staff in high-impact international projects aiming to bring innovations to educational systems. She has also many years of experience in leading inspiring projects at one of the largest International Offices in Europe (WU Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien) and headed an innovative science support unit at a large Austrian technical university (TU Wien).

Dr. Oliver Straser studied Mathematics with a minor in Physics in Essen and Heidelberg, Germany, and graduated from the University of Heidelberg (Diplom). He worked as a scientist at the University of Freiburg and received his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Soergel in Mathematics.  Since 2015 he has been working as a vocational school teacher.

In September 2018 he joined the ICSE Team.  He primarily contributes to the design and dissemination of IBL tasks and to our professional training programs for teachers and schools.

Oliver is designing and implementing ICSE’s Escape Activities, such as our Educational Escape Room, our Escape Box and our digital Escape Room.

Dr. Barbara Degenhart has been working as a research associate in the area of STEM didactics at ICSE since April 2022. In addition to her content-related work for the projects 3C4Life and The SEER, Barbara Degenhart is an all-rounder at ICSE due to her versatile experience in international project and science management.
Previously, she was head of the department Environment, Climate, Transport of the city administration of Emmendingen and worked as project coordinator and study program coordinator at the University of Freiburg. Furthermore, she was a research assistant at the University of Bayreuth from 2012 to 2016 and taught at the Institute of Geography. In addition to her academic activities, Barbara Degenhart was also invited to teach in Portugal and Ethiopia.
Barbara Degenhart studied Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change – Regional Sustainability at the University of Innsbruck and received her PhD in Geography from the Bayreuth International Graduate School for African Studies (BIGSAS) at the University of Bayreuth.

Rahel Brugger has been working at ICSE since July 2022. As part of the content team, she develops and researches materials for students and teachers on 3D printing in STEM education, the connection between math and art, Educational Escape Rooms, and other STEM topics.

After a PhD in mathematics at the University of Göttingen and a postdoctoral position at the TU Dresden, she was initially a scientific volunteer at the Technische Sammlungen Dresden, where she co-curated hands-on exhibitions on the topics of climate change and quantum mechanics, among others, and developed offers around the Erlebnisland Mathematik. At Science & Technologie gGmbH, she then performed chemistry shows at schools, organized “hackdays” and developed offerings such as a workshop with math exhibits, “lunchbox experiments” or a science rally.

Dr. Peter Steurer studied chemistry in Freiburg, Germany, and Montpellier, France. In 2006 he graduated from the University of Freiburg (Diploma). From 2006 to 2010 he worked as a scientist at Freiburg University and the Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF) and received this PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rolf Mülhaupt in Chemistry at the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry.

In 2011 he started working as a vocational teacher in Offenburg and Wolfach. Besides teaching, he was supervising students at a national science comeptition and was holding the position of safety manager.

Peter has joined the ICSE team in September 2022 and is currently working at the projects MINT4life and Teacher Academy. He is also in charge of the 3-D-printing student lab.

Elena Köck holds an Engineering Diploma Degree from the University of Applied Sciences Mannheim and worked as a production engineer in Berlin bevor moving to Freiburg in 2010. For 6 years she worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, mainly in the area of research, quality and sustainability management. Additionally to her engineering degree, she holds a Diploma from the University of Edinburgh in Outdoor Environmental and Sustainability Education. Of relevance to her current field of work is also that she was awarded a certificate of professional development in the area of European research funding and research management by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the University of Speyer. She also obtained a TÜV (German Association for Technical Inspection) quality management representative certificate.

From November on, Elena helps the ICSE Team with research proposals and third party funding.

Elena Schäfer is Executive Project Manager at ICSE and currently managing the Erasmus+ project STEMkey.

Elena joined the PHFR team in 2013 and brought with her professional experience that includes working in adult education and developing educational materials for training programs. She was working in our large-scale international STEM education projects PRIMAS and mascil and from 2016 on she was the project manager for the two KA2 projects IncluSMe and STEM PD Net. Also she was co-responsible for the European STEM Professional Development Centre Network. Elena is the main organiser of ICSEs international conference series ‘ETE – Educating the Educators’ and chair of the third ETE conference. Elena is also experienced in designing and implementing marketing concepts and dissemination plans to promote our project’s aims and activities and brings this expertise into ICSE’s communication with the public.

Elena Schäfer has her Bachelor’s degree in Educational Planning and Instructional Design and a Master’s in Educational studies with the focus on adult education and professional development.

Dita Kreuz holds a M.A. in the Educational Science, Field of Study: Adult and Continuing Education. Along the Master Studies she gained a University Certificate for expertise in empirical research methods.

Shortly before studies in Freiburg, Germany she was the National Coordinator of „The Duke of Edinburgh`s Award“ in the National Centre for Education and was responsible for finances, marketing, training the trainers and leaders of the programme, national and international events and projects.

At the International Centre for STEM Education (ICSE) she will be managing the project Girls4STEM (GEM).

Sabine studied Applied Cultural Sciences at the University of Lüneburg. As a freelance cultural manager, Sabine has a wealth of experience at the intersection between culture and economics. For example, she designed and managed the ArtCard project for Deutsche Bank – Art, Culture & Sports. Prior to this, at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, she organised events and educational trips for the friendship circle of the museum. Sabine’s professional experience includes marketing and communication skills, in particular in project management, the set-up of international networks, and editing brochures and newsletters. Furthermore, being an instructor at the Hector Kinderakademie, she runs interdisciplinary courses for primary school kids.

At ICSE, Sabine is the project manager for our project MOST.

Chrissi Fischer holds undergraduate degrees in History and Politics from the University of Manitoba in Canada. They graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Social Sciences (Global Studies Programme) from the University of Freiburg (Germany) and FLACSO Argentina. Chrissi has worked in political, educational and civil society contexts, focusing on the management of volunteers, event organization and public relations.

At ICSE Chrissi works in the public relations sector. They are currently managing the websites and publishing ICSE’s newsletters.

Berit Stier joined the team in May 2021 and has since managed ICSE’s presence on social networks. Since November 2021 she additionally is responsible for the online marketing of ICSE’s project MINT4Life. She currently acts as a substitute for Aileen Fahrländer (parental leave) in the project management of MINT4Life until March 2023.

Before joining ICSE, Berit graduated in Theater and Media with a minor in American Studies at the University of Bayreuth. For her Master of Arts, she specialized in Media Studies at the University of Tübingen. During her studies, she was able to gain experience in journalistic work at ZDF, SWR and BR as well as in corporate communications at Mercedes-Benz AG. Until April 2021, Berit also worked in the Scientific Coordination of  LEAD Graduate School & Research Network in Tübingen. She now uses her know-how in communication and public relations at ICSE in the field of social media and online marketing.

Alice studied to become a teacher for mathematics and physics at secondary schools and successfully passed the First State Examination in 2017. Since then she has been a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Leibniz-Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel and has worked closely with ICSE in the MaSDiV project.

Her passion for science communication on social media channels such as Instagram has now been put into action since August 2019 as Social Media Specialist for the ICSE team.

Esra Mandaci started working at ICSE in April 2021 as Project Manager of 3C4Life. Prior to that, she spent 6 years managing various educational projects such as the Science Mobil, a mobile science show for schools.

Esra Mandaci studied biology at the University of Hohenheim and then continued her education as a nature educator. In 2007 she started giving climate change workshops for the LpB and also established an educational concept in Colombia. Additionally she trained in project management.  With her years of experience as a science educator and project manager, she combines her science knowledge with teaching content for specific target groups.

Aileen joined the ICSE team in February 2021 and is currently involved in the MINT4Life and MOST projects.

Previously, she worked as the pedagogical director of an after-school program at the Brunnmatt Primary School in Basel (Switzerland). She was responsible for the theoretical development and implementation of the pedagogical concept and for connecting students, teachers and parents. In Switzerland, she also obtained the qualification as a vocational trainer and thus trained pedagogical staff.

Aileen studied mathematics, geography and ethics to become a teacher at the University of Education in Freiburg and successfully passed the First State Examination in 2013.