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).

Laura Wanckel studied History of Art, History, Slavic Studies and Museum Management in Dresden and Hamburg and graduated from the University of Hamburg (M.A.). Before she came to the ICSE she completed a training in project management. Her professional experience includes working as a curator and in public relations at the Städtische Museen Freiburg. In addition to curatorial work, her focus was on exhibition organization and coordination as well as the organization of events. Laura also created marketing concepts and was responsible for the editing and production of the advertising material.

Laura joined the PHFR team in October 2018 and is the responsible project manager for the ICSE´s current project ENSITE.

Sabrina Deck joined ICSE in September 2021. Her responsibilities include the national implementation of the EU project MOST as well as university teaching at the mathematical institute of the PH Freiburg.

Previously, she worked as a teacher in high schools for 10 years. She has project experience with school classes, trainee teachers and in teacher training. She also qualified in project management and public relations at the Goethe-Institut in Melbourne.

Sabrina Deck studied English and German language and literature in Freiburg and Sheffield (England) and passed her two state examinations at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg and at the Seminar Karlsruhe.

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.

Barbara joined ICSE in April 2022 and works as a program manager for the 3C4life project and as a research assistant in STEM didactics.

Barbara draws on a wide range of experience in international project and science management as well as in university administration. In the past, she headed the department of environment, climate, mobility of the city administration of Emmendingen and worked as project coordinator and study programme 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. Besides her scientific activities, Barbara was also invited to teach at universities in Portugal and Ethiopia.

Barbara 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.

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. Besides their work at ICSE, Chrissi is working in political, educational and civil society contexts, as an organizer and educator.

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.