Prof. Dr. Borchers-Tigasson: No, that’s true. After my preliminary diploma in technical cybernetics, I went to the University of Barcelona for a year on the Erasmus programme, then switched to systems biology and wrote my thesis in Ireland and Scotland. Back then, I was already involved in scientific projects and enjoyed exchanging ideas with doctoral students at my institutions. I did my doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for the Dynamics of Complex Systems in Magdeburg. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed this time of my life. I got to know the scientific community at conferences. I short,  I’ve always enjoyed academic life.

For the university professorship, I would have had to go on an academic journey after my doctorate, which would ideally have been on a global scale. But that was when I started planning my family and we were expecting a child. As the father, I didn’t want to commute or expect my partner, who also works, to have to follow me. So I left the world of academe and opted for business. That was a radical cut, despite the knowledge that a return to academics would not be impossible.

Fortunately, I found a research-related job at Evonik Industries AG, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of speciality chemicals. I had challenging tasks in the development department, the team was great and I really enjoyed the work. At the company, however, I also experienced the ups and downs that are not uncommon in business. Nevertheless, in order to further my career at Evonik, I would have had to spend time abroad and work at other corporate locations, which was out of the question for me for family reasons. I took some time out to reflect and asked myself where I saw myself in five years’ time. My clear answer? In the academic world.

Although I had a certain preference for Berlin, I was actually looking for professorships throughout Germany. A University of Applied Sciences was a good fit, because my many years of professional experience proved very advantageous. It would have been more difficult for me at a traditional university because I hadn’t published while I was working in industry, but the academic “competition” had. So the professorship in the Electrical Engineering degree programme at HTW Berlin, with its focus on artificial intelligence is ideal for me. It was a good match, I applied and was appointed.

The first courses involved a lot of work. But I look back on those days quite fondly. I believe that new lecturers who have spent time freshly preparing their material bring a special enthusiasm with them, which the students sense and which in turn motivates them. Teaching becomes easier later on. You grow with it, I would say. The excellent onboarding at HTW Berlin helped me very much. The programme for new appointees runs for a year and was also a wonderful framework for personal exchange. It was also possible get support from colleagues, asking them how they taught, and how the students in their seminars reacted to specific content and methods.

I consider it a great privilege to always be able to interact with the younger generation. I enjoy encouraging young people, seeing them surpass their own expectations and making progress in their learning. I get an incredible amount in return. I had successes in the company, yes, but never the moments of happiness and fulfilment I experience in my teaching career. At university, I often have the feeling that I can give something back. And it’s a pleasure to be able to organise your everyday life independently and work autonomously.

At HTW Berlin. Perhaps there will then be a fast track in the existing degree programme or a completely new degree programme in which systems biology, artificial intelligence and philosophy are combined- I know that such reforms aren’t easy to implement. But there is definitely an opportunity to work on these and other developments. The clocks at a university tick more slowly than in the business world, but there definitely ways to accelerate things.