Continuity in the University Management of Hochschule Bremen (HSB): Prof. Dr. Annika Maschwitz will remain Vice-president for Studies, Teaching and Internationalisation (left on the photo above). The Academic Senate (AS) elected the scientist for a second term of office. She will take up her post on 1 April 2026. ‘On behalf of the University Management, I would like to thank the Academic Senate for its trust,’ said the President Prof. Dr. Konrad Wolf (on the right side of the photo above). ‘We are very pleased that Annika Maschwitz will continue to accompany us as Vice-Rector.’ During her first term of office, Annika Maschwitz accompanied, further developed and launched strategically important projects at HSB.
‘I would also like to thank the University Management and the Academic Senate for their trust,’ says Annika Maschwitz. ‘I look forward to continuing to work with all my colleagues at HSB. We currently have some strategically very important projects in the areas of studies, teaching and internationalisation that we need to develop further together.’
One example is the further internationalisation of HSB. The European University alliance STARS EU (Strategic Alliance for Regional Transition European University) offers great potential in this regard. What makes this special is that HSB is one of only 18 universities of applied sciences (HAW) in Germany that is funded by the EU to establish a European University together with its partner universities. This is like an award and represents a great opportunity to further advance the internationalisation of the University of Bremen in Europe.
STARS EU is designed to create innovative, flexible and diverse study and research systems. In regular analogue and digital working meetings, the members of the university alliance network, develop ideas together, implement them and take them further – for example on topics such as energy transition, circular economy, start-ups and innovation, or health. All university members are involved: scientists, administrative and technical staff, and students. Bremen and the region benefit from STARS EU, and the nine universities learn from each other. In addition to HSB, universities in the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Spain, Portugal, Czechia, Poland and Albania are also involved.
Another important project in the area of study and teaching is ‘Campus2031@HSB’. Funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education Teaching, the project aims to advance HSB in key areas such as sustainability, curriculum development, artificial intelligence (AI) and campus development (cultural and spatial) from 2026 onwards.
The project focuses on critical thinking, problem solving, interdisciplinary work and digital literacy skills, which are often subsumed under the term ‘future skills’. HSB is thus becoming a shared development space. For this reason, the desired teaching and learning developments are to be implemented in cooperation with all faculties and central units. The project thus makes an important contribution not only to the development of the university and its stakeholders, but also to the social and economic development of the region as a whole.
Annika Maschwitz has been Professor of Lifelong Learning at Faculty 1 – Economics at HSB since 2019. She is also Head of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (ZLL). The centre designs and supports the further development and quality of studies and teaching at the University of Bremen. In this role, Annika Maschwitz is also a member of the steering committee for the current process of system reaccreditation at HSB. She is also a member of the executive board of the German Society for Scientific Continuing Education and Distance Learning (DGWF) and is involved as an expert in various funding programmes and advisory boards at federal and state level. Before her appointment to Bremen, the 43-year-old worked as a project manager at the University of Oldenburg and was managing director of the Schulenberg Institute for Educational Research (GmbH). After studying education, with a focus on adult education, and economics at the University of Oldenburg, Annika Maschwitz received her doctorate there in 2013 on the topic of ‘Cooperation between universities and companies in the field of continuing education programmes’.
