New Vice-president wants to strengthen research and transfer at HSB

Silke Eckardt has held the Chair of Sustainable Energy Supply & Resource Efficiency in Faculty 2, Department of Civil Engineering and Environment at HSB since 2009. She has a PhD in environmental engineering and is a member of the ‘Region in Transition’ research cluster at HSB. From 2018 to 2022, Silke Eckardt was Vice Dean of Faculty 2 - Architecture, Construction and Environment. In this role she represented the interests of researchers on the Research Commission. The 58-year-old heads the Master's degree programme ‘Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems’ (ZEUS).

The academic was appointed Vice-president by President Prof. Dr Konrad Wolf following the approval of the Academic Senate at its plenary session on Tuesday, 28 January 2025. ‘I would like to thank the Academic Senate for its trust. I am looking forward to working with Silke Eckardt,’ said the President. ‘She is characterised by her high level of academic and practice-oriented expertise. I would like to thank Mrs Eckardt for wanting to help shape our university in the university management!’

Strengthening PhDs at the HSB

The aim of the new Vice-president is to further strengthen the research and transfer culture at HSB. The Hochschule Bremen makes an important contribution to regional development here. It plays a leading role in the regional innovation system. Its scientists are particularly strong in applied research. The recently opened new and unique Facility for Multidisciplinary Structural Analysis (GZMS) will strengthen basic research at HSB. ‘A milestone for our universities of applied sciences (HAWs) in the state of Bremen is the authorisation to offer PhDs in research-intensive fields,’ says Silke Eckardt. ‘I would like to strengthen HSB in this area and drive the process forward in and with the state.’

Another key topic for the new Vice President is knowledge and technology transfer. ‘As a University of Applied Sciences (HAW), our focus on application makes us particularly strong in terms of transfer, as our colleagues in the faculties are in close dialogue with cooperation partners from science, business, politics, administration and society. Transfer can take various forms. We live transfer culture in our research projects, in teaching and in close dialogue in various networks and other formats.’ The ideas, start-up and foundation support programme at Hochschule Bremen also contributes to this. In the BMBF-funded project ‘FreiRAUM@HSB’, new ideas can be conceived, realised and made possible.

About the career of the new Vice-president

Prof Dr Silke Eckardt has led several large inter- and transdisciplinary collaborative and cluster projects in the fields of offshore wind energy and plastics recycling. She has worked nationwide as a reviewer for the German Science and Humanities Council (WR) and on PhD and expert commissions. She studied at the Technical University of Lübeck. Born in Braunschweig, she completed her PhD at the Technical University (TU) Dresden in cooperation with Hochschule Bremen.

Outside of the university world, Silke Eckardt was an environmental officer in the energy supply sector, division and operations manager for secondary fuels in waste management and project manager in the wind energy sector.

Silke Eckardt takes over the Vice-president's Office for Research and Transfer from Dr Britta Lüder. The Head of the Research and Transfer office at HSB was Vice President from 2019 to 2024. After that, President Konrad Wolf temporarily deputised for her.