Re-election as Vice President of the German Rectors’ Conference

The General Assembly of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) has elected Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein, Rector at the University of Freiburg, as HRK Vice-President for University Medicine and Health Sciences for the second time in a row. The areas of Research and Early Career Researchers, which she had previously additionally overseen, will be represented by the newly elected HRK Vice-President Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, with a focus on “Research, Academic Career Paths, Transfer.”

The two-year terms will begin on December 1, 2021. “I would like to thank my colleagues for the trust they have once again placed in me,” says Krieglstein. “During my first term, universities faced the challenge of continuing research and teaching under severe pandemic conditions, which the University community handled well despite all the constraints. We are all confident that we will continue to succeed and that we will be able to provide possible solutions to the global problems of our time with new scientific knowledge.” After the departments separated, Krieglstein decided to run again with the focus on university medicine: “Medicine and health sciences are in many cases prototypical for the university system. The universities’ relevance in the areas of innovation, education and care as well as communication must be made clear to policy-makers in an unmistakable and concise manner. The overall university perspective, and thus the HRK perspective, is crucial for addressing challenges in university medicine and health sciences.”

Researcher, Dean, Rector

Kerstin Krieglstein has been Rector at the University of Freiburg since October 1, 2020. She studied chemistry and pharmacy, received her doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Marburg in 1990, and habilitated in anatomy and cell biology at the University of Heidelberg in 1997. After professorships at the University of Göttingen and the University of Saarland, she accepted the role as chair of anatomy at the University of Freiburg in 2007. From April 1, 2014, she was the first full-time dean for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg and thus also a board member at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. From August 1, 2018, to September 30, 2020, she served as rector of the University of Konstanz. Krieglstein has also been a member of the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences since 2007.

German Rectors’ Conference

The HRK is a voluntary association comprised of 268 state-run and federally recognized universities in Germany. It sees itself as a central forum for the joint decision-making process of the universities and gives voice to their shared interests vis-à-vis government, industry and society.

The German Rectors’ Conference press release

Contact:
Annette Kollefrath-Persch
Office of University and Science Communications
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-8909
E-Mail: annette.persch@pr.uni-freiburg.de

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Photo: Sandra Meyndt