The Professional Skills lecturers

Summer semester 2024

Professional skills are taught by professionals from the practice, experienced coaches and HPI professors and staff. Whether entrepreneurship, communication management or legal issues - they are all experts in their respective fields and contribute their knowledge and experience to the interdisciplinary teaching at HPI.

Christoph Burger

...is an affiliate senior lecturer at ESMT Berlin. His research focuses on innovation/blockchain, decision-making/negotiations and the energy sector.

Course: Dealing with Uncertainty
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The HPI School of Design Thinking (D-School)

…offers an additional program with an innovative approach. In small, multidisciplinary teams, students from different departments develop innovative and people-centered solutions for complex problems. During the process, they are in close contact with project partners from companies, NGOs and political institutions.

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Dr. Werner Dieball

…has worked as a speaker, trainer and coach in the fields of rhetoric and body language for over 20 years. He advises leaders and managers from business as well as personalities from politics and the media. He also works as an analysis expert for various print media, radio and television stations.

Course: Persuasive Presentations – The First Impression Counts
Quote: "There is more to everyone than what they show on the outside."
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HPI School of Entrepreneurship (E-School)

...initiates formats for start-up-oriented idea generation, offers numerous practical teachings and supports you from the development of the first ideas to the kick-off of your start-up. The E-School is designed to inspire, motivate, support and practically educate you on your way to founding.

Quote: "E matters. Let’s make a difference and be entrepreneurs…"
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Rea Eldem

...is the founder and managing director of IN-VISIBLE and the management consultant with specifications on equal work culture. Her mission is to make academic knowledge in the field of cultural studies and feminist theory accessible, tangible and useful. With IN-VISIBLE BERLIN she advises companies on gender and diversity strategies.

Course: Diversity within the Learning and Working Environment
Quote: "Confronting oneself with one's own privileges, biases, and prejudice perspectives of others is an indispensable part of a sustainable education for students."
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Dr. Franziska Frank

… is author, Visiting Lecturer at ESMT Berlin. She researches, publishes and teaches on all things related to successful influencing: Humility, Rules of Influencing, Leadership, Decision Making and Negotiation.

Course: Managing stakeholders – The psychology and neuroscience of successfully influencing others
Quote: "Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can."
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Michael Karl Heidemann

…coaches leaders and accompanies organizations in developing their corporate culture for over 30 years. He develops his insides and assumptions at the interface between theory and practice.

Course: Leadership Skills
Quote: ”Even in a digitized working world, personalities are needed who can provide orientation as managers. You need to find out what is important for that for yourself – but you should start in time.”
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Dr. Simon David Hirsbrunner

… is a social scientist and project leader at the International Center for Ethics in the Sciences (IZEW) of the University of Tübingen. He conducts research on applied AI and data ethics, algorithmic policing, digital research media, and accessibility issues in science.

Course: Responsible Data Science
Quote: “Good AI is ethically responsible AI that is aligned with the needs and values of involved stakeholders.”
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Prof. Dr. Eric Kearney

…is a professor for leadership, organization and human resources at the University of Potsdam. His research focus is leadership and teamwork. His articles were published in leading international journals.

Course: Management Essentials
Quote: ”I investigate how leadership supports collaboration between people so that challenges in organizations and the society can be mastered.”
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Nadine Lux

… is a science communicator with over 20 years of experience conceptualizing, supervising, and designing communication projects for universities, research institutions, and educational institutions. She is the co-founder of the Berlin agency for science communication, sciencehoch3.

Course: Communicating Technology Successfully – Developing Communication Strategies/ Developing Content and Formats
Quote: "Communicating science is particularly fun when the dialogue with the target groups is successful. This always requires a good concept and a good team.”
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Dr. Sharon Nemeth

…is a translator, copyeditor and lecturer at Hasso Plattner Institute. Her translation work includes a number of eminent HPI publications. In her work as a teacher, she takes a personal interest in addressing the language needs of her students in their academic and professional environments.

Course: Academic Writing for Science
Quote: “It is my privilege to work with HPI students in addressing their real-life writing challenges, and thus removing at least some of the obstacles to writing well in English. With what they learn, students should ideally have a source to draw on for language support now and in the future.”
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Orla O’Hagan

… is an English language specialist and ESL teacher based in Berlin. She teaches English to non-native speakers of all backgrounds both privately and in association with Berlin School of English, focusing on business and academic English through communicative practice.

Course: English Skills for IT Professionals
Quote: "Language is the means through which we show ourselves to the world, and share our world with others."
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Anna-Lisa Obermann

… is heading People and Workplace at DigitalService GmbH des Bundes. Before, she was leading People and Culture at Blinkist, helping to build the Berlin tech start-up from scratch. As a systemic mediator and integral business coach, her focus is on holistic organizational development and the implementation of people-centered new work concepts. She is passionate about building purpose-driven company cultures living up to strong organizational values.

Course: What do I need, what do you need? - Understanding conflicts and handling them constructively
Quote: "In the VUCA-world, to build future-proof organizations, we need the ability to handle conflict situations: to me, tensions mark a gap between the present and a better future. If we recognize this potential and learn to understand each other without necessarily having to agree, conflicts will become a catalyst of change."
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Prof. Dr. Robert Ranisch

...is an assistant professor of medical ethics with a focus on digitalization at the Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam. In his research and teaching, he is dedicated to various fields of ethics in the sciences, at the interface of technology, society and politics.

Course: Ethics in Digital Health and Technology
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Dr. Ulf Schäfer

...is an associate professor of Practice Leadership at SDA Bocconi. His research focuses on moral psychological explanations of unethical behavior of individuals and groups in organizations.

Course: Leading People, Teams, and Change
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Ines Schulz-Bücher

… has 25 years of experience coaching self-employed individuals, managers, and teams of all levels and sizes in a variety of sectors. Her clients value her holistic and solution-oriented approach, as well as her keen eye for detail. She has extensive management experience, having worked as a project manager and director of sales.

Course: Professional skills: Key competencies for professional success
Quote: "Every day offers the opportunity to promote personal growth, realize potential and embark on a journey of learning and development together."
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Ulrich Selzer

… is an independent business coach who assists his clients with their professional and personal development, guides them through their career and decision-making processes, and provides security. He benefits from decades of international experience as an automotive manager and entrepreneur. His main areas of focus include pragmatic decisions, implementation orientation (“cool head, warm heart, strong hand”), communication, and organizational leadership. He'd also like to make this available to HPI students.

Course: Strategic Leadership and Management Principles - Bridging Technology and Human Insight in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Quote: "You don’t have to have every experience yourself."
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Prof. Dr. Falk Uebernickel

…is professor for design thinking and innovation research at HPI. Together with his team, he explores methods and procedures of how the adaption and integration of human-centered design and design thinking in companies lead to sustainable business innovations. A special focus lies on software-driven products, processes and service innovations.

Course: Global Team-Based Innovation II
Quote: “Human-centered design is essential for developing software and sustainable digital innovations.”
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Dr. Julia von Thienen

...has been working at HPI since 2008. Her research focuses on design thinking as an approach to creativity, collaboration and innovation. Since 2018, she has been building a research group on neurodesign, which focuses intensively on the biological basis of creativity, collaboration and innovation in design thinking research and teaching.

Course: Sonic Thinking - Methods of Working with Sound, Master Thesis Class
Quote: "In the courses, you design and concuct your own creative IT project. The classes offer process and community support to help you realize your vision."
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