Three more guest researchers recently visited the University of Siegen to collaborate with scientists in different faculties.

Prof. Dr. -Ing. Thomas Wahl is currently working at the University of Central Florida (UCF) as an assistant professor. He is based at the Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering Department, the National Center for Integrated Coastal Research (UCF Coastal), and a core member of the Sustainable Coastal Systems Cluster. He originally came to Florida because he received a postdoc fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service, and apart from one year in Southampton, he has remained there ever since.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter A. Künzi is a full professor at the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics of the University of Cape Town, in Rondebosch, South Africa. His fields of research are topology, orders, categories, combinatorics and their applications in analysis and algebra; focus on asymmetric topology.

Prof. Dr. Martin Drahansky is the head of research group STRaDe at the Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology. His current position is full professor. His field of research is strongly oriented on biometric systems and processing of image and videosequence data. However he and his research group deal with embedded systems as well, because they are needed for intelligent solutions in the area of image and videosequence data processing.

Dr. Thomas Wahl completed his PhD in Siegen at the Research Institute for Water and Environment (FWU), which is led by Professor Jürgen Jensen. Thomas is now based at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, United States. He cooperates closely with his former colleagues in Siegen to understand coastal flooding, and to work to develop methods of mitigating and adapting to sea level rise and changing extreme weather conditions.

Prof. Korakoch Attaviriyanupap has now completed her eighth research stay with Prof. Petra M. Vogel, chair of German linguistics at the University of Siegen. Korakoch, who is an associate Professor at the German department at Silpakorn University in Thailand, is focused on contrastive differences between the Thai and the German languages. Korakoch has been working closely together with Petra on various projects since 2009.

Dr. Efua Esaaba Agyire-Tettey is a lecturer at the Department of Social Work, University of Ghana. She holds a University of Siegen. Efua came to Siegen, thanks to the International Education Doctorate (INEDD) which advertised for doctoral students to come to Siegen from abroad, and provided them with help adjusting to their new country. Since completing her PhD, she continues to work with her PhD supervisor, Prof. Johannes Schädler, who manages the Center of Planning and Evaluation of Social Services (ZPE) at the University of Siegen. Efua and Johannes work together on a joint project which looks at the role of social work to promote inclusivity for people with disabilities in the Suhum district in Ghana.

Prof. Laura Black has arrived in Siegen from the American state of Montana, to work with Prof. Kerstin Ettl on a paper which looks at sensemaking and success of entrepreneurs. Both academics have benefited from their cooperation and are looking forward to presenting the results of their research to the scientific community.

Dr. Xiaoqiu Dou came to Siegen in 2016 as a Humboldt postdoctoral fellow. After 2 successful years she has returned from China to collaborate with other researchers in Prof. Schönherr’s Physical Chemistry I research group. Her projects include a new method to improve the effectiveness of drug testing, and utilising natural structures found in rose petals to improve the diagnosis of cancer. Dr. Dou has enjoyed her time in Siegen very much and there will hopefully be a permanent joint research program between Siegen and Dr. Dou’s home institution in Shanghai.

Das vierte Austausch-Treffen zum Forscher-Alumni-Programm an Universitäten fand im September 2018 an der Universität Siegen am Campus Unteres Schloss statt. Dafür waren Forscher-Alumni-Beauftrage von verschiedenen deutschen Universitäten angereist. Im Fokus stand der Erfahrungsaustausch über erfolgreich umgesetzte Maßnahmen der jeweiligen Forscher-Alumni-Programme sowie Fragen zur nachhaltigen Bindung der Forscher-Alumni an die Universitäten und zur Verstetigung der Programme.

For the first time, the "Day of International Visiting Scholars" took place at the University of Siegen on the 12th June, which the Research Alumni Program had organised in cooperation with the International Welcome Center and the University of Siegen's Alumni Association. The focus was on the exchange and research of international guest researchers and their Siegen hosts from all schools. The International Guest Researcher Day provided the setting for the third annual reception at the Welcome Center for international scientists and an appreciation of selected Siegen scientists for their commitment to international cooperation as well as their research collaborations with international scientists and a conference on science communication.