AnnuAl RepoRt2013...stian Riekhof and Joachim Ahrens took part in the event PFH meets Politics. [6] Mourning: Dr. Jörg Biethahn, Founding Professor of the PFH, died in September;

2012 – 2013 – 2014AnnuAl RepoRt

The PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen is committed to generating and transferring knowledge in critical and interdisciplinary reflection on political, social and economic interests. Our guiding principles are teaching and research geared towards the needs of industry, particularly in the areas of management, innovation and technology. With our practical and applied teaching, we provide both students who are learning for the first time, and professionals engaging in lifelong learning with well-founded theoretical as well as practical knowledge and skills using varied teaching strategies. Thanks to the sustainability and practicality of the competencies acquired in our courses, our graduates are able to take on professional responsibility or qualify for higher responsibilities within their companies. Thus the PFH sees its role as being that of an interface between students as high potentials and the economy.

Mission Statement

Board of Trustees Airbus Operations GmbH | BAHLSEN GmbH & Co. KG | Baker Tilly Roelfs Unternehmensberatung GmbH | CFK-Valley Stade e. V. | Continental AG | Gothaer Versicherungen | Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe | Novelis Deutschland GmbH | Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH | PricewaterhouseCoopers | SAP AG | T-Systems Business Services GmbH | TUI AG

[1] Partnership: The PFH has been working together closely with Manfred Sperlich, Managing Partner of innos-Sperlich GmbH in Göttingen, since 2003.

[2] Ideas man: Professor Hans Georg Näder, Managing Partner of the Otto Bock Group, played a vital role in developing the ZHT.

[3] Finale: Thomas Oppermann following the lecturePFH meets Politics in an informal atmosphere

[4] Guest lecture: Prof. Dr. Peter Fischer (right) from the University of Regensburg gave a talk at the invitation of Prof. Dr. Michael Heinlein.

[5] Audience: PFH Professors Hubert Schüle, Hans- Chri-stian Riekhof and Joachim Ahrens took part in the event PFH meets Politics.

[6] Mourning: Dr. Jörg Biethahn, Founding Professor of the PFH, died in September; here (left) with other professors and associates.

[7] Appointment: Dr. Frank Braatz, Professor of Medical Orthobionics (centre), received his letter of appointment in February.

[3]

[1]

[5]

[6] [7]

[4]

[2]

[1] Visiting Professor: Prof. Dr. Klaus Oestreicher from the IPE Management School in Paris is a regular visitor as a lecturer at the International Focus Week at the PFH.

[2] Get-together: Refreshments following the welcoming and graduation ceremony in Stade.

[3] Supporting programme: A pianist provides musical accompaniment to the celebration in Stade.

[4] Experts in education: Dipl.-Hdl. Werner Rose, Mana-ging Director of the PFH holding company.

[5] Bachelors: Dietlind Marie Seifert, Mandy Heymann, Friederike Anna Elisabeth von Zepelin and Sarah Winkler (from left to right.) successfully completed their Manage-ment studies.

[6] Conversation: Jessica Dörries, who works in the Exa-minations Office, and Chancellor Benno Fleer talking to graduate Florens von der Decken.

[7] Congratulations: Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt congra-tulates Raphael Schmidt on receiving the highest mark in his Masters degree on the 2013 distance learning course.

[1] [2]

[3] [4]

[6]

[5]

[7]

Contents | 5

59 Healthcare Technology

60 Developments in the Area of Healthcare Technology

62 Excursions

64 Internship Reports & Company Visits

66 First Meeting of Researchers at ZHT

67 Professors on international Missions

68 Workshop on Prosthetic Components

69 Technology

70 Welcoming and Graduation Ceremony

72 2013 Graduates

73 Research Activities, Prof. Dr. -Ing. Richard Degenhardt

74 Partnership with Airbus extended

75 7th International CFRP-Valley Stade Convention

76 Testing Laboratory & Research Projects

77 Good Finish at International Flying Contest

78 Reports on International Internships

80 CFRP Students Build Racing Car

81 Distance Learning & Further Education

82 Expansion of Course Range & Partnerships

84 Opening of FSZ Lübeck

85 PFH Distance Learning Centres

86 2013 Graduates

89 PFH Professional School

90 mtec-akademie

91 Spectrum

92 Student Representatives' Report

93 PFH Alumni Club e. V.

94 To West Africa by Bicycle

95 Staff

100 Committees and Official Bodies

103 Legal Notice

6 Development & Prospects

6 Preface

8 "Start-up Radar": PFH Business School

9 K4 German Competence Group

10 Overview of Courses

11 Partnership with Deutsche Bildung AG

12 New PR and Advertising Campaign

13 Online Test for Choosing Courses

14 University Services for Companies

16 PFH meets Politics Lecture Series

18 International Office

20 Schools Partnerships

23 "IdeenExpo" in Hannover

24 Appointment of Prof. Dr. Martina Ruhmland

25 Appointment of Prof. Dr. Stephan Weibelzahl

26 Professors at the PFH

28 Distance Learning Centre Austria in Korneuburg

29 Management

30 4th Marketing Day in Göttingen

32 ZE Centre for Entrepreneurship

34 3rd Entrepreneurship Spring School

36 "Corporate Healthcare Management" Demography Day

38 Research & Projects

40 Social Entrepreneurship Project

41 Internship Fair

42 Field Projects

44 Guest Lecture by Stephan Swinka

45 Guests at the PFH

46 PFH meets… Prof. Dr. Gerald Hüther

47 Stade Management Students put their Questions to the People

48 Trip to China

49 Coaching Project with IGS Bovenden

50 Reports on International Internships

52 Exchange Semester in New York and Istanbul

55 2013 Masters Graduates

56 Graduation Ceremony in Göttingen

58 2013 Bachelors Graduates

2013 was the 15th year in which the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen bid farewell to graduates. The first 17 received their diploma certificates in Business Administration and Business Information Technology in October 1999. The sheer numbers make clear just how much the University has grown since classes started. More than 2,500 graduates have since obtained their degree, with 481 in 2013 alone. The original two courses had grown to 21 by April 2014, covering fields including Management, Technology, Healthcare Technology and Psychology. The PFH disseminates knowledge, conducts teaching and research and builds networks at three campus locations in Göttingen, Stade and Berlin, in addition to eleven distance learning centres nationwide.

The importance of the PFH's strategic cooperation with its part-ners for mutual success can be illustrated by considering a few examples.

There is particularly strong demand for our range of Bachelors courses with a technical focus. Both the Composites course in Stade and the Orthobionics Bachelors course in Göttingen are fully subscribed. Both of the courses are closely linked to trustee companies Airbus and ottobock respectively with regard to their development and implementation. With these partners on board, we have succeeded in linking, future-proofing and establishing professional training, study programmes and academic research to meet demand in the aerospace and orthopaedic technology industries – and beyond.

There are similar prospects for our new area, Psychology, for which 2013 was a year spent preparing to grow. The five new courses that are about to start have successfully passed their accreditation procedures, professor and employee numbers are growing in line with forecasts and the strong demand expected for these courses. Here, too, our strategic partner, Hogrefe Verlagsgruppe from Göt-tingen, a leading publisher of academic literature in psychology, is one of the key development cornerstones. We also entered into a "fixed-term partnership" with another well-known company in 2013. In autumn, we managed to reach thousands of people via the distribution channel of the company Tchibo – with around 700 stores in Germany as well as an extremely

preface

extensive online product range – in order to stir their interest in the subject of lifelong learning. Through to April 2014, we are offering prospective students a ten percent discount on fees for Business Administration distance learning courses and distance learning certificates from our PFH further education partner PFH Professional School. Also new is our partnership with the Union for the Mining, Chemicals and Energy industries (IG BCE), the agreement for which was signed in November 2013.

The PFH is one of the best business schools in Germany. Our claim is based on our history, when the partners decided to found the university in 1994 – financed exclusively by private means, without public subsidies. Their declared aim and commercial focus was to lead the business school to academic and econo-mic success. However, the term "business school" also implies inculcating the student body with the idea of entrepreneurship and promoting autonomous economic activity through curricular and extra-curricular offerings. The success of the PFH in doing this is shown by the results of the 2012 "Start-up Radar," in which the PFH came second in its category. In our opinion, all of the building blocks mentioned here are good reasons to choose the PFH, be it as a student, a corporate partner or an employee. You can find out why the above groups of

people, our graduates and other friends and sponsors chose the PFH at www.darum-pfh.de. This Web site is the central element in the university's current PR and advertising campaign. We have already had feedback from more than 100 people, and would be delighted to hear any other views you may have!

This university could not exist without the PFH's committed team of professors, academic and non-academic staff, trustees, partners and sponsors, who place their faith in us no less than our students and graduates do. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely. Together with you, we are delighted to look ahead with confidence to 2014.

Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke Prof. Dr. Frank AlbePresident Vice-President

Prof. Dr. Frank Albe (left) and Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke.

8 | Development & Prospects

The management of the ZE Centre for Entrepreneurship (from left to right): Prof. Dr. Frank Albe, Prof. Dr. Bernhard H. Vollmar and Prof. Dr. Manfred P. Zilling.

The PFH has one of the best start-up promotion programmes in universities in Germany. It came second in the category of small universities with fewer than 5,000 students. This is the upshot of the "Start-up Radar 2012," the largest comparison of universities nationwide on this subject, published by the Donor's Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany in No-vember 2013. The "Start-up Radar" analyses the start-up profile of every German university; in total, the ranking population consists of 393 higher education institutions, of which 114 are traditional universities and 279 are universities of applied sciences.

The donor's association evaluated four criteria: institutional an-choring of start-ups, promotion of start-up awareness, support for start-ups and start-up activities. The PFH is the leader for two of these criteria: institutional anchoring of start-ups, which

measures the extent to which start-up funding is anchored in the strategy, structures and management of the university in question. A strong anchoring within the university is required in order to be able to ensure the sustainability of start-up funding. It also helps to establish start-ups in the minds of members of the uni-versity community. In addition, PFH scores when it comes to promoting start-up awareness, the evaluation of which concerns how effectively the university reaches members of the university community with its offers of start-up funding. The more people who are included, the greater the number of offers and the more varied and appropriate to their needs they are, the more effectively a university will be able to raise awareness of entrepreneurship amongst students and academic staff. What is more, in terms of the two other evaluation criteria, start-up support and start-up activities, the PFH is in the top 3 in each case which, when the results are added up, leads to a score of 10.5 out 12 possible points. Overall, the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management took first place among the small universities, with the University of Witten/Herdecke behind the PFH in third place.

"The ranking results attest to our work on start-up funding, which has gained significant momentum in the last three years since the development of the ZE Centre for Entrepreneurship. Thus the PFH is positioning itself clearly as an entrepreneurial university where young company founders experience maximum support for their projects," says a proud Prof. Dr. Bernhard H. Vollmar, Head of the ZE, of the ranking results.

podium Finish in the "Start-up Radar"The PFH is one of the best Business Schools in Germany

Development & Prospects | 9

Since late 2011, the K4 German Competence Group (K4 GCG) has been offering companies and institutions a self-developed learning platform for them to implement and manage the latest generation of training and further education. The learning platform focuses on higher education, continuing professional develop-ment and qualification.

The K4 concept of Value Added Education helps client com-panies to increase their profitability by training their staff. K4 GCG is based on the expertise of founders and partners Karin Dietz (Dipl.-Kfm.), Martin Löwer (Dipl.-Kfm. Dipl.-Hdl.), Werner Rose (Dipl.-Hdl.) and Prof. Dr Bernt R. A. Sierke. These experts in education each boast more than 20 years' experience in the strategic planning, implementation and validation of training and further education programmes, as well as at university level at the PFH. K4 GCG provides competent and professional support to its clients during the entire process: consulting, customising, hosting, content generation and administration. This value-added training solution ultimately guarantees client companies increased value creation.

The K4 concept begins with a strategic analysis of the educa-tion process giving rise to a training strategy aligned with the company's overall strategy as required by third generation training. This is followed by supporting and advising the client in com-municating this training strategy within the framework of change management projects in a company.

Then, K4 GCG develops client-specific, goal-oriented qualifi-cation and further education packages. Industry-specific content can also be structured academically in the form of Bachelors and Masters programmes. Training content is then managed using the state of the art infrastructure and blended learning concepts. The package includes a learning platform, that enables content display using state of the art E-Learning technology and learner management and networking.

In addition, an employer branding strategy ensures that the com-pany is able to portray itself as an attractive employer. Finally, K4 GCG offers its clients the structure of a corporate university. This is not simply a further education institution operated by the company – through networking with higher education institutions, clients additionally have the option of having the content of teaching and training curricula recognised for academic degrees.

The K4 GCG learning platform has already proven itself very successful in practice. This is how the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen and the PFH Professional School use it very successfully for thousands of learners and students.

new Generation of training and Further educationK4 GCG provides excellent learning platform

Founders and Managing Partners of the K4 German Competence Group (from left to the right): Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke, Werner Rose (Dipl.-Hdl.), Karin Dietz (Dipl.-Kfm.) and Martin Löwer (Dipl.-Kfm. Dipl.-Hdl.).

Courses

Distance Learning

Economics

Business AdministrationBachelor of Arts B.A.Master of Arts M.A.

Advanced ManagementMaster of Arts M.A.

Business Administration MBAMaster of Business Administration

Psychology/Business Psychology*

PsychologyBachelor of Science B.ScMaster of Science M.Sc.

Business PsychologyBachelor of Arts B.A.Master of Arts M.A.

Applied Psychology for BusinessMaster of Arts M.A.

*expected to start in April 2014, subject to approval from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Humanities

Campus Göttingen

General ManagementBachelor of Science B.Sc.Master of Science M.Sc.

Business AdministrationBachelor of Science B.Sc.

OrthobionicsBachelor of Science B.Sc.

Medical OrthobionicsMaster of Science M.Sc. (part-time)

Sports & Rehabilitation EngineeringMaster of Science M.Sc. (part-time)

Campus Berlin


General ManagementMaster of Science M.Sc.

CompositesBachelor of Engineering B.Eng.Master of Science M.Sc. (Part-time, in German or English)


Campus Stade


Since June 2013, the PFH has been offering its students another attractive funding model for their studies. Students may apply for up to EUR 25,000 from the funding pot of Deutsche Bildung AG, regardless of parental income. Around 100 grants funded by Deutsche Bildung AG are available for the upcoming term for PFH students in all disciplines and campuses. Repayment after completion of studies depends on gross income.

Deutsche Bildung AG awards scholarships from study funds. "Private individuals place money in these funds not just as a safe investment, but primarily to fund students," explains Prof. Dr. Julian Voss, who initiated the partnership. Each scholarship is agreed individually between the fund and the student and is thus tailored to their needs. Deutsche Bildung allocates monthly amounts based on what is required in combination with a one-off grant. Students can thus apply for up to EUR 25,000 for their studies to finance living costs, course fees or expenses for courses or semes-

ters abroad. Repayment depends on income and commences once the student starts work. Funded students repay a fixed percentage of their gross income to the study fund over a determined period of time, which represents an important difference to conventional student loans. Deutsche Bildung has funded over 600 students to date, the first of whom have already successfully completed their studies and are now in the repayment phase.

This financial support is linked with admission to the study sup-port programme "WissenPlus" (KnowledgePlus). This online and seminar package includes events, training and seminars on key competencies, on rhetorical and presentation skills, or time ma-nagement, for example. The programme is rounded off by networ-king events with employers, companies and funding recipients from other universities.

Innovative Study FundingPFH Partnership with Deutsche Bildung AG


The "Good reasons for the PFH" campaign started in April 2013 with events for students in Göttingen and Stade.

"Good reasons for the PFH" is the motto for the university's new PR and advertising campaign that started last April.

This campaign, whose central element is the website www.darum-pfh.de, is where students, alumni, employees, corporate partners, friends and anyone else can say why the PFH is their university of choice. Those taking part can also immortalise themselves in words, upload a suitable photograph or even include a longer statement as a Youtube video.

Other visitors to the site can then rate the reasons in turn and share them via the usual social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Google+. "This is of great benefit to young people who are trying to decide on a course. It lets them discover what other people think of the PFH and its courses and learn about their experiences with the university.

More than 100 participants have provided input to date, and over 23,000 ratings have helped the winner each month to claim over EUR 200 each in Amazon vouchers. Other elements in the campaign: Individual statements are used as advertisements, appearing as traditional print advertisements

or as web banner, meaning they are an important part of our student marketing. "This way, we have found the right person to provide statements for each target group, since we have received reasons why students chose the university from every discipline and campus, and from distance learning students. This allows us to control very precisely how we address them via the rele-vant media," explains Peter Diehl, Press Spokesman and Head of Communications at the PFH.

www.darum-pfh.dePR and Advertising Campaign collects Statements and awards Prizes

students

& graduates

friends,pupils & co.

companies& partners

professors,

tutors &

employees

"Study what's right for you!" – that’s the motto under which the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen offers prospective students its support in choosing the right subject for them. The offer is aimed at pupils studying for a university entrance qualification and their parents. The core element of the programme is an online course orientation questionnaire in which future students give an initial assessment of their interests. The outcome is a recommendation in an extensive evaluation. "More than 850 people filled out the online questionnaire" reports project manager Janina Junghans.

In addition, the PFH offered information events in several cities such as Bremen, Hanover, Oldenburg or Braunschweig. These gave participants the chance to meet professors, talk to graduates and students about their experiences and familiarise themselves with

day to day university life in taster lectures. "This provided pros-pective students with a vivid impression of the PFH's real-world, international and career-oriented study concept," says Prof. Dr. Frank Albe. It is not easy nowadays to find just the right course for you. More than 9,000 courses at some 400 universities are competing for school-leavers. "This can sometimes make choo-sing the right subject a real lottery," added Albe. Another thing to bear in mind is that today's generation of parents studied at a time when there were not only significantly fewer courses, but Diplom and Magister degrees and "Staatsexamen" still existed. By contrast, the rules applying nowadays to Bachelors and Masters degrees are often unfamiliar to them. In this respect, it is not only the pupils’ need for information but also that of their parents. It is this need for information which the PFH aims to cater to with its test (still available online) and the events.

Getting to Know our Courses and Choosing the Right SubjectsThe PFH's online test for choosing courses

'


In order to continue making our cooperation with companies and interested private individuals more professional and intensive, the PFH has restructured its products and services for this target group and is steadily developing them further.

An essential part of this cooperation, the exchange of knowhow is reflected in course content that is consistently oriented towards the needs of the workplace and in the development of innovative courses. The core course elements and further education pro-

grammes offered are based closely on the real demands of the economy. Furthermore, companies at the university gain access to an excellent network for partnerships and projects.

Cooperation with the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen is versatile, inspiring and rewarding for companies, which are free to determine the extent of their own financial and time commitment. Jointly developed individual solutions are also possible.

Knowledge for the IndustryUniversity Products and Services for Businesses


PFH Products – Benefits for CompaniesThe following products and services are available to corporate partners of the PFH.

Recruiting the leaders of the future in the Management Campus ProgrammeEntrepreneurship-based management courses with a real-world focus and content geared towards companies' needs help to pro-vide tailor-made training for young leadership talents. The "Pra-xisStudieren" programme, through which companies can finance students' education, enables future leaders to be snapped up early.

HR development with distance learningThe PFH offers courses in Business Administration and, from April 2014, it will also offer courses in Psychology/Business Psychology, taught in such a way as to ensure students can suc-cessfully learn while they earn. The content of the programmes is geared towards companies' needs and is thus well suited for targeted staff development.

Tailored solutionsA particular feature of the PFH is the joint development and im-plementation of innovative courses geared towards company and market requirements, e.g. Composites or Orthobionics. Compa-nies are involved in planning courses in an advisory capacity. This strategic alliance is supported at an academic level by endowed professorships or the establishment of institutes.

Further EducationForward looking content for non-academics at the PFH Professi-onal School or specialised knowledge for academics and specia-lists at the mtec Academy – the PFH offers both for tailor-made further education in distance learning courses and seminars. Individual personal development programmes at university level can also be provided.

Cooperative Marketing and SalesJoint advertising and sales campaigns position corporate partners as patrons of scholarship and education. This produces synergies in meeting the needs of different target groups and helps to convey a positive image.

Business ServicesThe PFH provides companies with easy access to qualified interns as well as young leadership talent for their specialist departments. Scholarship programmes help secure the services of young talent

early. Guest lectures can be used as a platform for corporate presentations, knowledge transfer events and networking.

New Opportunities – profitable Gains

Companies benefit from a partnership with the PFH:

• Sustainable funding of education, scholarships and young people – whether as a company or as an individual in the form of a patronage.

• Targeted and coherent training of committed young talent for individual needs

• Straightforward recruitment of new employees wit-hout time and cost-intensive measures

• Knowledge transfer between company and university• Various events with intensive presentation and net-

working opportunities• Achievement-oriented students as committed and

qualified interns in projects in specialist departments• Positioning of company in the PFH's marketing chan-

nels and resulting PR benefits• Ability to reach exclusive target groups via the PFH's

media facilities• Opportunities for individual corporate social res-

ponsibility projects

Supporting the partnership between our corporate partners and the PFH: Janina Junghans (left) and Bianka Melanie Krietenstein.


The "PFH meets Politics" series was held on the Göttingen campus in the run-up to the recent Bundestag elections on September 22nd. The series was organised by students Jonas Hainke, Lisa Hartenstein, Maximilian Mitschke, Alina Rohde, Nico Stobinski, Friedemann Thiel and Johannes Weidemann, with the team ad-vised by Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens and Prof. Dr. Frank Albe. This gave the Göttingen direct mandate candidates from the political parties Bündnis '90/Die Grünen (The Greens), CDU, FDP and SPD the opportunity to give their opinions on current political matters at four individual events.

Two student moderators conducted the evening events and put detailed questions to the politicians. The audience was then able to discuss its views and questions with the four candidates.

The students had formulated the following propositions on four main topics:

1. Shortage of skilled workers against the backdrop of demographic change"A massive shortage of skilled workers is becoming apparent in parts of Germany due to demographic change. Many businesses are having difficulties finding qualified staff. As a result, the question is raised in Germany as to what measures companies and the federal and state governments should take to counter the problem of the skills shortage and to thus increase Germany's attractiveness as an international place to do business.

2. Family policy in Germany – billions for nothing?"For Konrad Adenauer, the birth rate in Germany was not yet a cause for concern. 'People are always having children,' as it was succinctly put. Now, this is where the first German Chancellor got it wrong. Germans have since started having alarmingly few children. Expressed in cold hard statistics: 1.4 per woman. And that is in spite of the excellent economic situation which ought to ensure the necessary confidence."

Students Invite top politicians PFH meets Politics as a platform for Göttingen’s direct mandate candidates

Above: Jürgen Trittin | The event was received with great interest by students and employees.| PFH students Friedemann Thiel (left) and Johannes Weidemann interviewed Jürgen Trittin. | Thomas Oppermann | Below: Alina Rohde questioned Lutz Knopek. | Lutz Knopek | Fritz Güntzler | Nico Stobinski and Lisa Hartenstein conducted the evening with Fritz Güntzler.


3. The role of private universities in the education system"The development of private universities in Germany appears to be a success story. They are increasing in number, as well as the number of students studying there. Some experts see a lot of advantages in private universities, e.g. the speed with which problems are recognised and solved, but also opportunities to cover specific niches. However, negative aspects such as, for example, differing structures in the 16 federal states and, by international standards, a lack of willingness to invest, need to be considered."

4. Sovereign debt crisis in Europe – Germany's role"In the sovereign debt crisis that has emerged in recent years, Germany has been assigned a variety of roles: from being hailed as the saviour of Greece, Spain and other states in crisis, to having the Chancellor dubbed the "austerity dictator." What is clear is that Germany has played a key role in the sovereign debt crisis to date and will continue to do so in the future.

The Bundestag elections are therefore an important milestone, as their outcome will play a significant role in determining the future course of the crisis."

"PFH meets Politics" was opened on April 30th by the leading Bündnis '90/Die Grünen (The Greens) candidate Jürgen Trit-tin. He debated with students, professors, teachers from PFH partner schools and other guests. He was followed on May 6th by Thomas Oppermann, the SPD's first managing director in parliament, who explained his views to an audience of around 60 people. Dr. Lutz Knopek (FDP) was invited for May 7th, answering questions put to him by the two moderators and the audience. Fritz Güntzler, an auditor and erstwhile CDU Bundestag candidate, concluded the series on May 14th. Güntz-ler, Oppermann and Trittin did then in fact won a Bundestag mandate. As, incidentally, did PFH graduate Mark Helfrich, who won the direct mandate in the constituency of Steinburg, Dithmarschen South and Bad Bramstedt.

Australia, France or India: PFH Management students who wish to finish their Masters studies with an international double degree will be able in future to choose between these three countries. This concept has already proven itself successful as a springboard for international careers in the past few years. To date, twelve students have chosen the programme, in order to obtain a Masters degree from the KEDGE Business School in France (formerly BEM Bor-deaux École de Management) as well as the certificate from the PFH. From 2014, the international double degree will now also be available with Australia's Bond University on the Gold Coast near Brisbane, as well as with India's Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) in Greater Noida near New Delhi.

Bond University is one of the best private universities in Austra-lia, regularly receiving top ratings in Australian and international rankings. The PFH has had a partnership with the university since July 2013. The new Indian cooperation partner, BIMTECH, offers five specialised

Masters programmes in Management. There is also a link to the university via the PFH board of trustees. BIMTECH is run by India's Aditya Birla group, which also belongs to the trustee Novelis. In the double degree programme, students complete one part of the Masters course in Göttingen and one part at the partner university.

In addition to these two new partnerships, the PFH agreed five further international student and research exchange partnerships in 2013: with the University Finis Terrae (Santiago/Chile), the University of Granada (Spain), the Hague University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), the Pôle Paris Alternance (France) and Riga Technical University (Latvia). The PFH thus now has a total of 23 university partnerships.

new partners for Double DegreePFH International Office

Student Conference on the Euro Crisis: Participants from Poland's University and the PFH. | Top right: Nils Irmer represented the PFH at the European Association of International Education (EAIE) conference in Istanbul from the 10. to the 13. of September 2013 in Istanbul. | International Office Team (from left to right): Viola Dempwolf, Stefan Zammit, Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens and Miriam-Ruth Albe.


Polish-German Student Conference on the Euro CrisisEight students from Poland's Opole University visited their part-ner university, the PFH, for a conference on the Euro crisis. The two-day meeting was led by Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens (Business Administration, particularly International Economics) and Dr. To-masz Smus. The supporting programme was organised by PFH students. During the student conference on the 26th and 27th of May, the eight Polish and eight German students presented and discussed their work on the subject: "The Economic and Political Effects of the Current European Crisis." A return visit to Opole is set to follow the conference in Göttingen in the foreseeable future.

Student and Research Exchange18 students from the PFH completed a semester abroad at partner universities in the UK, Spain, France, the USA, Turkey, Estonia or Taiwain (see also reports on pages 52 and 53) in 2013, in some cases as part of the Erasmus programme. In return, 13 international students from Spain, France, Poland and Japan studied in Göttin-gen. As in previous years, they again had the support of fellow PFH students as "Student Buddies." They organised an orientation week at the start of term, as well as many further joint activities during the semester. In total, there were more incomings and outgoings in 2013 than ever before.

International exchange also enriches research and teaching at the PFH. The Italian political scientist Dr. Adele Del Sordi undertook research at the PFH from April to December 2013 on the subject of "State Capitalism and Regime Support in Kazakhstan," punctuated by a stay in Kazakhstan. The political economy of Central Asia is a particular research interest of Ahrens, who extended the invitation to IMT researcher Del Sordi. In addition, Professor XIN Hua from the Shanghai International Studies University, is also being hosted by the PFH from November 2013 to January 2014, researching the topic "Lobbying in Germany and the European Union."

Prof. Dr. Michael Heinlein (General Business Administration, par-ticularly Sales Management) taught for several days in September at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, with funding from the Erasmus programme. The visit focused on the themes of hidden champions of the German SME sector, Germany's attractiven-ess for Dutch investors and economic relations between the two neighbouring countries.

University of Almeria (Spain) | Birla Institute of Management Technology BIMTECH (Greater Noida/ India) | Bond University (Gold Coast/Australia) | Sino-German Institute at the Shanghai Unversity (Shanghai/China) | ESIC Business & Marketing School (Madrid/Spain) | Estice International Business School (Lille/France) | University of Ferrara (Italy) | University Finis Terrae (Santiago/Chile) | Fundesem Business School (Alicante/Spain) | The University of Granada (Spain) | University of Guadalajara (Mexico) | The Hague University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands) | KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux and Marseille/France) | Istanbul Aydin University (Turkey) | KIMEP (Almaty/Kazakhstan) | Opole University (Poland) | Otemon Ga-kuin University (Osaka/Japan) | Pôle Paris Alternance (Paris/France) | Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid/Spain) | Riga Technical University (Latvia) | Tunghai University (Taiwan) | University of Tartu (Estonia) | University of Worcester (United Kingdom)

University Partnerships


Kitted out for the winter: The pupils from the Witzenhausen VS (right) were able to take their functioning shovels home with them after the carbon workshop. | Top right: PFH employee Daniel Kolbert is the first point of contact for partner schools, leading the soft skills workshops in the schools. | Bottom right: Full house at the eleventh PFH Socio-political Discourse.

From the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium in Wismar on the Baltic coast to the Gymnasium Bad Aibling in Rosenheim: the PFH is building schools partnerships all over Germany – most of which have been in place for several years. Two key aims lie at the core of the total of 54 partnerships with grammar schools, compre-hensive and vocational schools: The PFH would like to support pupils in making well thought-out study and career choices and provide them with the soft skills that are important in university and working life. Pupil discussion sessions, taster courses for pupils interested in technology, and soft skills workshops in the schools help achieve this aim.

Training Rhetorical and Reasoning SkillsIn the "Socio-political Discourse" discussion meeting, senior pu-pils from partner schools familiarise themselves with the basics of academic reasoning and hone their rhetorical skills. Together with PFH students, teachers and leader Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens (International Economics), they debate current political affairs at the meeting. The event teaches pupils in practical terms how to substantiate their own well-founded opinion.

The eleventh Socio-political Discourse on January 28th was dedi-cated to the topic of "Germany as a Business Location: Problems, Opportunities, Strategies for Action." Around 60 pupils from Gym-nasium schools and secondary schools in Göttingen were present as guests of the PFH. Four students, Marie-Theres Grell, Jonas

Hainke, Lisa Hartenstein and Johannes Weidemann opened the discussion evening with two brief presentations. They presented two fictitious businesses, a clothing manufacturer and a mecha-nical engineering company. While the first company relocated its production to Vietnam on account of higher wage and extensive workers' rights in Germany, the second company puts its faith in the "Made in Germany" seal of approval and benefits from well-trained specialists, infrastructure and political stability in Germany.

Following this opening, the pupils exchanged views on pros and cons of Germany as a place to do business in comparison to other locations. Here, they debated and evaluated the criteria based on which location quality can generally be measured, ie by location, infrastructure, political stability, currency stability, workforce qualification, incidental wage costs, unit labour costs, economic policy, rule of law, independence of the judiciary and economic model of each country. These criteria are of differing importance depending on the business model of a company and which industry it is operating in, and so require differentiated evaluation. So-called soft location factors were also covered in the discussions: people's satisfaction and welfare are likewise an important indicator in evaluating a business location.

DIY Carbon TechnologyPupils at vocational schools (VS) in Witzenhausen tested out how to manufacture a snow shovel out of carbon at the "Get to know

Career Choices and Soft Skills trainingPFH Schools Partnerships


Carbon" workshop at the PFH. In February 2013 at Campus Stade, they took charge of the entire process from raw carbon fibre to the finished product, guided by PFH staff. This gave them a very hands-on impression of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic technology (CFRP), a central element in "Composites" engineering courses.

The group of pupils had travelled specially with their tutor Peter Helfrich from Northern Hesse to Stade for the three-day workshop. After a brief theoretical introduction, the young people became acquainted in detail on site with all steps in production: preparation of the moulds – with so-called release agent – application of gelcoat, lamination, removal from the mould, cleaning, trimming and assembly. At the end, everyone taking part was holding a func-tioning CFRP snow shovel in their hands. "We would recommend the workshop to everyone interested in carbon," commented the group of pupils from Witzenhausen VS in a short report on their visit to Stade.

Mastering Presentations and Time ManagementMost pupils, however, benefit from the programmes offered by the PFH not on its campus locations but on site in schools. More than 1,000 senior school pupils worked on their soft skills in 2013 by participating in a PFH workshop. For example, the "Time and Form" course provides competencies in the areas of time management, presentation techniques, rhetorical skills and communication. Other programmes offered by the university prepare the pupils for job application situations and assessment centres. A workshop lasts at least 90 minutes. If pupils wish to deal with other topics, the unit can also be extended to several hours or the whole morning.

Currently, 54 schools have entered into partnership agreements with the PFH: Alfeld: Berufsbildende Schulen Alfeld | Bad Aibling: Gymnasium Bad Aibling | Bad Harzburg: Niedersächsisches Inter-natsgymnasium | Bad Sachsa: Internatsgymnasi-um Pädagogium | Berlin: Carl-Zeiss-Oberschule, Wilma- Rudolph-Oberschule | Blomberg: Hermann-Vöchting- Gymnasium | Buxtehude: Halepaghen-Schule | Dieburg: Private Tagesheim- und Inter-natsschule | Dresden: Gymnasium Dresden-Cotta | Duderstadt: Berufsbildende Schulen Duderstadt, Eichsfeld-Gymnasium | Einbeck: Goetheschule | Eisenach: Martin- Luther-Gymnasium | Elze: CJD Elze | Göttingen: BBS I Arnoldi-Schule, Felix-Klein-Gymnasium, Georg- Christoph-Lichtenberg-Gesamtschule, Geschwister-Scholl-Gesamtschule, Hainberg-Gymnasium, Max-Planck-Gymnasium, Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium, Theodor-Heuss-Gymna-sium | Goslar: Christian-von- Dohm-Gymnasium | Hannover: St. Ursula-Schule| Hann. Münden: Berufsbildende Schulen Münden, Grotefend-Gym-nasium | Hamburg: Gymnasium Bornbrook, Gymnasium Christianeum, Gymnasium Oberals-ter, Gymnasium Rissen, Heisenberg-Gymnasium, Sophie-Barat-Schule | Hameln: Handelslehranstalt Hameln, Schiller-Gymnasium | Hammelburg: Fro-benius-Gymnasium | Helmstedt: Gymnasium am Bötschenberg | Holzminden: Stiftung Landschul-heim am Solling | Köln: Hildegard-von-Bingen-Gym-nasium| Krefeld: Fichte-Gymnasium | Ludwigslust: Goethe- Gymnasium | Mellrichstadt: Martin-Pol-lich-Gymnasium | Münnerstadt: Johann-Philipp-von-Schönborn- Gymnasium | Northeim: BBS I Northeim, Gymnasium Corvinianum | Osterode/Harz: Berufsbildende Schulen BBS I | Schweinfurt: Olympia-Morata-Gymnasium| Stade: Gymnasium Athenaeum, Vincent-Lübeck- Gymnasium | Teltow: Immanuel-Kant-Gymnasium| Wiesbaden: Obermayr Europa-Schule | Wismar: Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gym-nasium | Witzenhausen: Berufliche Schulen Wit-zenhausen | Wolfenbüttel: Gymnasium im Schloss

Partner Schools


At the PFH exhibition stand (from left to right): Prof. Dr. Frank Albe with State Premiers Stephan Weil and Malu Dreyer, along with MP Edelgard Bulmahn and an IdeenExpo employee (centre).

The PFH presented its CFRP Technology and Healthcare Technolo-gy courses to young people with unusual exhibits and a workshop at the "IdeenExpo" in Hanover.

Also taking in information about the courses offered by the univer-sity at the trade fair from August 24th to September 1st, besides many school pupils and Abitur students were the State Premiers Malu Dreyer (Rhineland-Palatinate) and Stephan Weil (Lower Sa-xony), as well as Edelgard Bulmahn, now Vice-President of the German Bundestag.

How do people walk with prosthetic legs? How light is a bicycle made of carbon? Guests at the fair were able to find out the answers to these and other questions. Young visitors walked a course on so-called "walkers," which simulate wearing a prosthetic leg. Since a variety of prosthetic feet were assembled, they were also able to find out about the difference between hi-tech prosthetic limbs for sports and normal ones. The second exhibit from the Orthobionics course also provided sensitivity to movement of the body. The aim of the game "Lasar Pong" was to move a racket on the screen using shifts in weight only and succeed in a ping-pong match against the

computer. The university presented its Composites course using a bicycle frame and a wheelchair made of carbon. Both exhibits weigh only a fraction of comparable products made of steel or alu-minium. People picking them up for the first time cannot help but to be amazed. At the same time, the CFRP products ensure a very high level of stability. Participants in the "Walk of Life" workshop, which was run twice by the PFH at the "IdeenExpo", were given a comprehensive hands-on impression of Orthobionics. A total of around 30 pupils dealt with the anatomy of the foot and had the chance to make insoles themselves.

pFH at "Ideenexpo"Hands-on hi-tech courses

The "IdeenExpo" (IdeasExpo) is Germany's largest sci-ence and technology event. It takes place every two years at the Hannover exhibition grounds and aims to arouse a passion for research amongst adolescents and young adults. More than 342,000 visitors took part in the "IdeenExpo" in 2013.

About the "IdeenExpo"


On September 10th 2013, PFH President Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke appointed Dr. Martina Ruhmland as the first female Professor of Psychology at the university. Ruhmland will initially be involved in developing the Psychology (Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees), Business Psychology (Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts) and Applied Psychology for Business (Master of Arts) distance learning courses. She will then supervise the first distance learning students in the new area, most likely starting in April 2014. Furthermore, she will continue her research activities in Special Educational Psychology.

"The new distance learning courses provide career changers in particular, i.e. people who are already working, with the opportu-nity to gain an academic qualification in Psychology or Business Psychology. Programmes in this area are rare. The PFH is even the first private university in Germany to offer a distance learning course in Psychology. "That's why I was particularly excited by the task," says Ruhmland, explaining her motivation.

Ruhmland studied Psychology at the Free University of Berlin and was also active in Clinical Psychology research at the Universities of Dresden and Göttingen. In addition to her qualification in Psy-chotherapy, she completed a doctorate on the subject of anxiety disorders and their therapies.

Her career path then led her into psychological counselling at the Kassel Social Welfare Association as well as the Social Paediatrics Centre at Göttingen University Hospital. Most recently, she worked as a Lecturer in Special Educational Psychology at the Leibniz University in Hanover.

Her research interests were initially anxiety disorders and later clinical child psychology. Ruhmland is currently researching in the area of Special Educational Psychology on therapy and pedagogi-cal approaches towards children suffering from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Ruhmland's research is also set to flow into teaching at the PFH in the form of experimental work placements for distance learning students.

First Female professor of psychologyPFH appoints Dr. Martina Ruhmland as a Professor

Prof. Dr. Frank Albe (left) and Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke (right) welcomed Dr. Martina Ruhmland…


On November 5th, the PFH also employed its first Professor of Business Psychology. University President Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke appointed Dr. Stephan Weibelzahl to the position of Pro-fessor. Like Ruhmland, Weibelzahl will initially be working on developing the PFH's new distance learning area of Psychology/Business Psychology.

Weibelzahl studied Psychology at the University of Trier, recei-ving his PhD in 2003. He wrote his thesis in the Human and Artificial Intelligence postgraduate research programme at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg. He then led a research group at the Frauenhof Institute of Experimental Software En-gineering. In 2004, the Franconian born Weibelzahl moved to become a lecturer at the National College of Ireland, a private educational establishment in Dublin. There, he would also later head the National e-Learning Laboratory, a research centre for online learning methods.

In the course of his career, Weibelzahl developed his research interests with interdisciplinary work at the intersections of Psy-chology, Economics and IT. Within Business Psychology, he is mainly interested in the subject of User Experience, i.e. how people perceive and experience different products such as websites and online services.

Moreover, Weibelzahl has conducted extensive research on how students engage with different forms of web-based learning (e-Learning). "The potential of new technologies to support teaching and learning is far from being exhausted," said Weibelzahl upon being appointed. He will take up both of these research topics as a Professor at the PFH. Weibelzahl will be particularly involved in further developing state-of-the-art, user-friendly forms of distance learning – an area in which the PFH is already currently a pioneer. Weibelzahl further explained in relation to the distance learning format: "I know from my experience as a lecturer in Ireland how highly motivated distance learning students are in their studies. Moreover, they often immediately put what they learn directly into practice and then bring this experience back into their studies the very next day. That is a very exciting process."

professor of Business psychology AppointedDr. Stephan Weibelzahl switches Dublin for Göttingen

…and Dr. Stephan Weibelzahl as Professors for the area of Psychology/Business Psychology at the PFH.

Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke President | General Business Ad-ministration, particularly Industrial Management, Accounting & Con-trolling

Prof. Dr. Joachim AhrensEconomics, particularly International Economics

Prof. Dr. Kai C. AndrejewskiGeneral Business Administration, particularly International Accounting & Auditing

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen BloechGeneral Business Administration, particularly Business Planning

Prof. Dr. Siegmar BlumentrittBiomechanics

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Elmar J. Breitbach Adaptronics

Prof. Dr. med. Frank Braatz Medical Orthobionics

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Richard DegenhardtComposite Stability

Prof. Dr. Michael DusemondGeneral Business Administration, particularly International Accounting/Financial Reporting

Prof. Dr. Frank AlbeVice President | General Business Administration, particularly Tourism Management & Controlling

Prof. Dr. Frank BeineHonorary Professor | Accounting, Auditing

Prof. Karl Born Tourism Management, particularly Customer & Crisis Management

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinrich FehrenAdaptronics

Prof. Dr. Michael HeinleinGeneral Business Administration, particularly Sales Management

professors at the pFH


Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta MörstedtGeneral Business Administration, particularly Organisation & Blended Learning

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang LückeHonorary President

Prof. Dr. Hans-Chr. RiekhofGeneral Business Administration, particularly International Marketing

Prof. Dr. Helmut RolandHonorary Professor | Balance Sheets/Financial Reporting

Prof. Hans Georg NäderHonorary Professor | Entrepreneur-ship

Prof. Dr. Bernd RohlfingCommercial Law

Prof. Dr. Hubert SchüleBusiness IT, particularly Informa tion Management & IT Consulting

Prof. Dr. Manfred P. ZillingBusiness IT, particularly E-Entre-preneurship & E-Business

Prof. Dr. Bernhard H. VollmarGeneral Business Administration, particularly Entrepreneurship & Finance

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wilm F. UnckenboldVice President | Structural Mechanics of Fibre Composites

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marc SiebertFibre Composite Technology

Prof. Dr. Julian VossGeneral Business Administration, particularly Food and Agribusiness Management

Prof. Dr. Martina Ruhmland Psychology

Prof. Dr. Stephan WeibelzahlBusiness Psychology


Cooperation partner in Korneuburg near Vienna: Ulli Holzer, Managing Director ofHolzer GmbH.

The PFH is planning to gain a foothold for the first time in other German-speaking countries with its distance learning courses. In the pipeline is the Distance Learning Centre Austria, which will be based in Korneuburg near Vienna.

The PFH already operates eleven distance learning centres na-tionwide in Germany. Now, the university is taking an important step as part of its internationalisation strategy. The opening of the Distance Learning Centre Austria will provide advice and support services in relation to the PFH's distance learning courses in Austria. Information evenings, in-class teaching and examinations will also be held there. Distance learning students from abroad were already able to use the courses offered by the PFH, but had to rely on partnerships with the relevant Goethe Institute in their country to sit exams. Austrian students generally completed the practical phases at the Munich distance learning centre or even travelled to the main PFH campus in Göttingen.

The new distance learning centre is made possible thanks to a strategic alliance with Holzer GmbH. The company's training centre based in Korneuburg, Austria (near Vienna), has been one of the preferred providers in the areas of management consultancy and training. Its core competencies lie in training and further education of young people and adults, in addition to conducting up-to-date,

industry-specific profes-sional training seminars, coaching and manage-ment training, tailored to individual client needs and to the needs of the economy and the em-ployment market. PFH President Prof. Bernt R. A. Sierke explains the decision to expand operations into Austria: "We have already had numerous requests for our distance learning courses from Austria, and indeed Austrian students. With the Distance Learning Centre Austria, we are creating the opportunity to significantly reduce the effort and expense required of participants for information evenings, in-class teaching and examinations. We are confident that our offering will become even more attractive as a result," said Sierke. The PFH's Business Administration distance learning courses as well as distance learning certificates from the PFH Professional School will be available in the Distance Learning Centre Austria.

First Distance learning Centre in Austria plannedInternationalisation forging ahead

Management

The "Positioning and Repositioning Strategies of Successful Brands" were the focus of the fourth Göttingen Marketing Day. Lea-ding Managers from the companies Autostadt Wolfsburg, DIESEL, Flensburger Brewery, Stage Entertainment, XING, concept m and SPIEGEL QC discussed how to develop brand identity and the conditions under which even old brand images can be realigned.

Marketing expert Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof (PFH) gathe-red the participants to the event on November 8th and acted as moderator. Numerous entrepreneurs and senior executives, but also PFH students and alumni, took up the invitation, ensuring a full house.

Autostadt and XingIn the first talk of the day-long event, Managing Director of Auto-stadt Wolfsburg, Otto Ferdinand Wachs, provided an insight into his company's marketing strategy. He is responsible for a concept that is unique in the industry and was initially controversial within the group. Far from purely presenting its products, Autostadt devotes

its marketing more generally to issues such as mobility, motoring history and sustainability, largely not resorting to using the VW logo. Despite this, analyses conducted within the group show that the Autostadt communications platform is having a very positive effect on the Volkswagen brand: for instance, the popularity of Volkswagen can be seen to increase amongst guests following a visit. "Many people even have the decision to buy a Volkswagen planted in their minds during their visit to Autostadt," according to Wachs.

The CEO of online social network XING, Dr. Thomas Vollmoeller, reported on its planned repositioning. He explained how XING had established itself over the past ten years in German-speaking countries as a professional, useful and reliable platform for wor-king people. However, he revealed, in times of skill shortages, where companies are wooing prospective employees instead of the other way around, the importance of networking for getting ahead decreases. As a result, there are plans in future to address the concerns of qualified employees holistically under the motto

Repositioning Challenge4th Göttingen Marketing Day at the PFH

Management | 31

"For a better working life." In this respect, XING could deve-lop into a "Trade Union 2.0," as it were. It's subsidiary, kununu, an employer rating platform, is also playing an important role in the new concept.

Diesel and Flensburger BreweryUnder the title "DieselReboot," DIESEL's Head of Marketing Chris-tina Käßhofer described how the Italian fashion label is currently repositioning itself. The company was already repeatedly gaining attention back in the 90s by focusing its adverts on, for example, homosexuality ("Kissing Sailors") rather than its own products. With an interactive campaign started in 2013, DIESEL is now attempting to get back to the core of the brand and resume its popularity of the nineties. Its aim is to provide creative artists with a platform for their messages and their art and, in the process, use them as ambassadors for the brand.

Andreas Tembrockhaus, Managing Director of the Flensburger Brewery, explained his company's positioning on the beer market. Using a variety of anecdotes, he explained the distinguishing features (e.g. the swing-top bottle with the characteristic "pop") and reported on the brand's biggest marketing successes (e.g. its popularity as a result of the Werner comics in the 80s). Tem-brockhaus described continuity in managing the brand, and the broad business expertise that the family business has brought to the market since 1888 as the most important guideline in positioning the brand.

Spiegel and Stage EntertainmentA red background, big lettering – little else is needed to make the SPIEGEL brand recognisable. Norbert Facklam, Head of Marketing at SPIEGEL QC, talked in particular about the major shift in the marketing situation currently taking place in the media. On the one hand, the online share of the budget is growing in the marketing mix, while on the other hand, an ever greater concentration in publishing houses and major media agencies is taking place. According to Facklam, the SPIEGEL Group will continue to carry out its own marketing, in order to maintain its independence and journalistic quality.

More than 5,000 performances have already been played, all of them sold out, and there is no end in sight. The success of the musical "The Lion King" is studded with superlatives. Christian Fischer, Senior Product Manager at Stage Entertainment had no problem picking out numerous examples from the positioning his-tory of the "Lion King" brand. Fischer concluded this final talk of the 4th Göttingen Marketing Day with some insights into ticket pricing.

The company presentations were supplemented by Consultant Dirk Ziems (concept m), with his paper on brand repositioning from the perspective of depth psychology. Ziems talked about various branding strategies, as well as problems that make the development of repositioning strategies inevitable.

Riekhof, the initiator of the event, concluded: "In particular, the mix of such different industries, such as a beer brand with regional roots on the one hand and a global fashion business on the other, has illustrated the different approaches to the subject of positioning There is enormous scope to acquire a deeper understanding of the subject, both for practitioners and academics."

The speakers, from top left to bottom right: Norbert Facklam (Spiegel QC), Christina Käßhofer (DIESEL), Christian Fischer (Stage Entertainment), Dirk Ziems (concept m), Andreas Tembrockhaus (Flensburger Brewery), Dr. Thomas Vollmoeller (XING) and Otto Ferdinand Wachs (Autostadt).

32 | Management

Entrepreneurial thinking and action, and hence also start-up funding, are an important component in the PFH’s profile. The subject of start-ups is a common thread running through the university's strategies, structures and curricula. It is one that has been anchored institutionally since 2010, in the ZE Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Bernhard H. Vollmar and his deputies Prof. Dr. Frank Albe and Prof. Dr. Manfred P. Zilling, the ZE brings together all consulting, support and funding activities for prospective and active company founders, as well as research and teaching in the area of entrepreneurship. The centre has set a new course with the establishment of the two start-up incuba-tors, GO-E-LAB and STA-E-LAB, and the annual Entrepreneurship Spring School.

This commitment towards entrepreneurs was also recognised in November 2013 by the Donor's Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany. In the "Start-up Radar" study, the association declared the PFH to be the second best university nationwide for funding start-ups in the small university category (see page 8).

Incubators for Business IdeasThe ZE provides start-up incubators at its Göttingen and Stade campuses – so-called E-LABs, which are unique for their region in both cases. They offer those interested in starting up a com-pany space and professional support for their business ideas. The offer also includes advice on public funding. Besides PFH students and graduates, the Göttingen GO-E-LAB is also open to entrepreneurs from the Georg August University of Göttingen

pFH Business SchoolZE Centre for Entrepreneurship

and other universities in southern Lower Saxony. In Göttingen, the offer is principally open to Internet and service provider start-ups, and in Stade to technology-based start-ups. A standardised procedure for admission by the LABS ensures that the start-up teams are of the desired quality, and that the support progresses positively. Fifteen teams have already availed of infrastructure and support in the GO-E-LAB, with five start-ups currently based here. These include the new company Pentotype, which successfully entered the market in 2013. The three physicists Johannes Dörr, Waldemar Kornewald and Thomas Wanschik provide software that translates drawing motions on tablet computers directly into required standard forms such as a circle or rectangle and makes them usable as an object. The STA-E-LAB in Stade has primarily been used to date by student project groups working on start-up ideas as part of their course.

Extensive Research ActivitiesThe research projects completed at the ZE in 2013 illuminate various aspects of entrepreneurship. They deal with questions such as sustainable management, process optimisation in fi-nancial services companies and the sense of tradition in the SME sector.

Green Controlling: Sustainable ManagementToday, the tasks of contemporary management include ensu-ring the sustainability of economic activities and incorporating environmental aspects into entrepreneurial action. Extremely relevant to management practice, but little researched to date, is the question of how controlling, as an essential area of company management, can and must turn this issue into a productive area for itself. Christina Schrader, a Masters graduate of the PFH, and Vollmar have investigated this matter under the title "Green Controlling" in a study and published their results in April 2013. In addition to presenting possible means, in particular it also discusses the challenges of implementing environmental aspects in controlling.

Process Improvement using the Example of a Savings BankTogether with Quentin Hirche, a graduate of the distance learning course in Advanced Management, Vollmar published a research

paper entitled "The Six-Sigma Approach and its Implementation from the Perspective of a Savings Bank." The Six-Sigma ap-

proach is used within strategic management to improve processes. While the concept is long-established in industrial organisations, it has hardly been applied to date in the

financial world, at least not in Germany. Against this backdrop, Quentin and Vollmar investigated the opportunities and limita-tions of using it in banks. In the course of their application-ori-ented considerations, they tested its implementation specifically using the example of a prototypical savings bank. From this, they derived recommended action and organisation.

Sense of Tradition in Family BusinessesWhat importance do traditions have in small and medium-sized family businesses? Albe and Vollmar explored this question. The starting point was a student field project in which over 200 family businesses were questioned in detail regarding their sense of tradition. The two professors collected the answers and condensed them in an empirical study. Their results show that it is indeed important for family business owners to pass on convictions, values and behavioural patterns on to the next generation of leaders and employees. Tradition is regarded as a motivator for moulding the present and the future and is thus not opposed to the new demands of the globalised economy. Even if sense of tradition generally plays no part in communication with customers and suppliers, it is of great importance internally within most family businesses

Left: Around 25 people interested in starting their own company found out about the ZE Centre Entrepreneurship's start-up funding on November 20th at the GO-E-LAB-OPEN. | Top right: The ZE team at the summit (from left to right): Nils Irmer, Prof. Bernhard H. Vollmar, Miriam Probst, Prof. Frank Albe and Theresa Rüter. Not shown: Prof. Manfred P. Zilling. | The Pentotype start-up team (from left to right): Johannes Dörr, Thomas Wanschik and Waldemar Kornewald.

34 | Management

Presenting business plans is a central element of the workshops. | Slackline balance: Soft skills training in Northeim Forest. | The ZE team and members of the Entrepreneurship Spring School jury (from left to right): Miriam Probst, Prof. Dr. Bernhard H. Vollmar, Theresa Rüter, Nils Irmer, Marco Böhme, Dr. Christian Horneber, Dr. Mark Euler.

Young Founders Work on their Ideas3rd Entrepreneurship Spring School

Nine different founder teams used the PFH's third Entrepreneurship Spring School in April to work on their business ideas. They were helped by talks from experts, feedback discussions and intensive workshop phases. The jury headed by Prof. Bernhard H. Vollmar, Head of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at the PFH, singled out the "Clinic Angel" – a Web-based employment service for young doctors. The service aims to ensure that smaller hospitals in particular are able to cover their requirement for advanced me-dical students, who are able to work as temporary staff with their specialist knowledge.

The start-up experts saw a lot of potential in many of the other ideas, from an online supermarket, to a dog collar that whistles back hunting dogs that have run away, to a luxury watch winder in the premium segment, albeit at different stages of readiness in their planning. "The teams had the opportunity to develop further here on a very individual basis. Some were fleshing out their idea into an initial business model. "For others, the main aim was to work out their financing in detail or to work on their requirements and contracts with the necessary producers in Asia," says Vollmar.

Apart from the expert presentations, soft skills training in Northeim Forest and the extensive workshop phases, exchanging ideas with established entrepreneurs was also an important component of the Spring School. Two entrepreneurs from the region were present as guests: Heiko Keilholz, Head of the HKS Group from Hardeg-sen, and Marco Böhme, a media entrepreneur and founder of Göttingen's faktor magazine. Stefan Keveloh (Sparkasse Göttingen) and Dr. Christian Horneber (NWZ Digital) were on hand to talk about the issue of financing in particular. Ansgar Holtmann, who graduated from the PFH in 2004 and is himself an entrepreneur (Vendion Consulting), as well as Christopher Voigt, a PFH graduate and employee at the Team Europe incubator, completed the panel of feedback givers. During informal fireside chats in the evening, they all gave the participants important tips, including exchanging network contacts for solving specific problems.

36 | Management

Corporate Health Management in FocusDemography Day at the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen

On November 15th, the PFH Private University of Applied Sci-ences Göttingen hosted a demography day on the subject of "Corporate Health Management." The event centred around talks on health promotion in the workplace and modern working conditions against the backdrop of future demographic develop-ments. The event was moderated by Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt, Professor of Business Administration, in particular Organisation and Blended Learning.

This demography day was inspired by a study on the subject of "Corporate Health Management in view of Demographic Change," undertaken by four Management students Jana Drews, Ramona

Nagel, Louissa Tahnee Ropeter and Maximilian Schmedt. In this survey, over 240 companies from different economic sectors and of various sizes were questioned on their corporate health management measures. The students presented their findings at the event in front of an audience of around 60 people, consisting of fellow students and company specialists. Their findings can be summarised as follows: Demographic change, with an increasing number of older employees, has reached the companies, and awareness of the issue of corporate health management is con-tinuously growing. Initial measures such as flexitime schemes are already being implemented, but are still rather rarely set out in writing to date.

Management | 37

Mörstedt invited further speakers in order to provide a compre-hensive account of the issue of corporate health management. The two presentations by Friederike Husheer, Project Manager at Demografieagentur für die niedersächsische Wirtschaft GmbH [Demographics Agency for the Economy of Lower Saxony] and Günter Siebels-Harms from the AOK Health Consulting Institute were entitled "Health Promotion in the Workplace in the Context of Demographic Challenges." Sandra Keil, graduate in Business Studies, freelancing psychotherapist (alternative medicine) and naturopath at alma Hamburg, talked about modern working condi-tions; she said that the way forward was not to work less, but to work differently. Simone Köhler, a Diplom graduate in Health Manage-

ment and corporate health management consultant at the Techniker Krankenkasse health insurance fund, reported on how companies can progress from corporate health promotion to corporate health management. Dorothea Tacke, Head of HR at Refratechnik Cement GmbH, then explained how her company introduced health ma-nagement into operational practice and its experiences with it to date. Participants had the chance to discuss further questions and aspects in the subsequent podium discussion.

Accompanying the demography day, anyone who was interested had the opportunity to avail of the special health promotions on offer from the Techniker Krankenkasse in cooperation with aktiVi-tal – Freitag & Welzel GbR. Participants thus had their vital signs measured and were informed individually about the state of their health e.g. blood pressure during Vital Coaching. During the con-sultation that followed, the importance was stressed of giving tips that are practical and can be implemented in everyday life. During Back Coaching, participants were in turn able to receive individual advice on the subject of back heath following a screening of the spinal column with three-dimensional display.

The four students Louissa Tahnee Ropeter, Jana Drews, Maximilian Schmedt and Ramona Nagel (from left to right) had engaged with the topic of corporate health management in their studies. | Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt moderated the event. | Master's student Anton Ha availed of the Vital Coaching offered by the Techniker Krankenkasse and had his blood pressure measured.

In May 2014, the PFH will host another demography day, this time on the subject of "Skills Shortage in the Craft Industries." The point of departure for this will be a study on demographic change in the bakery sector. Students Jan-Niklas Falkenhain, Christine Hammer-schmidt, Neele Herrenkind and Kathrin Muwanga will present their findings. Sandra Keil will then talk about Employer Branding as a direct benefit of corporate health management. Annegret Körbitz, a lawyer and Business Coach at Stahl – Partner für Bäcker GmbH, will present on companies' options for counteracting the skills shortage in the craft sector as another sub-ject. She will be followed by Göttingen entrepreneur Katja Thiele-Hann, who will talk about methods for finding skilled workers in the bakery sector. Finally, there will be a talk by Andreas Resch, Managing Director for Vocational Training at the Rhinehessen Chamber of Industry & Commerce entitled "The Law on Recognition – a means of Integrating and Securing Skilled Labour."

Demographics & Craft Industries

38 | Management

The Management faculty of the PFH once again produced new research projects and continued already successful projects in 2013. PFH professors also appeared with publications and pre-sentations on their research findings.

The "Competency Network of Institutions and Institutional Change in Post-Socialism," abbreviated KomPost, was extended for two ye-ars. This is part of a programme, funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, for strengthening and further developing regional studies. Dr. Joachim Ahrens, Professor of International Economics, is one of the ten lecturers involved. He is in charge of the part project "State Capitalism and Dual Economies", which will now be extended until the end of 2015.

Ahrens‘s second project "Emerging Markets in Central Asia," also known as the Central Asia Project, has been running since 2008. In

September 2013, his research assistant Roman Vakulchuk successfully defended his dissertation on the subject

"Between State and Market: Kazakhstan's Emerging Economy" at the Jacobs University Bremen.

Ahrens also published on this project's research findings in con-junction with international colleagues, e.g. "Economic Transition and Institutional Change in Central Asia" with Prof. Dr. Herman W. Hoen from the University of Groningen/Netherlands in the jointly published book "Institutional Reform in Central Asia. Politico-Economic Challenges. Central Asian Studies." He also presented at conferences in Kazakhstan and Estonia.

To Trade is to Change, and Hyperdecanted Red WineAlso furthering his publication activities, Dr. Hans-Christian Riek-hof, Professor of International Marketing, had the third revised and extended edition of his book "Retail Business, Per-spectives, Strategies, Templates for Success" pub-lished by the Gabler Verlag publishing house. Case studies and practical examples from companies Aldi, Budnikowsky, Dell, Görtz, Hugo Boss, Kenn on Fashion, Kiehl’s, Lush, Otto Group, Sport

Kompost, Retail and empiricismResearch, publications and projects in Management

Management | 39

Scheck and Takko illustrate the challenges business will have to face in the future -demographic change, new demand structures and different buying behaviours. Several newly included contribu-tions are devoted to cross channel retailing, i.e. interlocking, online shops, catalogues, stores and mobile devices and/or the social web in media and advertising. Using clear and forward-looking concepts, the authors show what it takes to be successful in this challenging market environment.

In March 2013, Riekhof published the findings of his empirical study "Pricing Processes in Practice," conducted nationwide at the end of 2012. This reveals that many businesses are still not exploiting the potential for value creation offered by strategically aligned pricing. A consistently structured pricing process exists in only one third of German businesses. "Price has a greater impact on operating profit than changes in volume or costs.

The importance of strategic pricing is clearly hugely underestimated by most companies," says Riekhof in sum-mary. Nonetheless, 65 percent of those questioned attributed high or very high importance to strategic pricing. Despite this, only 35 percent have established a pricing strategy, and to date only 21 percent have a pricing department or a pricing manager. And Riekhof is already working on the next empirical study. He is conducting it jointly with Master's students Steffen Mix and Marco Buhleier, investigating the online activities of B2B companies. An evaluation of the findings will be ready at the start of 2014.

An experiment conducted with his students by Riekhof in the International Marketing Master's programme showed that research does have its thoroughly entertaining parts. An experimental set-up in which professors from the PFH tasted identical red wine that had been decanted using different methods aimed, first, to show that there are dependent and independent variables in empirical investigations and, second, to show the extent to which predictions can be made about investigation outcomes. In the first tasting, the red wine came directly from the bottle, in the second it was decanted 60 minutes. And, third time around, the students poured red wine that they had "hyperdecanted" in a food processor. Now, the question was whether people can tell the difference in blind tasting. Interestingly, the professors rated the hyperdecanted wine as the best tasting, in line with the assumption made beforehand.

Carried out joint research on the subject of Central Asia: Roman Vakulchuk, Prof. Richard Pomfret from the University of Adelaide (Australia) and the Johns Hopkins University Bologna (Italy), Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens and Dr. Manuel Stark, former PFH staff member. | Wine connoisseurs being put to the test: Professors from the PFH tasted red wine. | The Master's students explain the test set-up for the red wine decanting. | Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens (left) and Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof.

40 | Management

"meinStorch.de" is the name of the socially-focused start-up pro-ject presented at the CeBIT computer fair in Hannover by the Centre for Entrepreneurship (ZE) under the leadership of PFH Professor Dr. Manfred P. Zilling.

The platform "meinStorch.de" is an online system for buying items for babies and infants. It enables parents to purchase a full range of products for their young family, from dummies to child car seats. What is more, based on the principle of social entrepreneurship, they can make a donation to support midwives financially. Midwives have a high degree of responsibility and make a very important contribution to society. Not only do they provide mothers-to-be with the required assistance up until the birth of their child – they are also there for young families after the birth with advice and support. Midwives are nowadays not only providers of comprehensive knowledge in dealing with babies, but also have superb knowledge of baby items, e.g. for hygiene, toys, transport or furnishing nurseries. Hence they often advise parents on which products may be particularly suited to their child. However, this

work put into advising parents does not entail adequate financial reward – particularly for freelance midwives. This is precisely what meinStorch.de changes. Buyers select one of the midwives registered on the platform and then proceed with their online purchase. The midwife receives a sort of "sales commission" and so has an indirect financial stake in online orders.

One fully functioning prototype platform, showing every phase of an IT-supported purchase, was already on display at the fair. It received a very positive reception at CeBiT. "Many visitors to the fair were fascinated by the approach of being able to choose in comfort from an extensive range while doing something for a good cause with just a few clicks," says Zilling.

meinStorch.de helps MidwivesSocial Entrepreneurship Project at the CeBIT computer fair

A beneficiary of midwife tips as a new father himself: Prof. Dr. Manfred P. Zilling.

The traditional PFH Internship Fair took place on May 15th for no less than the 18th time. Second semester Management students from Göttingen and, for the first time, also from Stade, presented themselves at the fair to representatives from sponsor companies.

In eight groups, the internship candidates tried to use humour to cast themselves in the best light, in order to put themselves forward for an internship with Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Novelis, ottobock, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, SAP or TUI AG. Popular and well-known TV formats were used as a template and adapted for the internship hunt. "The Bachelorette" had the agony of choosing between three candidates. Imitating a scene from US sitcom "The Big Bang Theory," the three students displayed their mastery of English. Katja Burkard, Oliver Kahn, Mesut Özil and other celebrities, impersonated with aplomb, had their say at the "PFH One-Two." Vicky had her Vikings from Stade at her service, and the missing phrase to be guessed in "Hot Streak" was "Top Intern."

Following the presentations, fourth semester students Nico Sto-binski and Johannes Uebing presented their field project as a way of promoting further joint projects between companies and PFH students. As part of the project, they conducted a study with three other fellow students on the sense of tradition amongst small and medium-sized family businesses. During the concluding so-called "Speed Talk," the guests finally had the opportunity to present their companies to students in small groups and hold direct conversations with internship candidates to get to know them better.

Internship Fair18th editionStudents present themselves to sponsors

42 | Management

PFH Management students only know about the proverbial ivory towers of academia from hearsay. That is because projects pro-viding important practical and life experience account for a large portion of the university's curricula and are accorded a high priority. Two approaches in particular aim to contribute to students' personal development during their studies. In field projects, students develop analyses or propose solutions for real problems in companies.

In social projects, students look beyond the horizons of their own lives, get involved in a good cause and in the process demons-trate management, organisational or coaching talent. The PFH has developed the special concept of "Social Points" for this.

Evaluation at Göttingen Primary SchoolsFor the second time, PFH students under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Hubert Schüle, analysed levels of satisfaction at four Göttin-gen primary schools as part of a field project. They faced some 970 parents and teachers with more than 50 questions relating to teaching, homework, technical facilities, school life and com-munication. Around half of the parents and teachers questioned returned their questionnaires, thereby ensuring a high response rate. The possible answers on the questionnaire were based on the school grading system. Taking all of the evaluations together, the four primary schools received a mark of 2.05. Parents and teachers again confirmed accordingly that the children enjoy at-tending these schools and that they offer a school life with plenty

no Ivory towers Here!Field and social projects at the PFH

Birte Bänsch and Karsten Liermann (third and second from right) organised the PFH charity fundraising campaign in Advent 2012, Andreas Schreck (left) collected donations for "Stop Child Poverty in Göttingen." Another charity fundraising campaign also took place after this report went to press, in December 2013. | Right: Representatives of the primary schools with the evaluation project team (from left to right): Ulrike Lönker (Herman-Nohl-Schule), Silvia Draschoff-Schmelzer (Wilhelm-Busch-Schule), Hans-Joachim Reuters (Lohbergschule), Prof. Dr. Hubert Schüle, Lukas Frohnert, Patrick Nolte, Alina Rohde, Eike Cohrs and Bärbel Pasternak (Adolf-Reichwein-Schule).

Management | 43

of variety and good teaching in the individual subjects. However, students Eike Cohrs, Lukas Frohnert, Patrick Nolte and Alina Rohde also managed to point towards positive developments, i.e. questions in which the primary schools scored better than in the first analysis in 2011.

Marketing Analysis for BG GöttingenA group of students remain in the early sta-ges of their analysis of the marketing of pro-fessional basketball team BG Göttingen. The three Management students, Jan Robert Koch, Vanessa Vogt und Ulrich-Alexander Welskopp are participating in a field project. Master's student Johanna Hirmke, who herself plays basketball for the Association's women's team, is writing her Master's thesis on the subject. Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Hubert Schüle, they are currently planning surveys of Göttingen residents and visitors to the town, but also of sponsors, on the perception and marketing reach of BG. "Obviously we're hoping for good results, because these would provide a strong case with which to recruit further sponsors," explains Daniel Gerlach, a partner of the company running BG's Bundesliga team and himself a marketing professional.

Other Field ProjectsPFH's field projects cover a broad range of subjects. As well as the evaluation project for Göttingen primary schools, eleven other groups completed a field project in spring 2013. These related, for example, to referral marketing or search engine optimisation for Internet companies, staff recruitment for non-profit organisa-tions, corporate health management, demographic change in the craft industries sector (see page 37), sense of tradition in family businesses (see page 33), the marketing of the Olympic and Paralympic Games or sales management in Germany and Spain.

The students carried out most of the projects in cooperation with a company or an organisation, but analyses could also be more general. Besides the marketing analysis for BG Göttingen, six other new field projects started in autumn 2013.

The PFH uses the "Social Points" concept to encou-rage its Management students to perform voluntary work, and also rewards work for good causes already undertaken by students in their free time. "We strongly believe that voluntary work contributes significantly to personal development. "And, in holistic Management training, this is at least as important as the course subject matter," explains Prof. Joachim Ahrens. In view of this, students are encouraged from the first semester to get involved with social projects or develop their own ideas.

On the Bachelor's course, Social Points are converted directly into credit points in the ECTS system. Ob-taining five points is mandatory, whereby each point generally corresponds to 30 hours of voluntary work. The nature of this work can vary greatly. For example, different students have been working for four years in a coaching project for pupils from the Integrierte Gesamtschule Bovenden (see page 49). In the run-up to Christmas 2012, PFH students organised a charity campaign raising funds by selling chocolate Santas which raised around EUR 500 for the "Stop Child Poverty in Göttingen" campaign. Other students again have set up the student organisation AIESEC in Göttingen, which mainly works to promote student exchanges. Another Management student, for her part, looks after elderly people as part of a voluntary on-call service – this commitment, too, is rewarded by the PFH with Social Points.

Social Points

44 | Management

Guest lecture

With a turnover of more than EUR 1.2 billion per annum, 16,000 employees and 1,800 stores in Germany and abroad, Takko is one of Germany's largest textile companies. Its CEO Stephan Swinka explained how to reposition a business of this magnitude on the market at the PFH on June 24th 2013, under the title "Takko's positioning as a Value Fashion Retailer."

Since 2009, the fashion company has implemented extensive measures to reposition itself. Its aim is to shake off its discounter image and assume a new position in the fashion landscape, with modern shops and a stronger customer orientation. "We wanted to no longer be the cheapest supplier but, remaining below the price level of competitors such as C&A and H&M, still win over customers with high quality and attractive presentation of our merchandise," explained Swinka. According to Swinka, the company's stores did not convey an attractive image before the repositioning. Scuffed carpets, circular

clothing racks positioned close together and an aged Harlequin symbol as an advertising figure had put off rather than enticed many customers. Moreover, the layout of the stores was not uniform, as previous changes to the logo and lettering had not been implemented consistently in all stores. However, it was not only the appearance and presentation of merchandise that needed a fresh start, as the CEO explained. "Takko was too cost-focused in its purchasing. The question wasn't 'What does the customer want?' but 'What can we buy cheaply?' As a result, the range of goods often did not meet the customers’ needs."

When the company management then came to planning the repositioning, there was even fundamental debate about whether the textiles chain should also change its company colour (yellow) and its name in order to achieve its image change. However, with a view to brand awareness on the European market, it decided against such a radical break. Instead, the company focused on adapting its range through target group definition, higher product quality and consistent modernisation of stores. "With a huge effort, Takko renovated almost all of its stores within a few years. Generally, the renovations took place in just five days on site, with business as usual," explained Swinka. In addition, the company updated its logo and assumed the slogan "Everyone wants to look good." However, Swinka said, although the transformation at Takko was apparent to customers, it took time for them to register it in their minds. "Changing a company's image takes ten years. That's how long Takko needs to appear and trade consistently in order to establish its new image."

Shaking off the Discounter Image

Stephan SwinkaCEO Takko Fashion GmbH

Guests at the pFH

in 2013 (Selection)

Norbert FacklamSpiegel QCThe Positioning of SPIEGEL in theAdvertising Market

Christian FischerStage Entertainment GmbH Disney's "The Lion King" – A Live Entertainment Phenomenon in Germany

Prof. Peter FischerUniversity of RegensburgThe Business Psychology of Prepayment Fraud

Fritz Güntzler MPChristian Democratic Unionof Germany (CDU)"PFH meets Politics" series

Friederike HusheerDemografieagentur für die nie-dersächsische Wirtschaft GmbH Health Promotion in the Workplace in the Context of Demographic Challenges

Prof. Dr. Gerald HütherGöttingen University Hospital, Georg August UniversityThe Brain and the Economy

Christina KäßhoferDIESEL S.p.A.DieselReboot – Brand Commu-nication as a Global Community Approach

Sandra Keilalma – active live managementHamburg GbRModern Working Conditions – Not about working less, but working differently

Vernon von Klitzing Playboy Deutschland Publishing GmbHPositioning of Playboy in the Media Landscape

Dr. Lutz KnopekFree Democratic Party (FDP)"PFH meets Politics" series

Simone KöhlerTechniker KrankenkasseFrom Corporate Health Promotion to Corporate Health Management

Dr. Ruben LanzerathFederal Association of German Cooperative Banks e. V.Credit Unions – strong, reliable partners even in uncertain times

MdB Thomas OppermannGerman Social Democratic Party (SPD)"PFH meets Politics" series

Günter Siebels-HarmsAOK Health Consulting InstituteHealth Promotion in the Workplace in the Context of Demographic Challenges

Stephan SwinkaTakko Fashion GmbHTakko's positioning as a Value Fashion Retailer Dorothea TackeRefratechnik Cement GmbHIntroduction of Health Management at Refratechnik Cement

Andreas TembrockhausFlensburger Brauerei Emil Petersen GmbH & Co. KGFlensburger Beer – The Positioning Strategy of a Regional Beer Brand

Jürgen Trittin MPAlliance '90/The Greens "PFH meets Politics" series

Dr. Thomas VollmoellerXING AGFor a better working life – The Repositioning of XING

Otto Ferdinand WachsAutostadt GmbHAutostadt – The Communications Platform of a Global Group

Dirk Ziemsconcept m Brand Repositioning: Backgrounds, Criteria and Rules from a Depth Psychology Perspective

Key figures, decision makers and experts regularly provide students at the PFH with exciting insights into economic, academic or political matters in talks or discussion panels. The university and its students managed to attract numerous distinguished speakers in 2013, as part of the "Guest Lectures" and "PFH meets…" series, as well as for academic conferences. The PFH thanks all of its guests for their commitment.

46 | Management

On November 4th, Prof. Dr. Gerald Hüther challenged the audience in a packed PFH Auditorium with his presentation on the subject of "The Brain and the Economy." The renowned Göttingen neu-robiologist called for a rethink in schools and companies, based on insights from brain research. Hüther had been invited by PFH students who had participated in the coaching project with the Integrierte Gesamtschule (IGS) Bovenden in 2013. Management student Marius Winkler was in charge of organising the talk. As well as students and lecturers from the PFH, the event was also attended by the leaders of the project and many teachers from the IGS.

"What you learn between the ages of three and five stays with you your whole life. But that's when you were sent to school," said Hüther, explaining the start of a dilemma that continues from pri-mary school right into working life. A person's brain, he explained, is especially capable of developing to its full potential if they are intrinsically motivated to figure things out for themselves and learn and act autonomously. With a view to long-term educational and professional success, he sees traditional, teacher-centred methods

alone as being just as inappropriate as an authoritarian leadership style in a company. Hüther instead advocates the principle of "Supportive Leadership": "A manager should uncover and nurture employees' potential." Hüther has already supported the implementation of such a leader-ship style in numerous companies with his "Cultural Transformation" initiative, such as Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Eckes-Granini-Deutschland and dm-drogerie markt.

Finally, Hüther turns his focus to the coaching project with the IGS. "Pupils can learn many things from talking to their student mentors that will stay with them for the long term. This is because peer students, who are only a few years older than the pupils, can more easily develop positively charged emotional attachments with them than, say, teachers or parents. This project is thus a good example of Supportive Leadership," the brain researcher explained. Following the talk, the speaker and everyone involved in the coaching project shared their experiences to date with one another in a small group (see page 49).

Prof. Dr. Gerald Hüther passed on tips for successful coaching to the small group of students involved in the project with the IGS Bovenden following his talk.

Cultural transformation in Companies:Supportive leadershipPFH meets… Prof. Dr. Gerald Hüther

The City of Stade's Economic Development Board wanted to find out how its residents view and rate their city. That is why its Head, Thomas Friedrichs, commissioned five students from the PFH Business Administration programme at Campus Stade to carry out a survey. Felix Hartmann, Viola Koschnick, Marcel Kristkowitz, Annkatrin Oldenburg and Marie Sadrowski came up with extensive data on the Hanseatic city.

To obtain this data, they undertook a citizen survey, the findings of which they presented at the PFH at the end of October. In the run-up to the survey, the five students sent 4,000 questionnaires to randomly selected residents of the city, of which 1,010 were returned.

The survey obtained the following findings, such as on the issue of shopping: The closure of the Hertie department store has clearly left a painful void; this was criticised by many. Those questioned also called for a greater variety of goods on offer and standard shop opening times. On the issue of restaurants, bars, etc. 25 to 44-year-olds in particular, as well as residents of the Haddorf and Hagen neighbourhoods found what was available to be inadequate. By contrast, many were positive in their assessment of the range of cultural and leisure activities and events on offer. The issues of the safety and image of the city were also included in the survey. For instance, people over 45 and long-established residents felt safety to be rather poor. Some considered the volunteer patrol "Citizens on Duty" to be needed. Many Stade residents also felt improvements were required in terms of cleanliness and image. With regards to complex infrastructure and parks, the majority were positive in their assessment of the link to the A26 motorway and the S-Bahn. On the other hand, there was widespread dissatisfaction when it came to parking facilities.

Based on their findings, the students developed a SWOT analysis of the Hanseatic city and suggested improvements. These strengths included the broad spectrum of tourist activities, the old town, the harbour with its maritime ambience and a strong local economy. Weaknesses, on the other hand, included high rents for smaller

apartments, the bad reputation of the multicultural "Altländer Vier-tel" neighbourhood and the risk of developing a negative image as a "retirement city."

The students' suggestions for improvement ranged from a cam-paign to fill apprenticeships to supporting young people looking for somewhere to live, as well as promoting unrestricted shopping facilities. In addition, they proposed an image campaign which would focus on different issues each month, from "Stade loves Water" to "Stade thinks Sustainability." "Furthermore, the students recommended a Stade app and having a presence on Facebook.

Stade Has its Say Management Students survey Residents on Behalf of City Council

Presenting the survey findings (above, from left to right): Marcel Kristkowitz, Ann-kathrin Oldenburg, Viola Koschnick, Marie Sadrowski and Felix Hartmann.

48 | Management

To experience for themselves how German companies work in the "Middle Kingdom" – that was the aim of the trip to China un-dertaken by ten Management students from October 21st to 31st. 2013. They were accompanied by Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, Professor of International Marketing at the PFH. Before setting off, however, there was a load of organisation and planning that needed to be taken care of: from flights, to accommodation, to coordinating meetings with the companies. Most of this was taken care of by the students themselves, with Riekhof there in support.

And so the flight took off from Hamburg, via Helsinki to Shang-hai. One meeting followed another, such as with Mahr Hand Measuring Instruments in Suzhou, Schaeffler Greater China in Taicang and in Gaggenau's showrooms in Shanghai. On October 25th, the group from Göttingen finally visited the AHK – The Delegations of German Industry and Commerce in China. General Manager Christoph Angerbauer provided an exciting overview of the economic situation in China and was on hand for all of the students' questions afterwards.

A further flight brought the ten students and their professor to Beijing on October 26th. Then it was time for the sightseeing schedule, with a tour of the Forbidden City, continuing the fol-lowing day with a visit to the Great Wall and the Ming Dynasty tombs. Then, starting from Monday, this was followed by busi-ness meetings, also in Beijing, with Rexroth, ottobock and Audi. During their visit to the car manufacturer, the group took a tour of the Digital Showroom – the second of its kind opened after London and before Berlin. The discussion with Bernhard Zand, SPIEGEL's Beijing correspondent, also proved particularly infor-mative. He offered fascinating insight into the work of a journalist in a country in which press freedom cannot be measured by Western standards. The final meeting eventually took place at Deutsche Bank, before returning to Germany on October 31st. "The trip succeeded in providing a very close insight into the general economic, political and cultural conditions currently prevailing in China," concluded Riekhof.

ten Days of Business and CultureManagement Students travel to China

A shared Christmas party, as seen here at the end of December 2012, is an es-tablished part of the coaching project programme. | During the fourth edition of the project, PFH students Florian Held, Marius Winkler, Lukas Frohnert and Hans Christian Oerke (back row from left) visited the Heidepark in Soltau together with IGS pupils in June 2013.

Management | 49

The social project with Integrierte Gesamtschule Bovenden (IGS) has entered no less than its fifth round. In this project, nine Ma-nagement students from the PFH coach eleven Year 7 pupils. A first meeting took place on November 12th, so that the pupils and students could get to know each other and agree on their shared activities and aims.

Previously, each mentor was individually responsible for one pupil, established a relationship with that pupil, supported him or her and took part in shared activities in their free time such as going to the cinema or cooking. What is new this time around is that the students and pupils organise themselves into groups and also spend time with one another as a group. "Also new is an obligatory meeting once a week, to give a greater sense of commitment to the whole thing," says Prof. Dr. Hans-Christian Riekhof, who supervises the project along with Prof. Dr. Joachim Ahrens and Head Teacher Dagmar Detleff-Rohmann. Also, there is a stronger focus now on setting shared goals and trying to keep to these. "Of course, the aim is still for the pupils and students to have fun," says Riekhof.

However, greater importance and practice should be given to pursuing a set goal with energy and determination.

That is why, before the first meeting with the pupils, the students discussed intensively what activities are appropriate to the new objectives. Should they build a wooden boat together? Should they study a play or a musical? Should they bake cakes and sell them for a good cause? Or should they train for a running event? The students agreed that the shared activities should be less consume-rist than in the past and instead provide stronger encouragement for creativity in the areas of crafts, art, music or sport. "The crucial point will be stirring the pupils' intrinsic motivation," says Riekhof. And, Ahrens concludes: "For us, as the supervising professors, it is important that our students take a look at the world around them, are open to the lives of other people and reflect on themselves."

new edition, new RulesStudents coach pupils from IGS Bovenden

50 | Management

Two hours north-west of Shanghai by car, or twenty minutes by high-speed train, lies Suzhou – a city with over a million inhabi-tants that nobody knows and home to people from may countries due to its big industrial park. This is reflected, for example, in a huge variety of international restaurants and delicacies. And Suz-hou continues its strong growth, since the Chinese government's tax breaks are attracting an ever increasing number of foreign companies.

In between companies like Bosch, L´Oreal or Panasonic is one of the 22 branches of ZF Group Friedrichshafen. It is responsible for marketing and selling gearboxes for tour, school and service buses on the Chinese market. The working atmosphere in the open plan office is pleasant, even though most Chinese people are reserved towards strangers. Although English is the official working language in the office, it is not always used. This meant that my knowledge of Chinese from my course came in very useful. This was even more so the case when travelling by taxi or shopping. The marked difference in dialects sometimes made understanding people impossible anyway, and the sentences that I struggled to string together were not always correctly understood. But, as they say, practice makes perfect, and so around the end of my

internship, I could even give taxi drivers simple descriptions of where I wanted to go.

As well as everyday office activities, my responsibilities as an intern mainly involved a market analysis for gearboxes used in school buses. The issue of safety was a top priority, since there are sadly countless serious accidents involving school buses every year in China. The project work was harder than I thought, and intercultural teamwork was sometimes a challenge. However, it all turned out well in the end. The analysis was completed successfully, and might hopefully ensure somewhat increased safety for Chinese schoolchildren in future.

Overall, my time on the Asian continent was an invaluable experi-ence and one which I would definitely hope to repeat some time. Getting to know a foreign culture, unfamiliar culinary delights and lots of new people certainly broadened my horizons. I would recommend an internship in China to anyone who is perhaps hesitant to make the decision or still has reservations.

InternshipZF Drivetech Co., Ltd. Suzhou, People's Republic of China

Dennis Kaspar 3rd Semester

Marketing Analysis for School Bus Gearboxes in China

Management | 51

With no guarantee of an internship and only one interview date, my journey took me to London. The day of the interview, in English of course, was nervewracking. Whether I would be able to complete my internship in London or would have to book the next flight back to Germany depended on the success of the interview. To my great relief, the outcome of the interview was positive, and on the following Monday it was time to start.

C5 Communications organises business conferences all over the world. The company's main office is in London, from where a young, international team plans and organises around 90 events each year, with up to 1,000 delegates from all over the world taking part in each. Around 50 employees and interns of various nationalities work at C5 in London.

My main responsibility during the internship in marketing was looking for sponsors. Depending on the theme of the event, I had to select potential companies on the Internet, input them into the CRM system and then contact them. Telephone calls to English-speaking countries, and even to Germany, were a particular challenge. Due to the different accents, it was very difficult to understand English people on the telephone. However, even calls to Germany were

not always easy, since Germans usually ended conversations rudely and abruptly.

The conferences were a refreshing change from the daily office routine. The C5 team needed the active support of its band of interns for every event. Each client is welcomed individually, given a name badge and programme for the day and guided through the premises. During breaks and in the evenings, there was the opportunity to have interesting conversations with representatives of major companies from all over the world.

Outside working hours, London was perfect for excursions and sightseeing. I was able to make friends quickly with other interns, so my lunch breaks and free time were never boring. Obviously I could not miss out on a visit to the nearby university towns of Oxford and Cambridge. On the trail of Rosamunde Pilcher, I dis-covered the south-western tip of England. Cornwall's wonderful cliffs lived up to their stereotype and were ideal for a hike. Overall, the nine weeks in England were a great experience and contributed greatly to improving my English.

InternshipC5 CommunicationsLondon, United Kingdom

Teresa Jacobi (right in photo) 3rd Semester

International Marketing and event Management

52 | Management

Mirko Dismer in front of the Columbia University library and in front of the skylineof Manhattan.

"If you were looking for the best university and the most awe-inspiring city in the world, you found them. The next four months will change your life. Welcome to Columbia University," shouted the Dean of the New York university to the 80 or so overseas students from over 30 countries. In Havemeyer 309 – the lecture theatre that was used as a backdrop for blockbusters Spider-Man and Ghostbusters – he managed, with just a few words, to inspire great awe and massive excitement in anticipation of the time ahead. And, it would not be presumptuous to say that the majority of the visiting students would later have unreservedly signed the Dean's statement.

Four months followed that could fill books. The words "just ano-ther day" are out of the question in the city that never sleeps. Its people, who are also always awake, transform it into a seemingly never-ending adventure. In New York student life, normality seems

to be working spontaneously for an evening as a model at the Fashion Week and listening in on a talk by a Nobel

prizewinner the next morning. And it might be just as normal for global stars like rapper Macklemore to give private concerts on campus and US President Barack

Obama to be invited as the guest speaker at your gra-duation ceremony. In the microcosms of New York City

and Columbia, normality means diversity and vari-ety. Here, learning becomes an experience

– and not just because it happens in facilities that are older than the United States itself. The so-called magic of Columbia University happens when

different outlooks, nationalities and fields of study meet.

It happens when an American physicist, a Chi-nese literary scholar and a German business

student discuss socio-psychological issues and bring together their own perspectives to form new approaches. Their professor, a former FBI advisor, uses the results of their lateral thinking the very next day. The fact that this professor welcomes the students in the lecture via a screen in order to test whether they are ready to join the digital age comes as a surprise to some – for others, it is just another day.

Is (student) life better in New York? That remains a matter of opinion. It is a different life and yes, four months at Columbia did change my life.

Just a normal Semester in the City that never SleepsMirko Dismer: Semester abroad at Columbia University

Management | 53

Aydin University in Istanbul has been a partner university of the PFH since 2012. The first PFH students have now completed a semester abroad at the Turkish private university, including Stephanie Arndt, a Master's student in General Management at the PFH Berlin Campus.

My Erasmus semester at Aydin University in Istanbul began in the summer of 2013, of all times, just as the eyes of the world were on the protests in Gezi Park. But let's start at the beginning: The first challenge was to find suitable accommodation in Istanbul. A few of my fellow Erasmus students had experienced a few nasty surprises in this regard. That is why the right strategy was to get a hostel only once I was there and then view the apartments myself. I eventually decided on a lovely place in the central neighbourhood of Beyoglu, which I moved into with a fellow student. It was only five minutes' walk from the main shopping street Istiklal Cad, Taksim Square and Gezi Park. The programme at Aydin University offered a broad choice of content, with many classes in English. The course material and the exams were very manageable. Besides management seminars, the university had courses recommended for Erasmus students on the programme, such as on Turkish language and culture or the history of Istanbul. However, the Turkish metropolis does not merely look back on a rich history, but also has an endless choice of leisure activities. Many places on both the European and Asian sides are worth a trip and offer breath-taking views of the Bosphorus and the city. It is cheap to go out in the evenings. And no need to be afraid of the street food: I would absolutely recommend tavuklu pilav (rice with hazelnuts and chicken) in particular.

The main topic of conversation amongst Erasmus and Turkish students, however, was the protests in the city centre. My Turkish fellow students and friends often took part in the demonstrations.The apartment windows often remained closed because the smell

of tear gas was omnipresent. Yet the solidarity of the people of Istanbul was impressive. Kiosk owners were continually protesting at the side of the street, along with residents who sprayed water or milk in the demonstrators' eyes to ease the pain from the tear gas. In spite of everything, there was no need to feel unsafe as a foreigner, and we were largely kept out of the conflict. In conclusion, then: five months in Istanbul was a wonderful and unique time!

Tip from Stephanie Arndt for free time: travel by ferry over the Bosphorus and enjoy the view from Camlica Hill on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Studying and tear Gas in IstanbulStephanie Arndt: Semester abroad at Aydin University

Management | 55

The following students successfully completed their studies: Gerrit Becker, Suska Vicky Berger, Alexandra Brandenburg, Ste-fan Brinkhoff, Tobias Fischer, Lisa Sophia Frank, Peter Gerke, Alexander Goertz, Sami Hamhoum, Daniel Hartmann, Robin Heerich, Johannes Heppe, Thorsten Jacobi, Lars Frederik Jaensch, Martin Hinrich Knaack, Maud Le Voyer Rojas, Jörn Lönnecker, Thies Julius Lorenzen, Kristof Martin, Maximilian Metzner, Jannis Michael, Fabien Pierson, Jörg Hendrik Reimer, Christoph Ruehs, Wolf-Wilhelm Rüter, Christina Schrader, Christoff Schwartz, Jan Semmerling, Maximilian Senholdt, Andrea Nicola Simon, Lars Timmermann, Mattias Weltken, Lino Lucien Werner, Frederik Wurr.

2013 GraduatesGeneral Management ProgrammeMaster of Science degree

56 | Management

Studies successfully completed: 31 graduates of the campus's General Management and Business Administration programmes received their Bachelor of Science certificates at the graduation ceremony on October 18th 2013.

Top of the class with an average mark of 1.18 was Lisa Janneke Dostmann, whom Prof. Dr. Frank Albe honoured with the "Best of the Year" award. A further distinction for students is traditionally the Corporate Behaviour Award for students who have made an exemplary contribution to university life and its development. That prize was shared this year by Lutz Geil and the student group consisting of Marco Alexander Bühren, Anton Ha, Jana Otto, Aron Stürmer and Florens von der Decken. The latter group

earned the award mainly due to their revival of AIESEC activities in Göttingen.

"You've made quite an impression on me," said Prof. Dr. Frank Albe, opening his farewell speech. For the year group distinguis-hed itself through exceptional creativity, reflected, for example, in their own design for an internship fair, but also in the varied and unusual subjects of their Bachelor's dissertations – from pricing to football. He talked about how he had watched individuals' personal development within the year group with great interest. "These three years of personal development are also surely ob-vious to your friends and relatives," said Albe. The PFH vice-president also commented on the subject of business schools:

An exceptional YearGöttingen campus bids farewell to Bachelor's graduates

Management | 57

The characteristic feature and main advantage of private univer-sities, he said, was they way in which they develop students' social responsibility and commercial, innovation and networking skills, rather than churning out graduates by cramming in lots of knowledge as quickly as possible. "Due to its small size, the PFH is ideally suited to forming lifelong friendships and maintaining dialogue even after graduation," said Albe.

The graduates' speech was then given by Lisa Janneke Dost-mann, winner of the "Best of the Year" award. In her speech, she thanked parents, professors and the examinations office for their support and commitment during the programme. She particu-larly praised the university's open-door policy and stressed her positive experience of the sense of community within the year group. "The PFH has been a constant over the last three years that will continue to have an impact for a long time to come"

The 17 young men and 14 women who graduated achieved an average mark of 2.09, the best result ever achieved by a PFH year group. Seven of the graduates had chosen the European Union, 21 Asia-Pacific and three Eastern Europe as their inter-national specialisation within their studies. The most popular industrial specialisation was Entrepreneurship, with 21 students. Other industrial specialisations were Industrial Management and Tourism, Travel Management, functional specialisations were Accounting/Controlling, International Marketing and Sales Management.

As always, the sheer numbers describing the year group are impressive: 573 viva examinations, 991 regular examinations and 85 repeats were completed. Professors had a total of 160 term assignments to correct and 14 so-called make-it-or-leave exams ("Todprüfungen").

Prof. Dr. Frank Albe congratulates best in the year Lisa Janneke Dostmann. | Lutz Geil (centre) was one of the Corporate Behaviour Award winners. | Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt was delighted for her students | Aron Stürmer, Jana Otto, Florens von der Decken, Anton Ha and Marco Bühren (from left to right) were jointly honoured with the Corporate Behaviour Award for their involvement with AIESEC. | Prof. Dr. Michael Heinlein, with Franziska (left.) and Katharina Wölbern on either side.

58 | Management

The following students successfully completed their studies: Stephanie Katharina Arndt, Jan Brinkmann, Nina Brinkmann, Marco Alexander Bühren, Julian Burczyk, Nikolas Dirks, Mirko Dismer, Lisa Janneke Dostmann, Martin Uwe Fingerle, Nils Fitzner, Thilo Franzke, Philipp Gais, Lutz Geil, Greta-Frederike Graf, Anton Ha, Niklas Hackstein, Mandy Heymann, Robin Shanti Hogrefe, Marvin Krieter, Tabea Küster, Maria Lung, Martin Oberreuther, Jana Otto, Tobias Rommel, Martin Sallmon, Dietlind Marie Seifert, Alexander Sorg, Felix Hubertus Stähler, Aron Stürmer, Florens von der Decken, Anna-Manon von Hertell, Friederike Anna Elisabeth von Zepelin, Sarah Winkler, Sascha Woge, Julius Wohlmeiner, Franziska Wally Wölbern, Katharina Maria Wölbern.

2013 GraduatesBusiness Administration and General Management programmesBachelor of Science degree

Healthcare Technology

60 | Healthcare Technology

Healthcare Technology, the newest area in the PFH campus pro-gramme, continues to successfully further develop all the time. This applies to both the course itself and its networking within the orthopaedics industry.

Fully booked: the third year of the Bachelor's programme in Or-thobionics started in Winter Semester 2013/14 at full capacity. Student numbers have increased rapidly in the two years since the programme started: from nine in the first year, to 20 in the second, to 26 new students now in the third year. "That means every place is taken. Unfortunately, we even had to put off some applicants until next year," said course coordinator Dr. Nadine Hugill. The interdisciplinary programme combines medical, biomechanical, engineering and business studies content, providing graduates

with career prospects in the growing medical and orthopaedic technology industry. The core aim of the course is to ensure students are able to supply patients independently with modern orthoses and prostheses. It is the only Bachelor's programme of its type in Germany. The 26 first-semester students who chose this course bring very varied qualifications with them. Some of the 13 women and 13 men have come to the PFH directly after their Abitur. Others previously completed vocational training in orthopaedic technology or medical training. Some of the stu-dents aspire to take over their parents' orthopaedic technology businesses in the future, while others view Orthobionics as a hands-on alternative to studying medicine. Katharina Riedel is one of the group's trained orthopaedic technicians. She even won the national award for excellent results in her final apprenticeship

26 young people started in the third intake of the Orthobionics Bachelor's program-me. | Right (from top to bottom): The management board of the BIV visited the Centre for Healthcare Technology for a business meeting | Markus Hildebrandt and Sarah Ernst. | International guests also visited the Centre for Healthcare Technology, in the form of members of the ISPO.

Full lecture Theatres at the Centre for Healthcare technologyDevelopments in the Area of Healthcare Technology

Healthcare Technology | 61

examination. "What fascinates me in particular about the Ortho-bionics programme is the combination of theoretical and practical content. And, there is no other program with the same intensive medical training in orthopaedic technology," says the 25-year-old. Michael Jost from Munich also had a personal motivation

for choosing the course. He wears a prosthetic lower leg and was active in Paralympic sport for a long time. "I am interested in product management in orthotics and prosthetics, as well as providing directly to patients. In future, I would like to work in the international sector of the industry," explains Jost.

Team strengthened by new ColleaguesIn order to provide optimal support for the three year groups now studying there, the PFH has expanded the team at the Centre for Healthcare Technology with two new colleagues. In July 2013, Markus Hildebrandt thus started work as a Lecturer in Orthotics. The 33-year-old studied at Gießen Technical University and is a Graduate Engineer (University of Applied Sciences) in Orthopae-dic and Rehabilitation Technology. He completed his Master's at the Federal Academy of Orthopaedic Technology (BUFA). Most recently, he worked as an engineer at the Clinical Testing Laboratory for Orthotics at the Technical Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Clinic in Münster. Sarah Ernst came to the Centre for Healthcare Technology for the start of term in October 2013. The 28-year-old with a business qualification in the health industry works here in administration and organises secretary's office.

Strengthening the Industry NetworkThe PFH has extensive connections within the orthopaedic techno-logy industry for its Healthcare Technology field. This cooperation network has been developed further in 2013. "We succeeded in getting further companies on board to support the Orthobionics programme," says Hugill. Following successful discussions, the companies Freedom Innovations, Endolite and mediwere added to the university's current partners ottobock, össur, Streifeneder and Bauerfeind. The companies provide products for practical lessons and are intensively involved in the practical arrangement of the Orthotics and Prosthetics courses, with product presentations or workshops. For example, together with companies from the orthopaedic technology industry, the PFH organised hands-on training with products from various manufacturers in the Centre for Healthcare Technology workshop. This provided students with valuable insights into fitting patients in the real-world (cf. p.68). Business meetings were also held with the programme's training partners. On April 17th and 22nd, the management board of the Federal Trade Guild Association for Orthopaedic Technology (BIV), along with its Training Officer, Chantalle Bechthold, visited the Centre for Healthcare Technology.

The outcome of the discussions was that the BIV and the uni-versity wished to intensify their cooperation, in order to put the training network idea even more strongly into practice. Finally, on November 6th, Sepp Heim and Dan Blocka from Canada visited the Centre for Healthcare Technology as senior representatives of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO). They were once again impressed by the growth of the Centre's team and the quality of the education.


Out of the Centre for Healthcare Technology and into Companies On May 27th and 28th, students from the first two year groups visited Streifeneder ortho.production GmbH in Emmering, an owner-ope-rated medium-sized orthopaedics company. Streifeneder has been developing and selling a broad range of orthopaedic technology products there for 85 years. As well as structural and functional components for building prostheses, the company manufactures orthoses and bandages. Its range also includes consumable ma-terials, textiles, machines and instruments.

The students were welcomed by Sales Manager Peter Neupert and Peter Kraft, Head of the Streifeneder Academy. Following a tour of the company premises, there was a presentation of products from the Prosthetics division. Employees provided an explanation of the CPI foot components and the Kinegen Line series knee joint systems. Then, it was off to Munich's nearby countryside by bus to visit the Ayinger private brewery. There, the students were given an insight into beer brewing, including a tasting and a Bavarian buffet. On the second day, Streifeneder told the group about Pro Vision, its video-based walking analysis system, which makes it

easier for orthopaedic technicians to determine simple movement parameters. The students then took part in a workshop in the subject of "Plastics in Orthopaedic Technology." This illustrated the properties of the different types of plastics, their use and how they are manufactured. Afterwards, the guests were given a chance to manufacture sheet materials in the new training workshop. The students appeared thrilled by the flexible material and the range of colourful designs during the production of hand orthoses and shafts. At the end of the trip, the training staff gave students ad-ditional tips for their future studies and careers.

There was a second visit on December 13th to Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH in Duderstadt, who had invited third-year Orthobionics students. On the agenda was a company presentation, including information on career opportunities with the global orthopaedic technology market leader. After a tour of the company premises, the Prosthetics division (upper and lower limbs) informed the students about its work. During the closing discussion, the students had the opportunity to bring up any remaining questions with the people in charge from ottobock.

Judith Suarez, a Graduate Orthopaedic Master Technician in Streifeneder's training team, gives Orthobionics students Miriam-Ruth Albe and Daniela Wedeking tips while producing a colourful arm orthosis. | Dominik Rudolph, Orthopaedic Mas-ter Technician in Streifeneder's training team, and Mario Koppe, a 5th semester Orthobionics student, deep draw a shaft together using the company's innovative and stylish plastics.

prosthetics in practiceVisits to Streifeneder and ottobock


Susanne MüllerInternship at Streifeneder, Munich

"Between semesters, I completed an internship at the orthopaedic workshop of Streifeneder in Munich. There, I had the opportunity to make use of both theoretical and practical aspects of my stu-dies and gain new experience. For instance, I helped amongst other things with the production of prepreg orthoses, sewed an orthopaedic corset and I was also able to assist in modelling casts. Streifeneder also owns a new training centre in which further training seminars and courses are held. I therefore had the opportunity to take part in a materials training seminar during my internship. A positive highlight was the fact that I came into contact with some patients while I was out in the field fitting or delivering the orthotic devices, giving me an even better impres-sion of day-to-day working life. My responsibilities in the field included, amongst other things, taking measurements at relevant points for later fitting of devices or producing plaster casts. All in all, I look back on an instructive and exciting time in an innovative and open company."

Daniela WedekingInternship at o.r.t., Göttingen

"Since I wanted to gain more experience in the workshop, I decided to complete an internship at o.r.t. On my first day, I immediately had a pair of arm orthoses placed in my hands with the inst-ruction to regrind them and fit fasteners onto them. Later, I was allowed to attend the fitting of a C-Leg. It was very interesting to see someone other than a demo patient who could use the features of the C-Leg. I also learned a lot of practical tips during the production of the final shaft. After the first week, I was then assigned more tasks. I was allowed to model, deep draw, cast, grind plaster and perform fittings – not on practice pieces but on real ones for customers. I had another exciting experience out in the field in the area of child rehabilitation. Here, I travelled around for a week in and around Göttingen, delivering or adapting seat pans, adjusting therapy chairs and fitting orthoses. This gave me an idea of the many different conditions and needs, as well as therapy options. This also provided contact with the families, care services and physiotherapists. o.r.t. has provided me with a comprehensive insight."

patient Contact, Workshop & product ManagementOrthobionics Students out and about in Industry as Interns


Christina FreseInternship at Bauerfeind AG, Zeulenroda

"In order to gain insight into the healthcare industry, I decided to accept an internship in product management at Bauerfeind AG, even though I am normally more interested in the medical disci-plines. I would describe my time there as varied, informative and also lots of fun. In particular, the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, and the way that I was quickly integrated into the team made a positive impression on me. In the course of my internship, I noticed time and again how what I had learned to date benefited me even though I have only studied for two semesters, whether in product training, dealing with customers or leafing through brochu-res. Although the medical disciplines are increasingly appealing to me, I managed to obtain a good insight into the industry, and I believe it will be very useful to know about the operations both in the office and in the laboratory. Above all, it brought me closer to the Business Studies subjects that make up 25 percent of the modules we have to complete. Overall, I can only recommend obtaining a taste of different areas to anyone.

Felix NeumannVisit to Freedom Innovations, Irvine, California/USA

"During my stay in California, I had the opportunity to visit the company headquarters of Freedom Innovations in Irvine. From there, Freedom Innovations manages its entire strategic and ope-rative planning. In addition, this is where the company does its research and development. During the first hour of my visit, I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of important figures, such as CEO Maynard Carkhuff. The last stop on my tour was the Research and Development division. Here, I was allowed to sit in on final testing of a new prosthesis and its associated software. A test patient who had been testing the prosthesis for the previous three months was invited for a retesting of the system and for a check-up. After a few tests and conversations in person with the patient, the whole development team was celebrating a successful new product. Particularly worth mentioning in relation to my visit were the sharing of information and the interest of my American colleagues in the Orthobionics programme. All in all a successful day, which not only gave me insight into a great company, but lots of interesting conversations and new contacts.

The workshop in the Centre for Healthcare Technology can be as well equipped and the seminars as interesting as you like – but the most important thing for students is practical experience. That is why three Orthobionics used their time during the summer without lectures to complete internships, in very different areas: in orthopaedic technology workshops, in order to further develop manual skills and learn how to engage with patients, but also in product management – proving how varied the occupational fields are after the programme. And one student even took up the opportunity to visit the company Freedom Innovations during his holidays.


In order to develop and expand its Healthcare Technology area, the PFH managed to obtain the services of one of the leading specialists in Technical Orthopaedics in Prof. Dr. med. Frank Braatz, who is in charge of Medical Orthobionics at the university. In July 2013, Braatz opened the first researcher meeting of the "Research Clusters Technical Orthopaedics." The invitation was extended on behalf of the Research Promotion section of the Technical Orthopa-edics Association (VTO) and the Technical Orthopaedics Advisory Board. The conference took place in the PFH Centre for Healthcare Technology in Göttingen.

The aims of the meeting were to start integrating the relevant re-search in this area both nationally and internationally and to promote interdisciplinary exchange between doctors, neuroscientists and other adjoining technical disciplines. Furthermore, the group aims to extend its activities in future and communicate and publish the relevant findings of its research more strongly, in order to tie its research more closely to the practice of specialist orthopaedic technology companies, amongst other things.

The invitation was taken up by research groups from across the whole country: the Göttingen University Medical Centre, Depart-ment of Neurorehabilitation Engineering with Prof. Dr. Dario Farina and Hubertus Rehbaum, the MHH Orthopaedic Hospital in the An-nastift Hospital, Hannover with Dr. Kiriakos Daniilidis and Dr. Frank Seehaus, Heidelberg University Hospital with Merkur Alimusaj and Dr. Sebastian Wolf, Central Hessen Technical University (Biome-dical Technology programme) with Prof. Dr. Jörg Subke, Münster University Hospital, Technical Orthopaedics Department/ Clinical Testing Laboratory for Orthotics with Dr. Stefan Schüling and the Fraunhof Institute of Production Engineering and Automation IPA Stuttgart (Florian Blab). The presence of Bernd Wünschmann as a guest meant that the orthopaedic technology industry's most important professional journal, OT, the voice of the Trade Guild Association for Orthopaedic Technology (BIV), was represented.

The next meeting of the "Research Cluster Technical Orthopaedics" is already being prepared. It will take place during the industry's largest trade fair worldwide, OT World in Leipzig 2014.

Start of cooperation: The first meeting of the Research Cluster TechnicalOrthopaedics with Prof. Dr. med. Frank Braatz (6th from left).

technical orthopaedics Research ClusterProf. Dr. Frank Braatz opens first researcher meeting


In many countries worldwide, the academisation of training in Orthopaedic Technology is already further advanced than in Ger-many. A fundamental aim of the university is the timely international networking of Healthcare Technology, which is still a new area at the PFH. Based on many years of cooperation and a memorandum of understanding, a partnership has now been established with the Sirindhorn School of Prothetics and Orthotics at the Medical School of the Siriraj Hospital at the Mahidol University in Bang-kok, Thailand. The Sirindhorn School has offered the international Bachelor of Prosthetics & Orthotics since 2010, and is developing into one of the leading P&O Schools in the South East Asia region. During visits by Prof. Dr. med. Frank Braatz to Thailand and the corresponding return visit by the Thai delegation to the Centre for Healthcare Technology in Göttingen, the dialogue partners dis-cussed numerous approaches to cooperation.

ISPO 2013 World Congress, Hyderabad, IndiaInclusion, Participation & Empowerment was the theme of the ISPO2013 World Congress, which took place from February 4th to 7th in Hyderabad, India. 1,800 participants took up the invitation by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (IPSO), in or-der to find out about new developments in the total of 121 sessions with symposia, presentations, discussions and demonstrations, or to be amazed by the latest products in orthopaedic technology in the exhibition with over 100 exhibitors. Prof. Dr. Siegmar Blumentritt, Professor of Biomechanics at the PFH, gave a talk at the congress on the subject of "Prosthetic Alignment:" "Biomechanical Basics and Clinical Approach for Lower Limb Prostheses."

O&P World Congress, Orlando, FloridaIt was the largest world orthotics and prosthetics congress in the USA – hosted by the AOPA American Orthotic & Prothetic Asso-ciation from September 18th to 21st in Orlando, Florida. More than 2,500 participants from 43 countries took part in order to find out about new developments in orthopaedic technology and technical

orthopaedics, exchange ideas and discuss future scenarios. Over 200 companies bustled around the accompanying exhibition to demonstrate their specialist products and services. PFH Profes-sor Dr. med. Frank Braatz who, as one of the global experts also gave the outline presentation on this subject, was responsible for chairing and organising this year's German Day in the "Modern Prosthetics" session.

Around the World with Healthcare technologyProfessors on International Missions

Prof. Dr. Frank Braatz (left) and Prof. Dr. Siegmar Blumentritt (right) with the dele-gation from the Sirindhorn School of Prothetics and Orthotics. | Prof. Dr. Siegmar Blumentritt at the ISPO 2013 World Congress.


A workshop for Orthobionics students in their fourth semester, on the subject of modern prosthetic components, took place from July 15th to 19th 2013 at the PFH Centre for Healthcare Techno-logy. There, leading companies from the orthopaedic technology industry – ottobock, Össur and Freedom Innovations – presen-ted their highly complex, microprocessor-controlled knee joint components, thus offering students the chance to familiarise themselves with these modern restorations.

Experienced orthopaedic master technicians Till Blickwede (Ös-sur), Christian Rüger (ottobock) and Felix Brinkmann (Freedom Innovations) set up the workshops in a very practical format. After an explanation of each relevant knee joint, the students fitted these to the patients, who had very kindly volunteered themselves, in the Centre for Healthcare Technology workshop, with help from the master technician. There then followed a motion analysis, to document walking behaviour with these modern prosthetic restorations. "It is important for students to familiarise themselves at an early stage with modern restoration options, understand how they work and experience their benefits, but also their limitations," explained Lutz Jenckel, Orthopaedic Master Technician for the Field of Prosthetics at the Centre for Healthcare Technology.

During the discussion that followed, the students were able to ask questions and were given a few tips on restoration by the technicians from our industry partners to take away with them. "When designing such workshops, it is particularly important for us to integrate innovative products from various manufac-turers into the programme and to familiarise students with the particular features of the different components. We are therefore grateful to the technicians from the companies for designing this workshop," added Dr. Nadine Hugill, coordinator of the Orthobionics programme.

Thede Preiser fitting the C-Leg knee joint. | Christian Rüger (ottobock, left) explains the design of the C-Leg knee joint. | The students with demo patient, the PFH OT master technicians and Felix Brinkmann (right) following the "Freedom Innovations" day | Walking analysis with the demo patient.

experiencing Hi-techProsthetic components workshop at the Centre for Healthcare Technology

Technology

Some coming, the others going: On October 11th, the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen bid farewell to 22 gra-duates of its Composites Bachelor's programme and twelve en-gineers who completed the part-time CFRP Master's programme in Stade City Hall. As per tradition, the university simultaneously welcomed the 36 freshers for 2013. PFH President Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke handed out the degree certificates in the Hanseatic city's historic guildhall. "With over 250 graduates in the two CFRP programmes, the PFH is making an important contribution to providing the next generation of CFRP engineering graduates," he commented. Niklas Rambow, who achieved an average grade of 1.56, was honoured as the top graduate of the Bachelor's

programme with the CFRP Campus Engineering Award. Frank Tipke from the Volksbank Stade-Cuxhaven presented him with the award of EUR 500. Rambow simultaneously received the the PFH "Best of the Year" prize. Welcoming addresses were given by Silvia Nieber, the Mayor of the Hanseatic city, and Dr. Frank Schernikau, Chairman of Karl Meyer AG. The so-called Bachelor's (i.e. graduates') speech was given by Lisa Banz und Gregor Baumbach.

Practical Focus and best Career ProspectsThe PFH runs its technological courses at its Stade campus, right beside the CFK Valley Stade e.V. network of expertise. The university

Farewell and WelcomeGraduation and welcoming ceremonies in Stade Town Hall

Technology | 71

opened its new building there in 2008, equipped with state of the art laboratories and lecture theatres. Small study groups provide an excellent staff-student ratio and help to ensure individual support from professors and lecturers. It is not only special engineering expertise that is taught here, but also business knowledge that teaches our graduates important management skills.

Both the Bachelor's and Master's Composites programmes gua-rantee the maximum possible real-world relevance. Anyone who takes the Master's programme in Stade can already boast a year of professional experience, studying while they work. Their new knowledge can thus flow immediately into their professional practice. Also integrated into the Bachelor's programme is a voluntary training programme as a Skilled Rubber and Plastics Engineering Process Technician (IHK) that students complete on site with a partner company.

There is urgent demand for engineers who are experts in key CFRP technology, both now and in the future. For CFRP and other carbon fibre structures are considered the materials of the future

and are at the heart of modern lightweight constructions. They are particularly robust and resistant to corrosion, while being lighter than steel or aluminium. Growth of more than ten percent per annum is predicted for the CFRP sector, and demand from the relevant branches of industry for trained specialists is growing ever stronger. "In this respect, our graduates have excellent career prospects," said Sierke.

Silvia Nieber, Mayor of the Hanseatic City of Stade, welcomed the graduates and freshers. | Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke and Peggy Repenning congratulate Niklas Rambow on coming top of the year. | Dr. Frank Schernikau, Chairman of Karl Meyer AG. | The graduates were visibly delighted at successfully completing their studies. | Gregor Baumbach and Lisa Banz.gave the graduates' speech.

72 | Technology

Composites Programme | Bachelor of EngineeringJudith Anlauf, Lisa Banz, Gregor Baumbach, Kathrin Buck, Peter Friedemann, Jan Grunenberg, Mona Hoffmann, Björn Jüttner, Jan Chris-toph Kölln, Inga Lottmann, Lukas Meis, Jana Müller, Julian Müller, Hendrik Post, Niklas Rambow, Hauke Schultz, Michael Steinbrück, Björn Stephan, Matthias Uellendahl, Max Waller, Sebastian Wicher, Saskia Winkler.

Composites Programme | Master of ScienceTom-Hendrik Braun, Kai Bußmann, Evgeni Dobrasch, Marcus Feige, Tobias Fislage, Robert Hoffmann, Marc Hoffmeister, André Jung, Jan Lohmann, Dmitrij Sabrekov, Chris Ternent, André Tiedemann.

2013 GraduatesComposites ProgrammeBachelor of Engineering and Master of Science

Dr. Richard Degenhardt (Dr.-Ing.), PFH Professor of Composite Materials Stability, completed a research semester at NASA. During his stay in the USA at NASA Langley Research Center in Hamp-ton, Virginia, Degenhardt looked at the materials and structures currently used in space travel.

In particular, the semester research semester served to intensify cooperation between NASA and the European DESICOS project. As part of DESICOS (www.desicos.eu), which is coordinated by Degenhardt, twelve partners have joined forces with the aim of developing new dimensioning guidelines that enable better exploitation of the load capacity offered by CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic).

The predominant structures to date in space craft construction have been made on metal, although experts predict that the use of CFRP could reduce weight by up to 20 percent. "NASA has already been working on the same problem for six years with a 30-million-Dollar budget, but taking a different approach. What could be more obvious, then, than trying to approach the solution together?" says Degenhardt, describing the motivation for his stay.

An important component of DESICOS in this context is one of the PFH's contributions to the project: the database developed by PFH staff member Saullo Castro for the experiment results that all of the project partners use. Besides the PFH, these are the renowned institutions, universities and companies ASTRIUM SAS, ASTRIUM GmbH, German Centre for Air and Space Travel (DLR), GRIPHUS, Technical University Delft, Leibniz University Hannover, Politecnico di Milano, Riga Technical University, RWTH Aachen, Technion and the CRC-ACS – Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures. Beyond this specific project, Degenhardt used his time in the USA to strengthen his contacts to numerous other organisations involved in research

or production in relation to CFRP materials. Moreover, initial joint publications by PFH, NASA and the DLR have already also been produced.

Greater use of CFRp in Space travelRichard Degenhardt undertakes research at NASA

Carried out research in the USA on the use of CFRP in space craft construction: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Richard Degenhardt.

74 | Technology

Dr. Jens Walla, Head of the Airbus site in Stade, and Prof. Bernt R. A. Sierke, President of the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen, sign the cooperation agreement.

On July 3rd, Airbus and the PFH set the course for their continued strategic alliance at the Stade campus with an extensive coopera-tion agreement. The aircraft manufacturer and the university have been working together in training students in the area of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) since 2006. In addition to coope-rating in designing programme content, Airbus also finances an endowed professorship.

"From our perspective at Airbus, strategic alliances with higher education institutions and universities have proven successful for decades. They enable us to inspire the next generation of science and technology experts to take up a career in the aviation industry," said Dr. Thomas Ehm, HR Managing Director and Labour Relations Manager of Airbus in Germany. "As well as our internal research and development, we rely on cooperation with external partners in many areas." An outstanding network on the subject of CFRP has emerged in Stade," said Dr. Jens Walla, Head of the Airbus site

in Stade. "We are very excited about continuing to promote fun-damental research and teaching with this endowed professorship."

The PFH offers Composites engineering programmes with Ba-chelor of Engineering and Master of Science degrees at its Stade campus, in immediate proximity to the Airbus site. The Bachelor's programme can be combined with a voluntary training programme as a Skilled Rubber and Plastics Engineering Process Technician, specialising in fibre composite technology. Airbus supports the PFH with the practical part of the programmes and also runs the technical training programme. "The continued cooperation with Airbus, one of our most important partners, and hence the extension of the endowed professorship set the trend for the further expansion of the PFH and the Stade campus."

Airbus and pFH extend Cooperation AgreementContinuation of successful cooperation in teaching and research

Technology | 75

The prizewinners and sponsors of the Composite Innovations Award 2013 (from left to right): Prof. Axel Herrmann (CFK-Valley e.V.), Thomas Friedrichs (Hanseatic City of Stade), Oliver Bottler (Airtech Europe Sarl), Dr. Gregor Graßl (Fraunhof IFAM), Dr. Matthias Ott (Fraunhof IFAM) and Prof. Wilm F. Unckenbold (PFH).

The CFK-Valley Stade Convention was held for no less than the seventh time from June 11th to 12th under this year's motto "Latest Innovations in CFRP Technology." Around 360 international experts were there to find out about trends and developments in CFRP. The focus was particularly on the topics of automated production and cost-efficient development of CFRP structures. The conference was accompanied by a trade exhibition, at which around 40 companies presented the CFRP related products and services. The PFH was also represented with its own information stand.

Prof. Axel Herrmann, Chairman of the Board of CFK-Valley Stade e. V. and managing Director of CTC GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus, opened the conference. Keynote speaker Dr. Amer Affan from Affan Innovative Structures LLC in the United Arab Emirates then gave a presentation on the varied design pos-sibilities for CFRP in the construction industry, covering various sectors and with an international dimension. Some 30 speakers, talking for 25 minutes each, demonstrated the fact that CFRP is increasingly becoming the obvious choice for use in other sectors and branches of industry outside air and space travel.

Composite Innovations AwardThe first day of the congress concluded with the 2013 Composite Innovations Awards. The prize – a scholarship worth EUR 18,000 for the part-time Composites Master's programme at the PFH – is awarded each year for outstanding CFRP projects and project ideas. This year's prizewinners were Dr. Gregor Graßl and Dr. Matthias Ott from the Fraunhof Institute of Production Enginee-ring and Applied Materials Research (IFAM), Oliver Bottler from Airtech Europe Sarl, in addition to Epurex Films GmbH & Co. KG. The project "FlexPLAS® release film – Release agent free manufacture of FRP components" received an award. The award sponsors – CFK- Valley Stade e. V., Hanseatic City of Stade and PFH – are aiming to use it to promote development and innovation in the target area of CFRP. CFK-Valley Stade e. V. is additionally involved at the university with the financing of a special endowed professorship, held by Prof. Richard Degenhardt.

Automated production in Focus7th International CFK-Valley Stade Convention

76 | Technology

Set-up of a testing laboratory: The original aim of the research project led by Dr. Wilm F. Unckenbold, Professor of Fibre Com-posite Technology at the PFH Stade campus was to obtain a deeper understanding of hybrid structures under thermomech-nanical stress.

Creating an extremely elaborate mathematical model for calcu-lating the distribution of tension in a bonded joint under ther-momechnanical stress is one of the procedures used for this. Alongside this, in future, tests will also increasingly be conducted under realistic conditions in teaching, in order to increase stu-dents' awareness of the complex relationships in the design of hybrid structures. To conduct these tests, the PFH was able, with the help of third-party financing, to kit out its testing laboratory superbly with the following instruments: a climate test cham-ber, the ARAMIS 3D 5M Measuring System, a servo-hydraulic testing system, a four-axis servo-pneumatic testing system and the rheometer. The equipment creates the essential conditions for intensifying application initiated fundamental research at the PFH in future.

PFH Technology Meeting and EFRE ProjectProf. Sérgio Frascino Müller de Almeida from the renowned Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) in Brazil was a guest at the Stade campus as part of a PFH Technology Meeting in July. The ITA is the leading aviation university in Brazil. More than 9,000 prospective students apply each year for the 100 places at the university. Müller de Almeida spoke on the subject of" Use of lamination parameters in the optimization of aeronau-tical composite structures" in front of students and an audience of CFRP industry professionals. Following this, Prof. Richard Degenhardt (PFH) discussed various possible future projects with the Brazilian guest that the ITA and the PFH would like to jointly launch. There were further new findings in the research project "Development of a new design concept for imperfection-sensitive hybrid structures made of fibre-composite material." For example, in this EFRE-funded project, PFH staff member Dr. Mariano A. Arbelo from Argentina developed new insights on the design of hybrid structures, designed corresponding structures and manufactured and tested them in cooperation with Riga Technical University.

Prof. Wilm F. Unckenbold in the testing laboratory. | Prof. Richard Degenhardt (PFH) and Prof.Sérgio Frascino Müller de Almeida from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Brazil.

testing laboratory and expert exchangeResearch and Development at Stade campus

Technology | 77

The "Spirit of St.ade" team, made up of seven students and gra-duates from the Stade campus of the PFH, achieved a podium position once again at the "Heavy Lift Challenge 2013", a model flying contest in the English city of York. Following their victory in 2012, they had to settle for third place out of 18 participating teams this time around.

Preparation lasted around six months, more than 2,300 hours of work went into building the aeroplane. The fundamental concept was established in a preliminary study, from which the design with the construction from the blueprints was derived. The students then constructed the model on this basis and completed a test flight programme.

Payload as a success factor: factor of 3.15 possibleIn this year's Challenge, the aeroplanes completed two evaluation flights, in which the model had to fly initially without carrying any weight, and then with up to four kilogrammes. The wingspan of the aeroplanes is restricted to a maximum of two metres, the combustion engines are uniformly regimented at 6.5 cm³.

The payload carried in proportion to the weight of the aeroplane itself – known as its payload factor – was a decisive criterion for the evaluation. The Stade team's model aeroplane was the second lightest in the competition at 1,270 grams, and can carry a payload of 3.15 times its own weight. By comparison: conventional passen-ger aircraft carry a payload of around 1.4 times their own weight.

The team's partners and sponsors played a major role in its success in the competition, above all PFH trustee company Airbus, which also employs five members of the team. "We have experienced great support from Airbus, both through sponsoring and through the training workshop, or a network of colleagues in relation to matters of production. We enjoyed the freedom in the university's institute buildings and laboratories needed in order to build the aeroplane. As a network of expertise, CFK-Valley Stade e. V. provi-ded the basis for building contacts with other companies with ex-pertise in CFRP," says Julian Müller of their cooperation. Premium Aerotec provided materials for devices and electronics, Oracover lightweight foil constructions and molly-shop.de provided laser-cut balsa timber ribs.

podium Finish for pFH StudentsStade CFRP students third in international flying competition

The "Spirit of St.ade" team at the "Heavy Lift-Challenge" 2013. From left to right: Back: Thomas Seren, David Holdt, Tina Jörn, Max Waller, Julian Müller and front: Christian Bade, Jan Christoph Kölln.

78 | Technology

Two students from Stade embarked on an adventure and went to China from March to May 2013 to complete their main internship there during their sixth semester: Katharina Hoidis and Markus Busse

Katharina Hoidis was involved in optimising the production process of the A350XWB, particularly the ATL process for the control sur-faces, at the ABEC (Airbus Beijing Engineering Center) in Beijing. The subject required prior knowledge and experience of CFRP manufacturing processes and of composite materials design. "The course and technical training, as well as practical experience at Airbus, prepared me very well," the student says.

Markus Busse spent his internship at the ASRI (Aircraft Strength Research Institute) in the south-western city of Xi'an. His subject was the analysis of impact-damaged composite material structures for the Chinese aviation sector. "During my internship, I gained extensive experience on the behaviour of composite material structures, particularly during exposure to impacts, as well as the practical application of non-destructive testing procedures such as ultrasound and thermal imaging," he reported. Both students got to know China as a country of contradictions, with great con-

trasts between tradition and modernity. For example, there are cosmopolitan cities such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, with the tallest skyscrapers in the world, trendy restaurants and shopping malls. A few kilometres outside the city limits, along concrete jungles that reveal themselves to be residential neighbourhoods, farmers could be seen working their fields in poor conditions. The positive thing to highlight about the Chinese was their enormous hospitality and politeness. In addition, everyone seems to be united in their love of food, hardly a day goes by without an abundant meal with friends – which may very well include duck's feet or sea cucumber. As well as their great pride in their own culture, there is great interest in visitors from the West. Both interns' blonde hair in particular caused quite a stir, which made them a favourite for Chinese people to have their photos taken with. Overall, many things were impressive due to their sheer size: the inexpensive public transport network, the variety of goods on offer at the mar-kets and the masses of people producing a colourful chaos. The smog and sandstorms in the cities, the unusually long working day of more than ten hours, as well as comparatively modest living conditions did not diminish the positive impression of the two students by any means.

InternshipABEC, Beijing | ASRI, Xi’anPeople's Republic of China

Katharina Hoidis | Markus Busse7th Semester

Work experience in China

Technology | 79

Hauke Holsten completed his main internship, organised by Pro-fessor Degenhardt at the CRC-ACS – Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures in Port Melbourne, one of the world's leading companies conducting non-commercial research projects in the area of fibre composite materials. CRC-ACS is involved in the research, design, development and manufacturing of prototypes; the internship took place mainly in Design and Research on the project 2.3 – DESICOS (New Robust DESign Guidelines for Imperfection Sensitive COmposite Launcher Struc-tures). There, he investigated dent simulations on CFRP cylinders and the effect of multiple combined imperfections.

His stay in Australia lasted a total of 14 weeks, starting on March 4th 2013. When he set off from Germany, it was minus 10°C – in Australia, it was a good 40°C. "Along with jetlag and the fact that the sun moves anti-clockwise in the sky, that was quite an adjustment," according to Holsten. Due to its coastal location, Melbourne is a city where the wind always blows. It is very Western and could almost pass as European. Outside the city, however, one becomes aware how different Germany is by nature. The at-mosphere in Melbourne was really friendly right from the start.The student spent the first few weeks in a hostel, where he got to know

many people, mainly backpackers. "That was great for finding my bearings and dealing with housekeeping matters like shopping and a bank account," he says. After four weeks, he moved into his own apartment.

In just his second week, the Formula 1 Grand Prix took place. "I had never been particularly interested in it, but as a CFRP student, you are obviously interested in how the cars are built," says Holsten, explaining his attendance. By the end, he was quite enthusiastic and, since then, is almost a Formula 1 fan. In addition, he often took part in street parties and festivals that were held right in the city centre with no entry fee. On the whole, there was a very sociable atmosphere amongst the people and it was very friendly. At the end of his stay, he visited his girlfriend, with whom he took a few trips through the state of Victoria. For example, they toured through the Mornington Peninsula wine-producing areas, hiked through the old growth forest in the Grampians mountain range, drove along the Great Ocean Road and observed penguins mig-rating on Phillip Island. "I was particularly impressed by the old growth forest, the wild koalas, wallabies, kangaroos and penguins," Holsten concludes.

InternshipCRC-ACSPort Melbourne, Australia

Hauke Holsten7th Semester

CFRp Cylinders and Koalas

80 | Technology

Formula Student is an international race series run by the Society of Automotive Engineers, which has been around for over 25 years. The student teams from different universities build a one-seater racing car and compete in it against teams from all over the world. In the competition, it is not just about having the fastest car. Rather, the team wins with the best overall package consisting of construction, performance and financial and sales planning. One project team under the direction of Hamburg-Harburg Technical University (TU) with a total of 51 members also had six PFH students from the Composites Bachelor's programme working on the "egn13" racing car. Airbus and Dow in particular sponsored the Stade project group. Team member Katharina Hoidis tells us all about it:

What exactly was the task of the Stade project group?We were responsible for the design and construction of all com-posite parts. In particular, this concerned the battery box and the outer shell of the racing car. The aim was to save as much weight as possible. We managed to make the "egn13" 50 kilogrammes lighter than its predecessor.

What was the particular attraction of this project?We are all united by our interest in technology, innovation and racing. It was great fun seeing the car grow. We had invested a lot of hard work and effort, particularly in our free time and on

many night shifts. It made us very proud to then see the finished car driving in the race.

What are the particular features and capabilities of the car?The "egn13" is only TU Hamburg-Harburg's second car. Both are electric cars, so they enthral with the quiet purr rather than the smell of petrol. This also corresponds to the current stage of development in modern car construction. We have achieved great strides in our development compared to last year in relation to ergonomics, lightweight construction and driving dynamics. The key figures: 272 kg,115 HP, 1150 Nm, 0 to100 km/h in four seconds.

What was the time-frame of the project and what was the outcome?The teams had exactly one year for the development, construction, production of the individual parts and assembly. We started the development in August 2012. There were different project groups, such as for the chassis, the battery box or the CFRP parts. The main event took place from July 30th to August 4th 2013 in Hocken-heim. We had to qualify for this in January. We had minor electronics problems during the com-petition, but still managed a mid-table finish despite this.

The Stade project team with the "egn13" racing car (from left to right): Michael Steinbrück, Constantin Bäns, Christopher Gardel, Robert Jarczyk, Katharina Hoidis, Enzo Stegel.

nought to a Hundred in Four SecondsStade CFRP students in Formula Student project team

Distance Learning & Further Education

82 | Distance Learning & Further Education

With its Business Studies programme, and five further programmes in Psychology/Business Psychology also expected to start in April 2014, distance learning is one of the most important elements in the overall range of the PFH.

The Management programme includes the four tried and tested Business Studies programmes. These either finish at undergradua-te level with a Bachelor's degree, or are done on top of an existing business or economics degree as postgraduate study, and finish accordingly with a Master's. Finally, the MBA is aimed at acade-mics who have completed a non-business/economic degree and now wish to acquire business administration knowledge in their PFH distance learning programme.

Numerous regulations on recognition of qualifications ensure that even people without an Abitur can study at the PFH, or that their distance learning course can be shortened.

Accredited and under Development PsychologyThe range of courses in Psychology/Business Psychology is similarly differentiated. Bachelor's programmes in Psychology and in Business Psychology are aimed at people without any previous academic background in these subjects. The correspon-ding Master's programmes are open to graduates of the relevant Bachelor or Diplom programme. Anyone who has already success-fully completed their studies in another subject can apply for the Master's in Applied Psychology for Business.

Prof. Bernt R. A. Sierke (PFH), Jürgen Kleine-Wilde (WA Pfalz) and Roland Strasser (IGBCE) signing the agreement.. | Partnership: Roland Strasser (IGBCE), PFH Presi-dent Sierke, Gunther Kollmuß (IGBCE), Prof. Antje-Britta Mörstedt (PFH) and Jürgen Kleine-Wilde (WA Pfalz). | New Professors for the PFH Psychology distance learning programme. Dr. Stephan Weibelzahl and Dr. Martina Ruhmland.

new target Groups and programmesPartnerships set the path towards growth.

Distance Learning & Further Education | 83

All programmes have already been successfully accredited, the staff and lecture pool is currently under development. The PFH had already succeeded in gaining the leading publishing house for academic psychology texts as a strategic partner the previous year, in the form of Verlagsgruppe Hogrefe.

Incidentally, the university is taking into consideration, in the area of psychology, even in the run-up to its opening, its experience that psychology programmes often have a high drop out rate, since students start the programme with false expectations. That is why it is offering the four-day course "Psychology – The Right Choice?" via the PFH Professional School. The aim of the course is to provide participants with a content overview of the subjects Psychology and Business Psychology, as well as the scientific methods and subsequent career fields, so that their studies are purposeful and successful.

With eleven distance learning centres, the PFH is now represented nationwide. A twelfth, near Vienna in Austria, is under develop-ment. In addition to campuses in Göttingen, Berlin and Stade, the

cities of Dortmund, Erfurt, Ha-nover, Heidelberg, Ludwigs-hafen, Lübeck, Munich and Ratingen/Düsseldorf have service points at which in-class teaching takes place

and students can sit their tests and examinations. Even distance learning students from abroad do not necessarily have to gather at the main PFH campus for every exam. Through partnerships with the Goethe Institutes, the option exists to sit examinations directly in the relevant country.

Partnership with Trade Union in the South WestAnother pioneering cooperation agreement for distance learning was signed by PFH President Prof. Bernt R. A. Sierke along with Roland Strasser, District Manager, and Gunther Kollmuß, Secretary of the Union for the Mining, Chemicals and Energy industries (IG BCE) in November 2013 in Ludwigshafen. Against the backdrop of the increasing importance of part-time qualification opportu-nities, they agreed to coordinated and goal-oriented cooperation. The PFH and the IG BCE will now initially share information and their experiences. "The aim is to further remove barriers between school and university education. For years, we have been strong advocates and promoters of the principle of open universities that pave the way to lifelong learning at an academic level even for people without formal university admission. Developing this further with such a strong partner in the Ludwigshafen is very promising," commented Sierke.

Distribution Cooperation with TchiboThe PFH entered into a renewed distribution partnership with Tchibo in the autumn of 2013. Flyers were put up in more than 700 stores nationwide referring to the PFH's Business Studies programmes and the PFH Professional School distance learning certificates. Moreover, there were several email newsletters with a reach of millions, informing existing Tchibo customers about our current special conditions. Anyone who registers for a programme starting in January or April 2014 receives a ten percent discount on their applicable price for the programme or course. "Tchibo offers a strong distribution network with its stores and has an online platform with one of the strongest reaches in Germany. This infrastructure guarantees optimal reachability of our target groups. Its customers are known for seeking out products that offer outstanding value for money and high quality. That is why Tchibo is an excellent partner for us. This allows us to pick up people where they are in order to give them impetus to gain further qua-lifications through lifelong learning," says PFH President Sierke, explaining the initiative.


Contact for PFH Distance Learning Centre Lübeck

Birgit Hinrichs (Dipl.-Päd.) Head of Distance Learning Centre Lübeck

c/o Grone-Bildungszentren Schleswig-Holstein GmbH – non-profit –

Georg-Kerschensteiner-Straße 3023554 LübeckTel. +49 [0]451 5040-405

[email protected]

The PFH opened its new distance learning centre in Lübeck on March 12th, now the eleventh of its kind. This has been made pos-sible through cooperation with Grone-Bildungszentren Schleswig-Holstein GmbH educational centres, which will run the distance learning centre on its premises in the Hanseatic city. This means that, with immediate effect, all advice and support services in relation to the distance learning courses offered by the PFH for the region will be available in Lübeck. In addition, information evenings, in-class teaching and examinations will be held in the new distance learning centre. It is located right in the heart of the Hanseatic city, in the immediate vicinity of Lübeck's vocational training centres, offering large, bright rooms with modern equip-ment. There is a direct link to the A1 motorway, and several bus lines depart in the direction of the distance learning centre from the central train station every few minutes.

Grone-Bildungszentren Schleswig-Holstein GmbH, which has been offering education, qualification and personnel services since 1981, is an educational partner of the PFH. They focus on business, social and healthcare careers, as well as gastronomy and tourism.

Grone educational centres are part of a group run by the non-profit Grone School Foundation which, with its subsidiaries nationwide, is one of the oldest education providers in Germany. Grone was founded in 1895 in Hamburg and focusses on practicality, quality and orientation to the needs of the job market. This makes Grone Educational Centre in Lübeck the ideal partner for the PFH, as the university's President Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. Sierke explains: "These are also precisely the aspects that we, too, bring together in our business and economics distance learning programmes: high applicability of course material to professional practice and orientation towards companies' actual needs, while maintaining the highest standards in quality."

Distance learning Centre no. 11 in lübeckPFH in cooperation with Grone-Bildungszentren Schleswig-Holstein GmbH

From left to right: Birgit Hinrichs, Head of the Disance Learning Centre Lübeck, Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt, Head of PFH Distance Learning and Katrin Meyer, Managing Director of Grone for Schleswig- Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, wish to further the PFH Distance Learning Centre in Lübeck and its surrounding areas.

pFH Distance learning Centres

Distance Learning Centre Berlin

Pfalzburger Straße 43-4410717 BerlinTel. +49 [0]30 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Göttingen

Weender Landstraße 3-737073 GöttingenTel. +49 [0]551 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Munich

c/o GBSSchwanthalerstraße 51-5580336 MunichTel. +49 [0]89 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Stade/Hamburg

Airbus-Straße 621684 StadeTel. +49 [0]4141 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Heidelberg

c/o Institut für Jugend managementStiftung gGmbHHaberstraße 169126 HeidelbergTel. +49 [0]6221 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Erfurt

c/o Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- pädagogik und Personalentwick- lung mbH Mittelhäuser Straße 76-7999089 ErfurtTel. +49 [0]361 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Hannover

c/o Leibniz-Akademie e.V.Berufsakademie, Verwaltungs- und Wirtschafts-AkademieExpo Plaza 11 | 30539 HannoverTel. +49 [0]511 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Dortmund

c/o Wallerath ConsultingKreuzstraße 10344137 DortmundTel. +49 [0]231 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Ratingen/Düsseldorf

c/o Lingua Solutions GmbHErnst-Dietrich-Platz 140882 RatingenTel. +49 [0]2102 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Ludwigshafen

c/o Wirtschaftsakademie PfalzStaatlich anerkannte Ergänzungs-schule in freier TrägerschaftTurmstraße 867059 Ludwigshafen/RheinTel. +49 [0]621 [email protected]

Distance Learning Centre Lübeck

c/o Grone-Bildungszentren Schleswig-Holstein GmbHGeorg-Kerschensteiner-Straße 3023554 LübeckTel. +49 [0]451 [email protected]

Göttingen

Munich

Dortmund

Hannover

Stade/Hamburg

Berlin

Ratingen/Düsseldorf

Heidelberg

Erfurt

Ludwigshafen

Lübeck


The PFH took its leave of 376 graduating students from its busi-ness and economics distance learning programmes in 2013. This large year group also included the first 21 graduates of the Business Studies Bachelor's programme. The university handed out the certificates in Göttingen on three dates in February, June and October. Many students took up these opportunities to celebrate their graduations together and travelled from all over Germany to southern Lower Saxony for the occasion, some even from abroad.

"The fact that more and more distance learning students are completing part or all of their studies abroad is striking. This year, eight people have already successfully completed their studies this way, encouraging others to pursue further education on a German language distance learning course despite working abroad," says Prof. Dr. Antje-Britta Mörstedt, Head of the Econo-mics distance learning area. The PFH makes studying in this way

possible through worldwide cooperation with Goethe Institutes and other partners with whom written examinations can be sat. Hence this year's graduates were able to take master their studies in the USA, China or Namibia, and some current students have already even sat PFH exams in Cuba, Dubai and India.

"However, it is not only the places where people study that impress me every year, but also the strong performances of all of our distance learning graduates, often at the same time as working or raising children," says Morstedt. Diplom graduate Nicole Hülpüsch (née Klein) was delighted to finish top of her year in 2013. She achieved the outstanding final mark of 1.20. Almost level with her was Raphael Schmidt, who finished his studies with the top Master's result of the year and a mark of 1.34. Schmidt completed the "Advanced Management" programme while on parental leave, as he explained at the graduation ceremony in October: "The op-portunity to combine parental leave with studying was ideal for me.

Distance learning Studies completed successfully PFH awards Diplom, Master's and first Bachelor's certificates


After my Business Studies Diplom, I was specifically looking for a Master's in Management and found it at the PFH. By choosing distance learning, I was able to take care of our child while my wife completed the practical year of her veterinary training. Schmidt praised the distance learning team at the PFH for its expert advice and the fast response times of its support. Having completed his Master's, Schmidt is now embarking on his professional life: "I am currently in the middle of the applications process. I am interested primarily in the areas of HR Management, Education Management and Controlling." On the very same morning before his graduation ceremony, Schmidt, who studied at the Munich Distance Learning Centre, had an interview near Göttingen.

A Look at the Year Group in NumbersOf the 376 graduates, 283 received a Diplom certificate and 93 completed Business Studies or Advanced Management Bachelor's and Master's degrees or a Master of Business Administration (MBA). On average, the students were 32 years old at the end of their studies, and 39 percent of them are women. The average final mark in 2013 was 2.30, thus slightly higher than the average from all other year groups of 2.34. The industries and types of roles the graduates are aspiring to can also be seen from the areas of specialisation they have chosen. On the Diplom programme, 38 percent of graduates chose to specialise in the Industrial Manage-ment sector, followed by Tourism and Sports Management (22

percent each), Accounting/Auditing (16 percent) and Retail Ma-nagement (one percent). In terms of functional specialisations, 47 percent chose Marketing/Sales, 33 percent chose Controlling and 20 percent chose Organisational/Human Resource Management.

The largest group amongst graduates from Master's program-mes is made up of those from the MBA programme. The three-semester programme is aimed at graduates from non-business/economic programmes. The Class of 2013 MBA graduates are thus made up of an equally colourful assortment of Engineering (7), Medicine (5), Social Science (3), Law and Sports Science graduates and other professions. By contrast, the three-semester Master's programme in Advanced Management primarily appeals to Diplom graduates in business and economics, and the six-semester Master's programme in Business Studies to graduates of the Bachelor's programme in the same subject.

Farewell, but not GoodbyeAlthough graduations mark a farewell, this does not need to be taken literally: Under the auspices of the alumni network "PFH Alumni Club e. V.," former students of the university organise numerous shared activities bringing graduates together during their working lives. Especially for alumni of the distance learning programme, furthermore, the PFH has set up an online forum for sharing experiences in the university's internal area.


Anyone who wants to meet the challenges of a flexible working world nowadays not only needs a high level of professional qua-lification, but also has to constantly update their knowledge. This willingness to engage in lifelong learning is a major component of people's life and professional prospects. The PFH's mission includes opening up opportunity to avail of further education not only for its students, but also to other people who want to learn. Those who are interested can do just this at the PFH Professional School of Management, Innovation & Technology. Its core mission is to provide further education to support people in their lifelong learning.

New to the PFH Professional School's range of courses since Octo-ber are so-called Distance Studies Modules, i.e. further education modules as an academic distance learning certificate. This range of courses is suited to anyone seeking further education focusing on one subject or on several specific sub-areas. That is because they allow each customer to put together the material they want individually as in a modular system and study them independently in distance learning programmes. The further education modules are designed for professionals. Each module takes one to six

months to work through, depending on the subject. ECTS points can also optionally be earned in the process, which can be added together and recognised by the PFH for a subsequent distance learning course.

The material for these further education modules comes from the PFH's regular Business Studies, Psychology and Business Psychology distance learning programmes. They cover subjects from the areas of Business/Economics/Psychology Foundation Knowledge, Health Management, General Management, Marketing and PR, Mathematics/Statistics, HR Management, Psychology, Ac-counting and Controlling, Sport, Tourism and Event Management, Economics, Business IT, Business Psychology and Commercial Law. Those interested can find detailed information on course content, scope and prices under www.pfhps.de.

Further education by the Modular SystemPFH Professional School now also offering Modules


As an academy for further education at the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences, mtec-akademie covers with 72 different se-minars a thematically broad spectrum in the areas of Management and Technology. Its course schedule for 2013 was filled with more than 300 classes. At the same time, mtec-akademie took off in the area of Machining Technology. As a member of the “Machining Innovations Network” it now offers nine modular further education courses on metal cutting. There is also particularly strong demand for two courses on machining CFRP materials, thus combining two of the mtec-akademie’s fields of expertise. The two hi-tech courses are unrivalled nationwide, and ran four times in 2013 alone due to high demand.

Better Documentation of Knowledge: Certificate Programmes from 2014From 2014, mtec-akademie will be offering people interested in further education the chance to obtain a general qualification for

participating in multiple courses on similar subjects with its new certificate programmes.

In the area of Management, seven of these programmes lead to certificates such as "Sales Manager" and "Office Manager," or to qualifications in the areas of Leadership, HR Management and Foundation Business Studies. Participants can complete the required seminars on four consecutive days, or spread over a longer period. This is followed at the end by a final examination. In future, mtec-akademie will structure its CFRP seminars into four certificate programmes along the process chain. It will thus offer its participants the opportunity to obtain not only individual course certificates but also general certificates on composite applications, design, production and maintenance. The academy has also considerably expanded its range of CFRP courses in the process, with eight new courses including on "Building Composite Metal Hybrids," "Repairing Composite Materials" and "Recycling Carbon Fibres."

"Queries and suggestions from industry, both in Management and CFRP, led us to the new concept of certificate programmes. With general qualifications, our seminar participants who usually attend several courses in similar subjects anyway, can obtain better do-cumentation of their expertise – thereby obviously also improving their career prospects," explains Managing Director Sandra Fernau.

Certificate programmes Bundle expertise Management & Technology Academy

The mtec-akademie team (from left to right): Stefan Orminski, Sandra Fernau, KerstinSchäfer and Leif Wegner.

Spectrum

92 | Spectrum

A university should first and foremost impart knowledge on its students. The fact that they also have a say in matters may be surprising, however, but it is an important element in a university constitution and in how the PFH views itself.

Once a year, PFH students elect their student representation, con-sisting of three people. Firstly, these people perform a variety of political duties on the various university committees. For example, they represent students' interests on the Examinations Board and are involved in planning exam dates. They also participate in meetings of the Senate and in the so-called Appointment's Com-mittee, which makes decisions regarding the filling of advertised professorship vacancies. However, the three representatives are also active in student politics outside the PFH. Twice a year, one of them takes part as an assessor in the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Göttingen Student Administration, allowing them to input the perspectives of PFH students. Secondly, the student representatives act as points of contact for any unresolved questi-

ons or problems. They provide regular consultations in which their fellow students can express their concerns, and solutions to any problems can be worked out. In addition, the student representa-tives, together with representatives from each semester, form the so-called Student Council. This council prepares relevant issues from students' perspectives for discussion once a semester with the university management. In short, the student representatives are thus mediators between their fellow students and the PFH management in matters relating to student politics, organisation and programme content.

And, last but not least, the student representatives are involved in extra-curricular projects and initiatives. Here, they advise the committees responsible for implementing the initiatives. These relate e.g. to sporting events or talks with high-calibre speakers. The student representatives themselves organise "Santa's Charity Sale," the proceeds of which go to good causes.

In office since January 2013: student representatives Timo Hellmich, Vanessa Vogt and Nico Stobinski (from left to right).

on Behalf of their Fellow StudentsStudent representatives with a wide variety of responsibilities

Chairman of the PFH Alumni Club e. V.: Prof. Dr. Julian Voss, Tel. +49 (0)55154700-902, [email protected] | General contact for Alumni work: Vanessa Engelhardt, Tel. +49 (0)551 54700-145, [email protected].

Since the first intake of students graduated in 1999, more than 2,500 students have successfully completed their studies at the PFH. The central platform for exchange after university is the "PFH Alumni Club e. V.," founded by graduates of the university in 2007.

Members of the club organise their own activities in the three chapters, Management, Technology and Distance Learning. Since 2013, in addition, those who are interested can find a drop-in centre right in the university for any questions relating to alumni work. University staff member Vanessa Engelhardt has been the point of contact for this area since February. She ensures good information flow between graduates, coordinates events and is responsible for the planned Alumni Newsletter. The core idea of the Alumni Club is to support graduates of the university in their professional lives and benefit from the experience of others. The close contact with the university also helps former students in the club to look beyond the confines of their own companies and acquire up-to-date practical knowledge.

However, members of the network do not only help each other, but also support current PFH students e.g. in mentoring programmes and field projects, or through targeted support for young entrepre-neurs. Alumni can also support young company founders via the PFH Centre for Entrepreneurship.

The Alumni Club already has numerous events planned for 2014, such as a Homecoming Meeting in the first quarter and regional Graduate Meetings which, as well as sharing experience, should also include trips or company visits. All former students are invited to suggest further events and, of course, to get actively involved through membership of the club.

Sharing and passing on experiencePFH Alumni Club e. V.

94 | Spectrum

Coffee to Go in togo Former student Markus Weber cycles to West Africa

For six years after his Management studies, former PFH student Markus Weber oversaw IT transformations as a Management Consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Then, Weber traded his business lifestyle in for an adventure for a year. In July 2012, he got on his bike. OnMay 10th 2013, after cycling 14,037 kilometres, he reached the West African country of Togo. At his destination, Weber accomplished an unusual mission that he had set himself: to drink a coffee to go in Togo!

"In terms of taste", he reported, "it wasn't worth the journey, though. Like almost everywhere in West Africa, people in Togo overwhel-mingly drink instant coffee – with lots of sweetened condensed milk." Despite this slight let-down, the journey by bicycle was an unforgettable experience for Weber. Starting in his home town in the Black Forest, he had chosen a long route that should have actually taken him across Eastern Europe and the Middle East onto the African continent. However, due to the civil war in Syria, Weber departed from the planned route in Greece and, following stop-offs in Italy and Spain, eventually took the ferry from Gi-braltar to Morocco. From there, his route took him through the West African coastal countries to Togo, mostly by endless sand tracks. Only for a few adverse sections did Weber make use of motorised transport facilities. For the remainder of the journey, he was sat on his saddle. During the cycle tour, Weber enjoyed magnificent landscapes, freedom and hospitality, drank tea with village chiefs and formed friendships – but he also ran into some dangerous situations. He was pursued by wild dogs in Romania, fell ill with malaria in Senegal, was cursed in the Ivory Coast and had a car crash just in front of his front wheel in Ghana. Weber even managed to find parallels to working life: "Whether you are chairing a business meeting or surrounded by 50 children in an African village, in a certain sense it's the same: You have to assume the role of moderator and be able to communicate." Following his cycling tour, Weber also took on a new challenge professionally. He switched to the smaller IT Management Consultancy auticon in Berlin as a Project Manager. The company's distinctive feature – as an IT specialist, the company exclusively employs people with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

Really

Big Cin

ema

The PF

H-Team

100 | Committees and Official Bodies

Operating CompanyGesellschaft für praxisbezogene Forschung und wissenschaftliche Lehre GmbHChairman of the Supervisory Board Martin Löwer (Dipl.-Kfm. Dipl.-Hdl.)Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Karin Dietz (Dipl.-Kfm.)Managing Director Werner Rose (Dipl.-Hdl.)

Executive BoardPresident: Prof. Dr. Bernt R. A. SierkeVice President Prof. Dr. Frank Albe, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wilm F. Unckenbold

Honorary PresidentProf. Dr. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Lücke

Spokesman for the Board of TrusteesHenrik Homann (Dipl.-Kfm.)

Academic Advisory BoardProf. Dr. Axel Dreyer (Chair), Prof. Dr. Cornelius Frömmel, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Herrmann

University Advisory BoardsTechnology Management: Harry Evers (Dipl.-Ing.), Managing Director of the Braunschweig Collaborative Centre for Transport (GZVB), Manfred Sperlich, Managing Director of innos – Sperlich GmbH (Chair)

SME Offensive: Heiko Stuarth Keilholz, Owner of HKS Group

Stade Campus: Dagmar Froelich, Chair of Stade Agency for Employment, Dieter Kanzel-meyer, Chair of the Board of Sparkasse Stade-Altes Land, Thomas Falk, Chief Executive of Stade Employer‘s Association, Elbe-Weser-Triangle e.V., Silvia Nieber, Mayor of the Hanseatic City of Stade, Jörg Orlemann, Chief Executive of IHK Stade, Michael Roesberg, Stade District Council

Patron of the German National Academic FoundationProf. Dr. Rita Süssmuth

University AdministrationBenno Fleer Dipl.-Geogr. (Chancellor), Peggy Repenning Dipl.-Volksw.(Vice Chancellor)

Alumni WorkChairman of the PFH Alumni Club e. V.: Prof. Dr. Julian Voss

Student RepresentativesTimo Hellmich, Nico Stobinski, Vanessa Vogt

[1] Canoe tour: Sixth year students from the Composites Bachelor's programme upon finishing their project, with lecturer Dr. Dieter Marx (centre).

[2] Expo: The PFH was represented at the Expo Live in Kas-sel from 11. to 13. April, where it presented its Orthobio-nics programme.

[3] AIESEC: PFH students too are playing a crucial role in the international organisation run by students for students.

[4] Trips: On 22. November, 18 students from the General Management Master's programme undertook a company visit to Knauf, the global market leader in the areas of interior fittings, façades and flooring systems.

[5] China: Students gathered around Prof. Dr. Hans- Christian Riekhof in Audi's Digital Showroom in Beijing.

[6] Publisher visit: PFH students accompanied by Prof. Dr. Julian Voss (left) meet BILD Chief Editor Kai Diekmann (5th from right) at the Springer publishing house in Hamburg.

[7] Exchange: Discussions between students and company representatives during the Internship Fair.

[2]

[4]

[1]

[3]

[5]

[6] [7]

[1-3] Profs@Turntables: PFH Professors Michael Heinlein, Joachim Ahrens, Hubert Schüle and Manfred P. Zilling DJed in the Irish Pub for a good cause.

[4] Whistle: PFH staff members fought bravely at the football tournament on 13. May

[5] Striking up a tune: The PFH band Pugees ensured a great atmosphere at the Bachelor's Ball on 18. October in Hotel Freigeist in Northeim.

[6] Bachelor's Ball: Full house – graduates and their guests celebrated successfully completing their studies.

[7] Animal guest: Peppa the dog was given two days' asylum at the university Communications Office.

[8] Opening: The University Communications team at the start of the "Good Reasons" campaign.

[1] [2]

[6]

[7] [7][8]

[3]

[4] [5]

Legal Notice | 103

Published byPFH Private University of Applied Sciences GöttingenWeender Landstr. 3-7, 37073 GöttingenTel. +49 [0]551 54700-100Fax +49 [0]551 [email protected], www.pfh.de

Editorial SupportWe would like to thank the following students and graduates for their support: Stephanie Arndt, Stefan Brinkhoff, Markus Busse, Mirko Dismer, Christina Frese, Anton Ha, Neele Hartmann, Timo Hellmich, Katharina Hoidis, Hauke Holsten, Teresa Jacobi, Dennis Kaspar, Julian Müller, Susanne Müller, Felix Neu-mann, Jana Otto, Nico Stobinski, Vanessa Vogt, Markus Weber, Daniela Wedeking, Ma-rius Winkler.

Concept/Design/Editing PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen, University Communications

Photo CreditsAIESEC, GöttingenAirbus Operations GmbH, StadeCFK-Valley Stade Convention GbR, StadePeter Helfrich, WitzenhausenMichael Hensel Fotodesign, StadeFelix Jürgen Holland, BerlinIdeenExpo GmbH, Hannoverinnos-Sperlich GmbH, GöttingenChristian Isachsen, Kiel Annette Koroll Fotos, BerlinTorsten Kramer, StadeOtto Bock HealthCare GmbH, DuderstadtManuel Pfeufer, Nörten-HardenbergAlciro Theodoro da Silva, Göttingenwww.fotolia.de: © drubig-photo, © Elnur, © bendesign.com, © Bernd Jürgens, © itestro, © styleuneed, © Anatolijs Laic&#257, © Noel Powell, © James Steidl, © James McGlade, © djama, © eskaylim, © ego450, © fotopak, © Stefan Körber, © mucft, © pixelrobot, © Sashkin, © seqoya, © xy

PrintingGoltze Druck, Göttingen, www.goltze.de

Circulation1st Edition Dec. 2013

Documents

AnnuAl RepoRt2013...stian Riekhof and Joachim Ahrens took part in the event PFH meets Politics. [6] Mourning: Dr. Jörg Biethahn, Founding Professor of the PFH, died in September;