World-renowned informatics center under new scientific management

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24.04.2025 18:33

World-renowned informatics center under new scientific management

Dr.-Ing. Michael Gerke Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik GmbH

Ergänzung vom 24.04.2025

On May 1, 2025, Professor Holger Hermanns will take over as Scientific Director of Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Zentrum für Informatik, succeeding Professor Raimund Seidel.

Professor Hermanns is an internationally renowned scientist in the fields of modeling and verification of concurrent and resource-adaptive systems. Among the unconventional applications of his research are his work on wireless braking of bicycles, decentralized stabilization of energy grids, and energy-optimal operation of fleets of small satellites. On May 1, 2025, he will take over the management of the Schloss Dagstuhl informatics center and succeed Professor Seidel, who will now focus more on his new challenge as Vice President for Sustainable Development and Strategy at Saarland University.

Scientific progress thrives on conversations, discussions, and the exchange of ideas. Schloss Dagstuhl, the Leibniz Center for Informatics, has set itself the mission to further world-class research in computer science by facilitating such communication and interaction between researchers. Since 1990, small, hand-picked and interdisciplinary groups of outstanding researchers and promising young scientists from all over the world have been meeting there. The center offers them the perfect place for concentrated reflection and constructive discussions. Worldwide literature research, which is essential for serious research, is promoted by the operation of the most important international literature database for computer science, dblp. The freely accessible website dblp.org offers hand-curated author profiles. Low-cost Open Access publishing services, such as the internationally recognized conference proceedings series Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, facilitate worldwide exchange among researchers. Finally, the center also participates in cooperation projects such as the National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI.

Professor Seidel has decisively shaped the profile of Schloss Dagstuhl over the past 11 years. He successfully guided the Leibniz Center for Informatics through the challenges of the turbulent times of the pandemic, and under his leadership the center was evaluated by the Leibniz Association with top marks both before and after the pandemic. More than 3,500 international researchers visit the castle every year.

Professor Hermanns has been familiar with the informatics center Schloss Dagstuhl for decades as a regular participant in the scientific meetings. As long-standing Chairman of the Friends of Dagstuhl Association and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Schloss Dagstuhl Informatics Center Foundation, he was able to directly accompany the fortunes of the center over many years and also help shape individual aspects of it.

Holger Hermanns studied computer science in Germany and applied mathematics in France. After completing his doctorate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1998, he initially worked at the University of Twente. He has held a professorship at Saarland University since 2003. In addition to visiting professorships in Grenoble, Guangzhou, and Copenhagen and multiple grants for his research from the European Research Council ERC, he was accepted into the Academia Europaea in 2013 and initiated the transregional Collaborative Research Center CPEC of the German Research Foundation DFG in 2019. As a member of various consortia, he has been leading efforts to secure more than €25 million in research funding to date.

Background:
During the whole year, Schloss Dagstuhl invites scientists from all over the world to come to northern Saarland in the south west of Germany to debate the newest scientific findings in informatics. More than 3,500 computer scientists from universities, research institutions, and industry take part in various scientific events at Dagstuhl each year. In addition, Schloss Dagstuhl operates dblp, a central publication database for computer science, and also offers open access publishing services. Since 2005, Schloss Dagstuhl is a member of the Leibniz Association, which connects 96 leading non-university research institutes and scientific infrastructure facilities all over Germany. Because of their national importance, the federal government and the state governments jointly fund the institutes of the Leibniz Association.

For interviews, reports or shooting footage, please contact:
Dr.-Ing. Michael Gerke
Phone: +49 6871 905 203
E-mail: presse@dagstuhl.de

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