idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The University Election Assembly elected Professor Dr Carien Niessen for the office of Vice-Rector for Research. The cell biologist is particularly committed to promoting excellent research at the university.
On 08 September, the University Election Assembly — consisting of an equal number of members of the Senate and members of the University of Cologne’s University Council — elected Professor Dr Carien Niessen as Vice-Rector for Research. Her term of office will begin on 1 October 2025. She succeeds Professor Dr Claus Cursiefen, a physician who has chosen to step down after two years, following the successful conclusion of the Cluster of Excellence competition for the University of Cologne. Dr Cursiefen now plans to devote himself primarily to research, teaching and patient care at the Faculty of Medicine at the University Hospital Cologne.
During her term of office, Professor Niessen would like to place particular emphasis on promoting excellent research. Under Niessen’s leadership, the Vice-Rectorate will work with the faculties and other partners to identify and promote promising research projects at all levels at an early stage.
Dr Frauke Gerlach, Chair of the University Council at the University of Cologne, says: “I would like to congratulate Professor Dr Niessen on her election and wish her every success in her new role. In these challenging times for our university, I am delighted that we have appointed such an experienced and successful scientist to this position.”
The Rector of the University of Cologne, Professor Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, says: “My sincere congratulations to Professor Niessen on her election. As spokesperson of the oldest and largest Cluster of Excellence at our university, she combines excellent research capacities with a clear understanding of what is required to successfully manage and organize this core unit of our university.”
Professor Niessen says: “I am grateful for the trust placed in me and am very pleased to be able to provide strategic support to the University of Cologne as one of the largest and strongest research universities in Germany. With five Clusters of Excellence and several internationally visible research areas, the university is already very well positioned. My top priority is to contribute to a successful assessment within the ‘University of Excellence’ funding line of the German federal and state governments’ current Excellence Strategy.”
Carien Niessen conducts research at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research and in the Department of cell biology at the Faculty of Medicine. She was awarded her doctorate by the University of Amsterdam in 1996. After holding post-doctoral positions in the Netherlands and the US, she became a Research Group Leader at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC) in 2002. In 2008, she was appointed to a W2 professorship in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology. Since 2022, she has held a W3 professorship at the University of Cologne, and is Principal Investigator and Scientific Coordinator at CECAD. She has also been the spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence since 2025.
Press and Communications Team:
Dr Elisabeth Hoffmann
+49 221 470 2202
+49 151 72808840
e.hoffmann@verw.uni-koeln.de
Press Spokesperson: Dr Elisabeth Hoffmann – e.hoffmann@verw.uni-koeln.de
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
interdisciplinary
transregional, national
Personnel announcements
English
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