Change of leadership at the ECDF: Tabea Flügge and Martin Gersch succeed Gesche Joost as dual leadership

The members of the Einstein Center Digital Future have elected a new Board of Directors. The official start of the two-year term of office was October 18, 2024. At the constituent meeting of the ECDF Board of Directors, Professors Tabea Flügge and Martin Gersch were elected as the new dual spokespersons of the ECDF.
"We are delighted that our colleagues have placed their trust in us to firmly anchor digitalization research in Berlin's scientific landscape and to set up the ECDF for continuation beyond 2028. This is the only way we can successfully tackle the long-term challenges of digitalization," say Tabea Flügge and Martin Gersch, who are taking over from Gesche Joost. Gesche Joost will remain with the ECDF as an Associate Researcher, having been the Center's Spokesperson since June 2023. She stepped down to take up her new role as President of the Goethe-Institut in November 2024. TU professors Timm Teubner and Andrea Cominola were elected as deputies for the two spokespersons.
The ECDF Board of Directors is made up of a total of six ECDF professors from the various Berlin universities, supplemented by a representative of the associated researchers and a representative of the academic staff/postdocs. A member of the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Officers of the Berlin universities is also a member of the governing body.
Officially elected by the members of the ECDF:
- Prof. Tabea Flügge (spokesperson), Professor of Digital Technologies for the Reconstruction of Complex Facial Defects, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, as representative for the professors of the ECDF
- Prof. Timm Teubner (Deputy Spokesperson), Professor of Digital Service Engineering, Technische Universität Berlin, as representative for the professors of the ECDF
- Prof. Andrea Cominola (Deputy Spokesperson), Professor of Smart Water Networks/Digital Networking of Water and Wastewater Systems, Technische Universität Berlin, as representative for the ECDF professors
- Prof. Philipp Staab, Professor of Sociology of Work, Economy and Technological Change, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, as representative for the professors of the ECDF
- Prof. Daniel Fürstenau, Professor of Business Administration, IT Management and Digital Transformation, Freie Universität Berlin, as representative for the professors of the ECDF
- Prof. Michelle Christensen, Professor of Open Science / Critical Culture, Technische Universität Berlin/Universität der Künste Berlin, as representative for the professors of the ECDF
- Prof. Martin Gersch(Spokesperson), Professor of Business Administration, Information and Organization, Freie Universität Berlin, as representative of the ECDF Associate researcher
- Laura Rothfritz, research assistant at the Chair of Information Management, Institute of Library and Information Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, as representative for the PhDs and Postdocs of the ECDF
- Dr. Christine Kurmeyer, Central Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, delegated by the State Conference of Women's and Equal Opportunities Officers at Berlin's universities
New research priorities and continuation beyond 2028
The new Board of Directors will lead the ECDF through the second funding phase "ECDF - Next Generation", which runs until March 2028. The members of the Board form a cross-section of the various scientific disciplines at the ECDF, reflect the new focus areas of the second funding phase - Transforming Communities, Sustainable Cities and Digital Health - and represent the various universities involved in the ECDF. At the same time, the Board of Directors is working to continue the ECDF's work beyond 2028.