Former BIGSSS-Director of Studies to become University of Bremen's Vice President for Internationalization, Academic Qualification, and Diversity › view all

On September 1st, 2022, Dr. Mandy Boehnke, the former BIGSSS-Director of Studies and current BIGSSS faculty member, will become University of Bremen's Vice President for Internationalization, Academic Qualification, and Diversity. “In the past ten years, there has been a lot of movement in the area of internationalization, which is reflected in the increase in English-language degree courses, a growing number of international students, and cross-boarder research cooperations.” Mandy Boehnke would like to combine and focus the existing central and decentralized cooperations.

She would also like to advocate for the systematic promotion of the central academic structure and strengthen the development opportunities of this heterogeneous group. The central academic structure “is one of the most important pillars of the university. It provides essential teaching, research, and transfer services and, at over 50 percent, represents the largest employee group at the University of Bremen.”

In the area of diversity, she announced plans to build on past efforts and continue to remove barriers. To this end, it would make sense to evaluate the activities of recent years and current needs, to examine priorities, to strengthen synergies, and to link the topic more sustainably with the areas of research and transfer as well as academia and teaching.

Mandy Boehnke studied sociology at TU Chemnitz and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has been a member of the University of Bremen since 2004. After a one-year stay abroad at the National University of Singapore, she worked as a research assistant in the field of theory and empirics of social structure. After completing her doctorate in sociology of the family, the social scientist joined the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). There, as Director of Studies, she was responsible for the implementation of the structured doctoral program and, as a member of the board, was involved in its further development and allocation of funds. Mandy Boehnke has been the Dean of Studies in Faculty 8: Social Sciences since 2021.

Apart from her great involvement as BIGSSS faculty memeber and PI of the RTG Self, we are very much looking to working with Mandy in her new position. She knows our graduate school and its distinct international and diversity oriented mission better than most.