Profile Board

Strategic advisory Board for the Executive Board on the further development of the research profile

High-rise building at the Inselplatz Campus with illuminated lettering reading “University of Jena” and “LIGHT.LIFE.LIBERTY.”

Image: Nicole Nerger (University of Jena)
High-rise building at the Inselplatz Campus with illuminated lettering reading “University of Jena” and “LIGHT.LIFE.LIBERTY.”
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The Profile Board provides strategic advice to the Executive Board on developing the University's researchprofile and on outstanding research projects. Its focus lies on new thematic fields, in particular those spanning several profile areas, and on establishing and advancing areas of potential and research focal areas – together with the coordination teams of the three profile areas.

Funding the Research Profile

The Profile Board contributes to allocating the funds that the University provides to strengthen its research profile. These funds support long-term scientific development, in particular the building of innovative research collaborations and the systematic development of researchpotential.

Together with the coordination teams of the profile areas, the Profile Board develops the funding formats. For projects from 25,000 euros per year it issues funding recommendations to the Executive Board, while the coordination teams award smaller grants within their profile area themselves. Funding objectives, selection criteria and award procedures are made accessible to the whole University.

Members and how the Board works

The Profile Board has 15 members: twelve members of the University, nine of them from the group of professors, and three members from outside the University. Its composition reflects the three profile areas and takes account of the diversity of academic perspectives and career stages.

Members are elected by the Senate for six years, on a proposal by the Executive Board and in consultation with the coordination teams; the current term of office runs from 2026 to 2032. From among their number they elect a spokesperson and two deputies, each for three years. The Profile Board meets at least twice a year.

Spokespersons

  • Prof. Kirsten Küsel

    Kirsten Küsel is Professor of Aquatic Geomicrobiology and spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse". In 2025 she was elected to the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences. She is the spokesperson of the Profile Board.

    Prof. Dr Kirsten Küsel
    Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)

  • Prof. Felix Schacher

    Felix Schacher is Professor of Nanostructured Polymer Materials at the Institute of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry and a member of the Jena Center for Soft Matter. His research focuses on block copolymers and their self-assembly. He is a deputy spokesperson of the Profile Board.

    Prof. Dr Felix Schacher at the Institute for Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry at the University of Jena
    Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)

  • Dr Petra Gümplová

    Petra Gümplová conducts research at the Institute of Political Science and leads a junior research group in the Collaborative Research Centre "Structural Change of Property". Her work focuses on international political theory, sovereignty and global justice. She is a deputy spokesperson of the Profile Board.

    Portrait Petra Gümplová
    Image: Hamish John

Other Members

  • Internal Members
    • Prof. Dr Michael Bauer
    • Prof. Dr Ilona Croy
    • Prof. Dr Dietmar Gallistl
    • Prof. Dr Ulrike Kaiser
    • Prof. Dr Anika Klafki
    • Dr Markus Lakemeyer
    • Dr Desirée Leistenschneider
    • Prof. Dr Joachim von Puttkamer
    • Prof. Dr Giancarlo Soavi
  • External Members
    • Prof. Dr Lucas Brunsveld
    • Prof. Dr Reint E. Gropp
    • Prof. Dr Stephanie Reich

Profile Areas

  • LIGHT.

    The LIGHT profile brings together the University's research in the natural sciences and engineering – from optics and photonics through materials and nanotechnologies to energy and data – and creates points of connection towards biology and medicine.

    Laboratory of the Abbe School of Photonics
    Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

  • LIFE.

    The LIFE profile brings together the life sciences and medicine, fields with a long research tradition in Jena, and connects them with technical approaches from LIGHT and with the social and ethical questions addressed in LIBERTY.

    Microbial cultures in Petri dishes, front: Streptomyces lividans
    Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)

  • LIBERTY.

    The LIBERTY profile brings together the University's research in the humanities, social sciences and economics – from the Enlightenment, Classicism and Romanticism through the history of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe to questions of social change.

    LIBERTY profile
    Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)
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