Heike Küchmeister, Director Potsdam Graduate School
The workshop series International Dialogue on Education Berlin is a joint initiative of the British Council Germany, the German Academic Exchange Service, the German-American Fulbright Commission, the Australian Group of Eight and the Canadian Bureau for International Education in Berlin.
Through the contributions of international participants the series aims to enrich the debate on science, research and higher education policy in Germany, to place German perspectives in a global context and to learn from positive examples from other countries.
Heike Küchmeister
Dr. Heike Küchmeister has been the director of the Potsdam Graduate School (PoGS) since January 2007.
The PoGS was founded in November 2006 and became a central scientific institution of Potsdam University in March 2009.
The establishment of the international, interdisciplinary Potsdam Graduate School was part of the restructuring of the postgraduate education at Potsdam University. Its aim is to improve the quality of the conditions for doctoral students at Potsdam University by instituting transparent procedures and closer subject-related and interdisciplinary support, in order to strengthen the science location and to make it more attractive to young researchers from both Germany and abroad.
Prior to her position at the PoGS, Ms. Küchmeister served as director of the international Ph.D. Programme "Integrative Plant Science" at the University of Potsdam, and was manager of the joint project GLOWA Jordan River (with Israel, Palestinian Authorities, Jordan, Germany).
From May 2001 until July 2002 she worked as a scientific officer at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
Her other relevant experience includes work as a scientific manager of the NGO Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) in Peru and in the USA.
From 1998 until 2000 she was a visiting professor at the Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Acre in Brazil.
Ms. Küchmeister studied biology at the Justus Liebig University Giessen and received her Ph.D. in biology from the Justus Liebig University Giessen.
