Speakers

Amelya Keles Slevogt is an MD-PhD candidate at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), where her research centers on preclinical drug development in neuroimmunology.
In parallel to her scientific work, Amelya is an advocate for open and responsible research. She serves on the executive board of the Student Network for Open Science e.V. and has spoken on the topic of Open Science at several conferences, including a panel at the Weizenbaum Institute, the International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, and the Open Science Festival.

Brandon Bohrn is a member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Europe Program, where he focuses on U.S. foreign and security policy, U.S. domestic politics, NATO, and transatlantic relations. Before joining the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Brandon worked as a member of the transatlantic team at the Bertelsmann Foundation in Washington, D.C., co-authoring Transatlantic Trends for three years. As a Fulbright and DAAD scholar, Brandon has worked and studied on both sides of the Atlantic. He gained work experience with the foreign and defense policy staff of a U.S. Senator, as well as in the political and economic units of the U.S. Consulate General Düsseldorf and the U.S. Embassy Berlin. Brandon completed the TransAtlantic Masters Program (TAM) in political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He is also a graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

Corinna Blutguth is a program manager in GMF’s Berlin office. She coordinates programming and research on U.S.-German relations, transatlantic security, and German domestic and foreign policy. Before joining GMF, Corinna worked as a program officer for a public-private-partnership of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Robert Bosch Foundation, and the German Council on Foreign Relations. She also gained experience working for the Kolleg-Forschergruppe Transformative Power of Europe at Freie Universität Berlin. Corinna holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Potsdam and studied European Studies in Magdeburg and Brno. Next to her native German, she speaks English and Spanish and has a basic knowledge of French and Czech.

Cyriac Roeding is a German-American entrepreneur and investor based in Silicon Valley. He serves as co-founder and CEO of Earli, turning cancer against itself by designing genetic constructs that activate only in cancer cells and turns them into factories that produce their own therapies. He also co-founded Rewind Co, a company focused on reversing type 2 diabetes. Through Roeding Ventures, he invests in startups and top VC funds worldwide. Previously, he built shopkick, driving $1B in partner sales before its $250M acquisition. His past roles include Kleiner Perkins, CBS Mobile, and McKinsey. A Fortune “40 Under 40” Mobilizer, he has received Cannes Lions and Emmy nominations.

Daniel Freund has been a Member of the European Parliament for the Greens since 2019. He focuses on transparency, democracy, anti-corruption, and shaping the future of the EU. He serves on the Committees for Constitutional Affairs, Budgetary Control, and Civil Liberties. Freund has led efforts to amend EU treaties, advocated for an independent ethics authority for EU institutions, and chairs a cross-party group focused on anti-corruption. Before his parliamentary career, he worked at Transparency International, the German Foreign Office, the EU Delegation in Hong Kong, Deloitte, and the French civil service academy ENA. Freund studied politics, economics, and law in Leipzig, Paris, and Washington, and holds a Master’s degree in “Affaires Publiques” from Sciences Po Paris. He also co-founded a European daily newspaper project, which was nominated for the Charlemagne Youth Prize.

Image source: European Parliament

Dr. Benjamin Wolba co-founded the European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH) to drive defense innovation in Europe. Our mission is to bring more talent into Europe’s defense technology sector, accelerate innovation, and foster collaboration. We organize events such as the European Defense Tech Hackathon, and we connect startups, defense agencies, and industry leaders to advance novel solutions for pressing security challenges. Learn more about us and our impact here: eurodefense.tech

Dr. Francesca Morini is a designer, lecturer, and scholar in the field of data visualization. She holds a BA in Media and Communication Studies from the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, an MSc in Communication Design from the Politecnico di Milano, and a PhD from the Media and Communication Department at Södertörn University, Stockholm. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Film University KONRAD WOLF, with affiliations to Metalab Berlin & Harvard, and UCLAB Potsdam. Her research sits at the intersection of computer science, data visualization, and journalism, with a strong focus on developing new visual models and methods to communicate complex societal issues through data visualization.

Jochen works in the innovation and transfer policy issues division at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research where he coordinates Germany‘s overarching research and innovation strategy. Before he was responsible for implementing the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) into education and research policies, leading to the first sustainability strategy of the ministry in 2023. His main interest lies on transdisciplinary mission approaches to address major transformation processes such as climate change, digitization or global health. Jochen is a physicist by training who did his PhD in biophysics at the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden and the Francis Crick Institute in London.

Dr. Marcel Wrzesinski is head of “Open Access and Publications Services” at the Medical Library of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. His work focus on the governance and infrastructures of scholarly communication and distribution. This includes, in particular, questions about the future of scholarly journals, equitable access to scholarly literature, and sustainable business models for scholar-led publishing without author-facing charges (Diamond OA). With a background in philosophy, gender studies, and cultural studies, he got his PhD from the Justus Liebig University Giessen with a thesis on the utopian possibilities of Post-war political manifestos. Before joining the Medical Library, he was research consultant and project manager at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (Giessen), Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. He is also editor of “Open Gender Journal“, co-chair of the focus group “scholar-led.network” and advises various research institutions on issues of Open Research and Open Science.

Dr. Mathijs Vleugel holds a PhD in biophysics/cell biology and became head of the Helmholtz Open Science Office in September 2024. In this role, he supports the Helmholtz Association, its research centers, and the wider research community in shaping the cultural change towards Open Science. Before joining Helmholtz, Mathijs worked as a science policy expert at the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), where he coordinated the 2023 revision of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and contributed to policy statements at the intersection of Open Science, Research Integrity, and Research Assessment. Mathijs currently serves as the chair of the German National Chapter of the Coalition on Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).

Image source: ALLEA/Judith Affolter

The Future Founders Initiative (FFI) is building an open-minded community of ambitious young professionals, high school- and university students with a shared interest in entrepreneurship. Through regular networking events and hands-on design thinking workshops, FFI empowers aspiring founders to connect, collaborate, and take their first entrepreneurial steps. The initiative blends experimental learning with real startup insights and mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs. With events hosted in cities like Frankfurt, Aachen, Munich and Dresden, FFI aims to reach and inspire the next generation of changemakers and equip them with the tools, mindset, and network to launch impactful ventures.

Günther H. Oettinger was European Commissioner for Budget & Human Resources since January 2017. From November 2014 to December 2016, he held office as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society after being European Commissioner for Energy from February 2010 to October 2014 and lastly also Vice-President of the European Commission in 2014. From 2005-2010, he was Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and, since 1984, a member of the regional Parliament (“Landtag”). He was the leader of the CDU Landtag group from January 1991 to April 2005. A lawyer by training, Günther H. Oettinger became actively involved in politics during his adolescence.

Heike Freimuth represents the EIB Group in Germany and has headed the Berlin Representative Office since September 1, 2021. Since 1995, she has held various positions, primarily in the bank’s Operations Directorate, initially working in direct financing for public and private projects with a focus on Africa. Between 2011 and 2019, she was responsible for managing the bank’s mandates outside the EU in a senior leadership role and represented the bank in dealings with other partner institutions. From June 2019 to August 2021, she served as a senior advisor on EU-Africa affairs at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, contributing to Germany’s EU Council Presidency. Ms. Freimuth is an agricultural economist with an MBA and began her professional career as a consultant for SME development and entrepreneurship at LUSO CONSULT GmbH in Cologne, focusing on Africa, as well as Central Europe and Asia.

Isabell Wagenhäuser studied medicine and translational medicine in Würzburg, Zurich, Bern, and Nagasaki. She is currently practicing as a medical doctor and training as a pediatrician with an emphasis on infectious diseases. Combining clinical practice with research, she focuses on acute respiratory infections, striving to bridge the gap between scientific advancements and patient care. Her work encompasses the diagnosis, epidemiology, immunology, and long-term effects of these infections. She is an alumna of the Bavarian Elite Network and part of the 26th cohort of the Bavarian Elite Academy.

Joe Kaeser (born 1957) is Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of the two DAX40 companies Siemens Energy AG and Daimler Truck Holding AG. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Linde plc. Mr Kaeser is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum and the Advisory Council of the Munich Security Conference. Mr Kaeser worked for Siemens for more than 40 years, where he held a number of leading management positions in the areas of finance and strategy in Germany and abroad. Prior to his time as CEO, he was Chief Strategy Officer (2004 to 2006) and Chief Financial Officer of the company (2006 to 2013). Joe Kaeser is a supporter of inclusive capitalism. His mantra: ‘The business of business is to serve society.’ Companies must make a sustainable contribution to the well-being of society. However, this can only be achieved from a position of economic strength, i.e. through sustainable profitability based on a robust business model. Innovative strength, customer proximity and cost leadership are decisive prerequisites for this – as is responsible but decisive management. Kaeser regularly speaks out on socially relevant issues. He takes a clear stance against marginalisation and discrimination and advocates respect and cooperation in an open society.

Louisa Hadadi is a human rights activist, legal scholar and freelance journalist with a focus on public international law and intersectional feminism. She studied law in Hamburg, Santiago de Chile and Beijing, before pursuing and LL.M. in international criminal law at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and Columbia Law School. Currently, she completes her legal clerkship with stations inter alia at the German Constitutional Court and a human rights NGO. As one of two German youth delegates for the UN Commission on the Status of Women 68, she advocated for intersectional approaches to gender justice. She is an active member of the German Youth Representative Committee of Amnesty International Germany.

Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the Student Network for Open Science, B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Molecular Medicine, MD candidate at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Magdalena Bolsinger is a final-year MD candidate at the Friedrich-Alexander-University, concurrently holding a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Molecular Medicine, both earned during her medical studies. She received her research training at the Charité Berlin, the University College London and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Her scientific work centers on the characterization and understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on α-synucleinopathies. In addition to her research, she serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Student Network for Open Science (JNOS), where she leads an initiative aimed at fundamentally transforming the scientific landscape by promoting critical thinking, responsible publishing, and good scientific practice among students.

Mathias is Head of Advisory at Possible Digital, a Berlin-based boutique consulting Firm working on the intersection of the Public Sector and the Tech Sector. Prior to his time at Possible, Mathias worked at McKinsey & Company and served as a German diplomat in the Federal Foreign Office. Past postings include Afghanistan, Bangladesh and France. In his spare time, Mathias is a passionate supporter of his hometown football club MSV Duisburg and loves to spend time with his 3.5 years old son Oskar.

Mina Saidze is an award-winning AI expert, author and founder. Manager Magazin describes Mina as one of Germany’s leading AI thinkers. She founded Inclusive Tech, Europe’s first advocacy and advisory organization for diversity in tech and AI ethics, and works in the field of big data and artificial intelligence for high-tech start-ups and corporations. Mina was included in Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30” list and named one of the “Top 40 under 40” by Capital magazine. In autumn 2023, her highly acclaimed book “FairTech: Digitalisierung neu denken für eine gerechte Gesellschaft” was published by Bastei Lübbe.

Morgan Sheil is the Head of Impact at World Fund. Prior to joining World Fund, Morgan worked at Energy Impact Partners and KKR on sustainable investing, portfolio value creation, and technical and impact diligence. She began her career as an engineer at ExxonMobil. Further, she also works on developing and authoring industry-wide impact methodologies and frameworks with Project Frame and the Venture Climate Alliance. Morgan received her MBA from Harvard Business School, a postgraduate degree in sustainable systems engineering from University of Cambridge, and a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Paula Kuhn is a medical student at Leipzig University with a strong passion for research and healthcare. As part of her studies, she spent a year at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, conducting a year of basic research on the neuroprotective effects of exercise. Combining her scientific curiosity with a deep commitment to patient care, she aspires to become both a physician and a researcher. Beyond medicine, Paula is an avid sports enthusiast who finds joy in strength training, dance, and running. She is driven by the belief that medicine, science, and prevention go hand in hand in improving lives and shaping a healthier future.

Professor Wolfgang Wahlster is a leading expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe. As the founding director and former CEO, he developed the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) into one of the world’s largest AI research institutions as a public-private partnership. He is Professor Emeritus for AI at the Saarland University and currently Chief Advisor to the Management Board of DFKI. Wahlster’s current research focuses on multimodal spoken dialogue systems and cyber-physical production systems for Industrie 4.0. He is a member of several renowned academies, including the Royal Swedish Nobel Prize Academy and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (Deutsche Nationalakademie Leopoldina). For his achievements, he has received numerous awards, including the German Future Prize and the Germany’s Grand Cross of Merit. He is a Fellow of AAAI, EurAI, and ICSI at UC Berkeley. Currently, Wahlster serves as the President of the AI GRID for young AI talents. Additionally, he advises the German government in various committees and is active on several industrial supervisory and advisory boards.

Image source: Jim Rakete

Prof. Dr. Fernanda Beigel is a Sociologist and PhD in Political and Social Sciences who pursued her postdoctoral studies at the Centre de Sociologie Européenne (EHESS, Paris). Chair of the Advisory Committee for Open Science at UNESCO (2020-2021) and Chair of the Argentinian National Committee for Open Science (2020-2023). Senior Advisor of the Latin American Forum on Research Evaluation (FOLEC-CLACSO). Bernardo Houssay Prize (2003), CLACSO Essay Award (2004), Mention of Honour to Scientific Value-Argentine National Senate (2017). Currently is Principal Researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET, Argentina), Head Professor at the National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo) and the Director of the Research Center on the International Circulation of Knowledge (CECIC).

Gerd Gigerenzer, long-time director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, is director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy at the University of Potsdam, partner of Simply Rational – The Institute for Decisions, and vice-president of the European Research Council (ERC). He is former Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago and John M. Olin Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of Law at the University of Virginia. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Basel, the Open University of the Netherlands and the University of Southampton, UK. Awards for Gigerenzer’s work include the AAAS Prize for the best article in the behavioral sciences, the Association of American Publishers Prize for the best book in the social and behavioral sciences, the German Psychology Award, and the Communicator Award of the German Research Foundation. He has trained U.S. federal judges, German physicians, and international top managers in decision making and understanding risks and uncertainties. The Swiss Duttweiler Institute has distinguished Gigerenzer as one of the top-100 Global Thought Leaders worldwide.

Image source: Arne Sattler

Prof. Dr. Heike Rauer is a German astrophysicist specializing in exoplanet research. She leads the Institute of Planetary Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and is a professor at Freie Universität Berlin. She earned her doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1991 with research on cometary plasma tails and completed her habilitation at the Technical University of Berlin in 2004. Her research focuses on detecting and characterizing exoplanets, particularly through the ESA PLATO mission, which she has led since 2013 as head of its instrument consortium. PLATO is set to survey the Milky Way for planets, especially Earth-like ones, from 2026. She is also a member of the science team for the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), a network of 12 automated telescopes at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile, dedicated to searching for exoplanets. Previously, she was Germany’s representative and co-investigator in the CoRoT space telescope project of CNES and ESA from 2006 to 2014. She also contributed to the Rosetta mission as part of the team for the MIRO microwave spectrometer, which analyzed cometary gases. In recognition of her work, the asteroid 10025 Rauer was named after her.

Joanna J. Bryson is an academic expert specialised in both natural and artificial intelligence. Her research ranges from systems engineering of Artificial Intelligence (AI), through autonomy, behavioural ecology, cognition, ethics, cooperation, and on to technology policy. Her work appears in venues ranging from reddit to Science. She holds degrees in Psychology from Chicago and Edinburgh, and AI from Edinburgh and MIT. She has additional professional research experience from Princeton, Oxford, Harvard, and LEGO, and digital systems engineering experience in the financial and manufacturing sectors. Since 2020, Bryson is Professor of Ethics and Technology at Hertie School of Governance, in Berlin.

Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl is the Special Adviser for Political Affairs of the European Space Agency (ESA). Before, he was seconded from ESA to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin to support the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Until 2019, he was the Chief Strategy Officer of ESA in Paris. From 2007 to 2011 he was the Director of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna. Kai-Uwe Schrogl is the President of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the global association of space lawyers from more than 50 countries. He served from 2014 to 2016 as chairman of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) and was from 2020 to 2022 Co-Chair of the Global Future Council on Space of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He recently co-edited “A Research Agenda for Space Policy”.

Nikita Dhawan is a Professor of Political Theory and History of Ideas at TU Dresden. Her research and teaching focus on transnational feminism, global justice, human rights, democracy, and decolonization. In 2017, she was awarded the Käthe Leichter Prize in recognition of her contributions to women’s and gender studies, her support for the women’s movement, and her efforts to promote gender equality.

Image source: TU Dresden

Sebastian Möller is full professor for “Quality and Usability” at Technische Universität Berlin, and Scientific Director of the Research Department “Speech and Language Technology” at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI, in Berlin. He studied electrical engineering at the universities of Bochum, Orléans (France) and Bologna (Italy), and received his PhD from Ruhr-Universität Bochum with a thesis on the assessment and prediction of speech quality in communication technology systems. From 2005 to 2015, he worked at Telekom Innovation Laboratories, an affiliated institute of Technische Universität Berlin. His research interests include quality and user experience, speech-based and multimodal human-computer interaction, speech and language technology, as well as usable security and privacy. Since 1997, he has participated in the standardization activities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T), and served as a president of the International Speech Communication Association, ISCA, from 2021 to 2023.

Image source: DFKI

Prof. Dr. Stephan Russ-Mohl is Professor emeritus of Journalism and Media Management at the Faculty ofCommunication Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano. He was a Gutenberg Fellow atthe University of Mainz 2011/2012 and repeatedly a Visiting Fellow at the Department ofCommunication, Stanford University (1995, 1999, 2008 and 2015). Before, he served as a Professorof Journalism and Media Management at the Freie Universität Berlin from 1985-2001. He studiedPublic Administration/Public Policy at the University of Konstanz and at Princeton University andreceived professional training in Journalism at the Deutsche Journalistenschule (German School ofJournalism), Munich. His research interests include Economic Theory of Journalism, BehaviouralEconomics of Journalism, Comparative Analysis of Journalism Cultures as well as Media andNewsroom Management, Science Journalism, Media Journalism, and the Relationship between PRand Journalism.

Prof. h. c. Dr. Karl A. Lamers is a leading expert in international security affairs with decades of experience. A member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 1998, until 2022; he served as its President from 2010 to 2012. From 2008 to 2014, he was also President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA), actively promoting transatlantic cooperation. For 27 years, from 1994 to 2021, Prof. h. c. Lamers was a member of the German Bundestag for the CDU, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Bundestag’s Defence Committee from 2006 until 2021, where he focused on security and defense policy. In recognition of his contributions to international relations and defense policy, he has been honored with the Grand Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania, the Order of Honour of Georgia, and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary. In 2018, Prof. h. c. Lamers founded the Dr. Karl A. Lamers Friedens-Stiftung, aiming to encourage young people to reflect on the importance of peace and freedom. Since 2021, he has served as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia for Baden-Württemberg.

Sebastian is part of the Challenge Team at SPRIND, where he drives DARPA-style competitions aimed at solving some of the world’s most complex challenges. Before joining SPRIND, he was a Project Leader at the social impact consultancy Value for Good in Berlin, where he was leading projects in global health and digital innovation. His diverse experience includes strategy consulting with CVA and stints in the investment teams at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and KfW DEG. Outside of work, Sebastian enjoys multi-day hikes in the mountains, running along the Spree, and discovering new music artists in venues of all kinds. He holds an MPA/ID from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Master’s in Management from the University of Mannheim.

Media entrepreneur Sebastian Turner is the founder and publisher of Table.Briefings (www.table.media), Berlin, the largest German start-up for quality journalism. The political scientist (Duke, USA) founded Medium, a magazine for journalism, after graduating from high school. During his time as CEO, Scholz & Friends developed into the most creative and largest independent communications group in Germany. During his time on the supervisory board of Dieter von Holtzbrinck and as publisher and co-owner of the Tagesspiegel, the newspaper with the “deep journalism” approach (Stephan Russ-Mohl) rose from No. 4 to the largest and most successful in Berlin with a market share of over 50 percent. He initiated the Falling Walls Science Summit and the Creative Bureaucracy Festival. With the Trafo Mediatech Group (www.Trafo.com), he is committed to innovation in media. Turner is an honorary professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York (UK) for his contributions to press freedom.

Image source: Deniz Saylan

The Student Network for Open Science (NOS) is the first student Open Science Journal, course platform, think tank, and research hub for life and health sciences in the German-speaking area. It is a nationwide initiative that brings together students and early-career researchers committed to fostering transparency, collaboration, and reproducibility in science. Through workshops, talks, and community events, NOS promotes open science practices such as open data, pre-registration, and open access. By connecting participants with peers and experts alike, NOS empowers the next generation of researchers to help shape a more transparent and inclusive scientific culture. Active chapters exist in cities including Berlin, Heidelberg, and Leipzig.

Thomas Hoffmann is the founder and CEO of Aperio Space Technologies, a startup dedicated to enabling next-generation connectivity in space by securely forwarding data over a resilient network of satellites. He studied physics at the Technical University of Darmstadt, focusing on scalable Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) networks. His academic background, combined with hands-on experience in freelance software development, consulting, and product management, makes him a pragmatic and multidisciplinary problem solver. A key aspect of Aperio’s mission is to unite European space companies in a cross-platform effort to enable independent, secure, and scalable connectivity in space.