Shaped by Change

Dr. Annette E. Götz’s professional journey has already taken her to many places. Now, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in research management, she has joined the University of Bayreuth (UBT), where she has headed the Research Support Office since April. Originally from Darmstadt, Götz completed her diploma in geosciences there in 1992. Her doctoral studies took her to the former "wild East" of Germany just a few years after reunification, in cooperation with the University of Jena, where she researched limestone deposits in central Germany. “That was a very exciting time for me, during which I also heard and experienced some deeply moving stories,” Götz recalls.

Following her doctorate, a postdoctoral position at TU Darmstadt, and a role as a research assistant at the University of Halle, she spent extended research stays in South Africa and Australia from 2010 onwards. There, she conducted geothermal research and taught at multiple universities before moving to England in 2015 to teach at Keele University and the University of Portsmouth. Then came another major turning point: the Brexit referendum. “The day after the vote, the atmosphere at the university was very sombre – it was a real shock for the academic community, especially for international staff,” Götz remembers. Suddenly, research projects faced new challenges with regard to funding – something Götz experienced first-hand with her own international collaborative project on deep geothermal energy.

In 2020 – in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – she returned to Germany and decided to shift from research to research management. She headed the Rectorate Office at TU Ilmenau, later led a nuclear waste disposal research project in Hanover, and most recently worked in research and knowledge transfer at Fulda University of Applied Sciences. “How can curious minds get support for their new research ideas? Where do those ideas fit best? Answering those questions requires close exchange between researchers and the people supporting research. That’s one of the things I enjoy most about working in research funding,” Götz explains.

She is particularly committed to fostering direct contact between researchers and research support staff – one of the key reasons she chose to join UBT. “The short distances on campus, the chance to meet people in the canteen, and the fact that the University of Bayreuth isn’t too big to lose that personal connection – those were decisive factors for me,” she says.

In her new role as Head of the Research Support Office, Götz aims to further strengthen the University’s existing assets and expand collaborations with other universities in joint or network-based research. With its already well-established and internationally recognised research focus areas, UBT has much to offer. “I believe it’s incredibly valuable to reduce the sense of competition between research institutions and instead foster collaboration. Bringing individual strengths into joint initiatives benefits everyone involved. Challenges such as climate change, security, democracy, but also food and health, can only be tackled on a global, networked level,” says Götz.

Driving forward such collaboration is something she particularly looks forward to. “Supporting researchers from different disciplines in applying for and carrying out their research projects is a diverse and exciting task. I’m looking forward to working with my team and collaborating closely with new colleagues across the university administration to continue developing the conditions that enable excellent research,” Götz concludes.