Doctoral Candidates

Marina Maia, M.A.

Marina de Castro Teixera Maia, M.A. Mestra em Planejamento Urbano e Regional (Univ. Federal do Rio Grande do Sul) | Doctoral Candidate

Marina Maia did her Bacharelado em Arquitetura e Urbanismo (Bachelor in Architecture and Urban Planning) at the Federal University of Ceará (Brazil). She completed her Mestrado em Planejamento Urbano e Regional (Master in Urban and Regional Planning) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in the research line City, Culture and Politics.

Marina Maia has worked as a research assistant in a project comprising ecological sustainability and heritage management in urban planning (under Prof. Dr. José Almir Farias Filho). In her Master’s, she did research on urban history, axiology, and heritage policy (under Prof. Dr. Inês Martina Lersch). She also did her training at Brazil’s National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), Fortaleza, Ceará, and at France’s National Directory of Cultural Affairs (Drac), Lyon, Rhônes Alpes. Marina Maia is a member of ICOMOS Brazil and her research interests lie in the fields of Cultural Heritage, Urban History, Planning, Cartography, Conceptual and Political History. Currently, she is working on her PhD thesis with Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz.

Contact


Marina de Castro Teixera Maia
Lehrgebäude 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

marina.deCastroTeixeiraMaia(at)b-tu.de


Office Hours

Only by appointment


Research Fields
 
Technology as Epistemic Culture
  • Boundary Objects
  • Conceptual History
Ethico-political Thinking
  • Heritage Policy and Management
  • Heritage Activism
  • Cultural Rights
Images as Instrument
  • Historical GIS
  • Historical Cartography
Olivier Rossel, M.A.

Olivier Rossel Doctoral Candidate

Olivier Rossel completed his initial training at the Biel/Bern School of Applied Arts as a federally certified graphic designer. After several years of working as a freelance graphic designer, typographer and artist, Olivier Rossel was accepted for the Master Fine Arts at the Institute of Art at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst FHNW in Basel. His master thesis dealt with collective artistic publishing as well as the performativity of artworks in the context of mediation and exhibition. Olivier Rossel worked for several years at the Institute HyperWerk HGK FHNW as a lecturer for post-industrial design and process design. He developed modules, workshops, exhibitions as well as annual and bachelor diploma topics for the institute.

At the PhD Preparation Course at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), Olivier developed his PhD project - supervised by Prof. Dr. Rachel Mader - on which he is currently working at the BTU-Cottbus. For his dissertation - which is supervised by Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz at the Chair of Technoscience Studies - Olivier is working with researchers from the MADMAX experiment at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich and at CERN in Geneva. His research interests lie in the field of tension between practice-oriented art research, new materialisms and current particle physics dedicated to the search for dark matter.

Kontakt

Olivier Rossel

Lehrgebäude 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

olivier.rossel(at)b-tu.de


Office Hours

Only by appointment


Research Fields
 
Technology as Epistemic Culture
  • practice-based artistic research
  • particle physics
  • virtual and performative materialities
Ethico-political Thinking
  • multiple realities
  • new materialisms
  • ethico-onto-epistem-ology
Future Narratives
  • heterogeneous knowledge spaces
  • situated knowledge and partial perspectives
  • video-essay and sound-agencies
Jonathan Bill Doe, M.A.

Jonathan Bill Doe, M.A. Doctoral Candidate

Jonathan Bill Doe majored in Philosophy of History at the University of Ghana and later received an M.A. in Museum and Heritage Studies from the same university. He conducted field work and participated in the Koma Land archaeological research project in Northern Ghana for his M.A. thesis under the supervision of Prof. Benjamin Warinsie Kankpeyeng. Jonathan Doe then completed methods courses in teaching history at University of Cape Coast, earning a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. He moved to BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg to pursue an M.A. in World Heritage Studies, completing his thesis on Archaeology of Wetlands Commons: Anlo Adaptive Management of Keta Lagoon under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz and Dr. Anca Prodan.

At BTU, Jonathan Doe has worked as a research assistant on the Environmental Humanities project at the Chair of Technoscience Studies. He has also worked with the Historical Society of Ghana and as a freelance tour guide and interpreter of Ghanaian heritage for both local and international audiences. He was a member of the USA’s National Science Foundation sponsored research project, Diaspora for Development, serving as a Willamette University Junior Scholar. Jonathan Doe has shared his ideas with professionals, academics and activists in Taiwan, Japan, USA and the Netherlands. He has been featured on The Ghanaian State public broadcasting and in radio documentaries, giving reflections on current affairs. Jonathan was awarded 2021 DAAD STIBET scholarship and presently KAAD scholarship holder. His is working on PhD topic, Urban Gardening and Sociotechnical Imaginary in Postcolonial Ghana with Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz at BTU.

Contact


Jonathan Bill Doe, M.A.
Lehrgebäude 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

jonathanbill.doe(at)b-tu.de


Office Hours

Only by appointment


Research Fields
 
Technology as Epistemic Culture
  • Theories of Technoscience
  • Postcolonial Philosophical Fieldwork
Ethico-political Thinking
  • Garden Practice in the Commons
  • Decolonising Ecology
  • Wetland Culture
Environmental Anthropology
  • From Homo faber to Homo hortensis
Images as Instruments
  • Urban Futures
Rahul Goswami, M.Sc.

Rahul Goswami, M.Sc Doctoral Candidate

Rahul completed his undergraduate degree in nanotechnology and was subsequently accepted as a full scholar for his master's thesis at the Ian Wark Research Institute in South Australia. Rahul also worked as a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay for two years, where he conducted research on the energy of grain boundary separation in nanomaterials, before deciding to switch academic paths to a more affective field.

Rahul completed his master's degree in environmental and resource management at BTU Cottbus. Professor Schwarz is supervising his thesis entitled "Artificial Consciousness: Navigating the Philosophical Abyss" In his thesis, Rahul aims to unravel the complexities inherent in replicating consciousness within artificial entities. From functionalism’s foundational tenets to the scrutiny of the Turing Test, we would navigate the philosophical abyss, aspiring to distill the essence of consciousness within the artificial mind.

Contact

Rahul Goswami

Lehrgebäude 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

goswarah@b-tu.de


Office hours

By appointment only


Research areas
 
Technology as a culture of knowledge
Ethical-political thinking
Future narratives
Ahmed Noaman El-Sherbini, M. Sc.

Ahmed Noaman El-Sherbini, M. Sc. doctoral candidate

Ahmed has a bachelor of engineering (B. Eng.) degree, majoring in power mechanics. After completing the bachelor Ahmed worked for 4 years in different engineering projects (e.g. amusement parks, water processing stations, solar energy and solar heaters). Through his work experience he developed an interest in environmental concerns and renewable energy. 5 years after the bachelor Ahmed was accepted for a maser’s study in Environmental and Resource Management in B-TU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany.

During his master’s studies Ahmed gained and developed new interest in the sociological and philosophical aspects of environment and energy. For his master’s thesis, he applied qualitative analysis of the phenomenon of Energy/Fuel Poverty within European policy discourse with the Technoscience Chair under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz and Dr. Ingmar Lippert. Ahmed’s master’s thesis was published in December 2023, in cooperation with Dr. Ingmar Lippert, in Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)’s project “Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South”. The thesis is the 19th chapter of the book, which is titled “From Energy Poverty to Vulnerability: A Discourse Analysis of the European Union’s National Energy and Climate Plans”.

Ahmed also worked as a research assistant for about two and half years with Energypedia UG, a wiki platform for collaborative knowledge exchange on renewable energy, energy access, and energy efficiency. During his time he worked (solely/co-authored and updated) on variety of articles regarding different energy topics (e.g. From the ‘Energy Ladder’ to ‘Fuel Stacking’, The Economics of Renewable Energy, The Off-grid Appliance Market, Access to Modern Energy, Mini grid Operation Models). A part of Energypedia’s vision is to have an all-inclusive designed energy profiles for nations worldwide, and particularly the countries of the Global South. Ahmed worked on and updated a total of 47 energy profiles (e.g. Egypt, Suriname, Malawi, Ghana, Lesotho).

Ahmed has also a one and a half years of experience working as university tutor in B-TU –during his studies–, distributed over three semesters. Additionally, Ahmed worked for about a year and a half with Deutsche Welle in Egypt as an interpreter (Arabic-English and vice-versa).

For his PhD Ahmed intends to investigate the socio-historic relations between different human societies and energy sources through history, and how these relations participate in shaping and forming human history. Moreover, how also these relations shape different energy transitions through the ages, and the role of community energy in shaping the current energy transition.

Contact

Ahmed Noaman El-Sherbini

Lehrgebäude 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

elsheahm(at)b-tu.de


Office hours

By appointment only


Research areas
 
Technology as Epistemic Culture
  • Theories of techno-science
  • Energy transition(s) as cultural practice(s) and need(s)
Environmental Anthropology
  • The complex reciprocal relations between human-societies, their environments and the available energy resources
  • Understanding Energy Transitions within the context of indigenous natural resources management in correlation to indigenous energy needs
Future narratives
  • How the current Energy Transition and the current state of the energy market will shape the future of human societies and vice-versa
Paloma Leguizamón, M.A.

Paloma Leguizamón, M.A. Doctoral Candidate

Paloma Leguizamón is anthropologist/archaeologist and M.A. in Anthropology (Archaeology and Bioanthropology research line) from the National University of Colombia. Her professional experience has focused on cultural heritage, archaeological heritage and World Heritage management, management plan formulation, and declaration processes of cultural heritage in Latin America. Since 2016 she served as Head of Archaeological Protected Areas and World Heritage, Coordinator of the Heritage Group and Deputy Director of Heritage Management at the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History – ICANH, public national entity in charge of the archaeological heritage in Colombia, where she led processes of nomination and management of World Heritage Sites. She is also a member of ICOMOS Colombia and has been part of the World Heritage Leadership Program of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM).

At BTU Paloma Leguizamón is currently working on her PhD research project with Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz. Her research aims to understand the role of World Heritage in post-conflict contexts in Latin America as a base for enhancing the protection of World Heritage Sites and community involvement.

Contact

Paloma Leguizamón

Teaching building 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

leguilau(at)b-tu-de


Office hours

By appointment only


Research areas
Environmental Anthropology
  • Cultural heritage management
  • World Heritage Management
  • Community engagement
  • Cultural heritage and conflict
Elizabeth Bedón Sánchez, M.A.

Elizabeth Bedón Sánchez, M.A. Doctoral Candidate

Elizabeth gained her bacherlor’s degree in International Relations and Business at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito. After having worked almost four years at the U.S. Embassy in her home country, she decided to pursue her interests in Global History in the Erasmus Mundus Master Program of Global Studies in the Universities of Vienna and Leipzig.

Upon her return to Ecuador, and with the dawn of the global pandemic, she and a group of partners setup a consulting firm that addressed the need to reuse residues from the agri-food sector and add value. Circular Bioeconomy was the guiding economic model of this project within the context of Andean country. This experience provided fertile ground to assess the intersections between Natural World Heritage and Bioeconomy, which is the topic of Elizabeth’s research at the moment.

Contact

Elizabeth Bedón Sánchez

Teaching building 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

bedonmar(at)b-tu.de


Office hours

By appointment only


Research areas
 
Environmental Anthropology
  • Assemblages of Technology and Environment
  • Ecotechnologies
Dr. Afrim Bytyqi

Dr. Afrim Bytyqi doctoral candidate

Afrim Bytyqi has embarked on a diverse and self-directed educational journey, exploring fields such as agricultural science, veterinary medicine, biology, philosophy, sociology, political science and psychology.

He holds a Master's degree in Agricultural Science/Veterinary Medicine and a PhD in Developmental Biology & Neurogenetics from various universities, including the University of Pristina (Kosovo), the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany) and the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany).

Beyond formal university education, Afrim's academic pursuits demonstrate a commitment to self-directed learning and expertise in diverse fields of knowledge. In his dynamic career, Afrim has worked as a construction worker, waiter, restaurant owner, research assistant, PhD student, post-doc and project manager of the European project "EU-Senspesti". For more than two decades, he has held various positions in drug development research and is currently head of a research department focused on clinical pharmacology research.

Driven by a lifelong passion for philosophy, Afrim has been studying the subject independently for decades. Since 2018, he has attended academic lectures at UNI-Mainz, UNI-Frankfurt, TU-Darmstadt and online platforms such as UNI-Hannover. Since 2019, in close collaboration with Prof. Alfred Nordmann, Afrim has participated in various academic activities, including preparing discussions for colloquia, giving lectures and presentations at institutions like TU-Darmstadt and ZiF-UNI-Bielefeld.

Currently, Afrim is expanding his research scope by working on his PhD thesis under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Astrid Schwarz. The focus is on investigating the impact of outsourcing research activities during drug development on knowledge processes, changes in responsibilities and the personal and professional development of individuals and research teams.

Contact Afrim

Afrim Bytyqi

Teaching building 10
Erich-Weinert-Str. 1
03046 Cottbus

afrim.bytyqi(at)merckgroup.com


Office hours

By appointment only


Research areas
 

Technology as epistemic culture

  • Technological tools and methods in clinical research.
  • Knowledge development and transfer through technological tools.
  • Digital tools in clinical research (data collection, management and analysis).
  • Human researchers and technological tools in the generation of new knowledge.

Ethical-political thinking

  • Well-being and rights of participants (patients).
  • Share of roles and responsibilities.
  • Access to innovative treatments for diverse populations.
  • Well-being and rights of researchers (employees).
  • Knowledge development and intellectual property.
  • Personal and professional development.
  • Displacement of jobs and economic inequalities.
  • Trust, fear, resilience, self-confidence,

Future narratives

  • Develop alternative outsourcing models that prioritize ethical consideration.