The course has been set for the President’s new term of office

On 7 May 2026, the university’s Senate voted by an absolute majority to appoint Gesine Grande as President.

Brandenburg’s Minister for Science, Manja Schüle, presented the certificate of appointment to Gesine Grande during a small ceremony in the President’s office, accompanied by her best wishes.The term of office for the BTU President is six years.

Prof. Dr Gesine Grande: “I regard my appointment for a second term as President of the BTU as a great mark of appreciation for the results of our work over the past few years. It is an honour and a great pleasure for me to now work together with the executive committee, all the dedicated members of our university and all our key partners to take the BTU a significant step further over the next six years.

I would like to build on what we have achieved whilst also setting our sights on new goals. We want to further advance the university as a centre of research, establish key research areas, and position the BTU even more effectively in the face of national and international competition. In doing so, we aim to combine academic rigour with our responsibility towards the Lusatia region. I see this as a great opportunity for our university.” 

Minister for Science Dr Manja Schüle: “The BTU stands for innovative strength, networking, character and confidence in the future. This is, of course, because, with its numerous ambitious research projects and collaborations with partners from academia and industry, it is a powerful driver of structural change in the Lusatia region. But also because it has sharpened its profile with new study programmes such as teacher training and midwifery. Because it was one of the first universities in Germany to develop an action plan against far-right influence and to set up a monitoring centre. And because, bucking the national trend, it has managed to ensure that student numbers are rising again. There is one name behind this success: Gesine Grande. Together with a dedicated team and many partners, she has given the state’s second-largest university and its only university of technology new vigour and momentum. I look forward to continuing to work with her.”

About
Prof. Dr. p.h. habil. Gesine Grande, born in 1964, studied Psychology at the University of Leipzig, was awarded a Doctor of Public Health degree in Bielefeld in 1997 and completed her habilitation at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Leipzig in 2012. She served as a professor at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) and at the University of Bremen. Before being elected President of the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg in 2020, she served one term as Rector of the HTWK Leipzig.

Prof. Grande is involved in a wide range of activities, including on the GATE-Germany Steering Committee, the supervisory board of the Leibniz-Institute for Innovations for High Performance Electronics (IHP) and Leipziger Messe, as well as on the boards of trustees of various scientific institutions such as the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Fraunhofer IPMS. She is board chairperson of the Lausitz Science Network (LSN) and a member of the board of trustees of the Fürst-Pückler-Museum Park and Branitz Castle Foundation and the Max Grünebaum Foundation, where she also serves as board chairperson.