"No harm in having a resilience buffer."

Dr. Kaiser, has your day-to-day work been in line with your expectations of what a university chancellor's job would be like? Is there anything that has surprised you, positively or negatively?
Before starting a new stage in your career, you can of course think endlessly about what it will be like in the new position, what expectations will be placed on you and how the activities can then be reconciled with your own ideas. After taking office, I quickly realised that the wide range of activities and the level of responsibility in the role of Chancellor can ultimately only be managed with a great deal of confidence in one's own abilities, skills and accumulated experience. A supportive, reflective environment also helps. The facts, such as the core tasks of a chancellor, are usually laid down in the respective university laws of the federal states - followed by the individual university or university constitution (basic regulations). In addition, the tasks of the new head of administration are determined by the job description. Everything else is "training on the job", the ability to assess and interpret, and a bit of luck if you are prepared to share the responsibility for an entire organisation.
This "healthy basic confidence" in my own actions, combined with the aforementioned benevolent university community and a capable deputy, was helpful in my start as chancellor. To this day, I have been enriched by the wide range of organisational and decision-making possibilities and the reflective approach of an academic institution. My attitude as a team player with a service-orientation has certainly helped - as has my previous academic career with a great understanding of the academic world.
The biggest challenge has been the new rules of the game, some of which have been quickly and specifically applied to the university system in the context of the respective state's higher education policy. Another constant challenge for a chancellor and his team are the ideas for further development that come from changing university management. It is often not possible to bring one's own organisation into this process of change so quickly. Adapting the administration to the new spirit of time is one side of the coin, but getting the academic-scientific "operation" to adapt to the new business figures requires a very good integration strategy on the part of the respective chancellor if he is to be successful in a timely and concrete manner together with the university management. A healthy buffer of resilience certainly doesn't hurt in this ongoing marathon of tasks.

At what point in your biography did you decide to pursue a career in academic management? Did you have a plan B in case a science-related career didn't work out?
After studying industrial engineering at BTU and completing my doctoral studies in Economic Sciences, it was clear that I was initially drawn to the front line of the market economy in a management consultancy. Personally, I couldn't see myself continuing with my post-doctoral work, so I got a taste of the private sector. After a few years, I found my way back to academia when my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Daniel Baier, called me and offered me an interesting post-doctoral position at the University of Bayreuth. Together we established the Chair of Innovation and Dialogue Marketing at the University of Bayreuth.
However, as people naturally tend to suppress some memories in life and over-interpret other good memories, the decision was made to switch to science-related or science-supporting activities. My decision was based on many reflective conversations with sparring partners in my professional and personal network. I was offered the opportunity to move to Kulmbach as the head of a newly established branch of the University of Bayreuth and, together with the founding dean (Prof. Dr. Stephan Clemens), to set up a new faculty at a completely new location.
Since you asked about a Plan B: After the positive interim evaluation of my habilitation, I would have certainly completed it. However, I have always been good at quickly evaluating new opportunities in my private and professional environment and then embarking on new professional adventures... a move to the pharmaceutical industry would certainly have been exciting - there were offers.

Is there anything you would have wished for in terms of support for your career?
Even during my doctoral studies and later as a postdoc, there was support from the respective university for doctoral students, which should be much more extensive now. I am still grateful for the many valuable tips I received from my supervisor, and I also benefited from attending conferences and from colleagues in the department who had already completed their doctorates. However, it is understandable that university-wide guidance services are often geared towards "academic careers" and therefore do not focus as much on other career paths. Depending on the stage of the doctorate, each person will also need different support services than towards the end of the doctorate, when the focus is on personal development. Anyone who dares to do so should take a bold look at the career toolbox and its wide range of options: The world is open to them in the direction of science, business, transfer jobs or science management, etc. - Doctoral studies and the experience gained will pay off in the long run! Starting your own company can also be interesting.
I am now the chancellor of a university of applied sciences: If you like it a bit more practical and applied, might this be the right place for you?

What would you recommend to current doctoral candidates and postdocs who are undecided about their future career path?
In my opinion, the basic prerequisite should be to know what kind of person you are, what you are good at and what you struggle with. That would be the ideal basis for any further career decisions. If you still have some catching up to do, then you should take advantage of support and experience at this point. However, I have always found that you can learn a lot from challenges, and the different stages of my career have allowed me to do that. Sometimes role models can also help. Personally, I listened to my intuition a lot, asked a lot of questions and have never regretted it - but I was also one of those people who spent almost 40 years "searching" for the right career path. I also looked at careers that had already reached a certain level of saturation and asked myself whether it was worth it for me to go down that road. The search will probably go on forever, although the criteria for weighing up and deciding will be different... Thank you for asking me about my career choices - I was happy to review them.