Ulf is a learning innovation expert, founder of mindful-leaders.net, serial entrepreneur, Scientific Director and Professor for Educational Management and Lifelong Learning at the Baden-Wurttemberg Cooperative State University in Karlsruhe in 2011. From 2011-2017 he held the position of Vicepresident at the same university and has been responsible for Quality and Academic Affairs.
He held positions as Associate Professor of University Duisburg-Essen (Germany), Professor for Technology Enhanced Learning of University Augsburg (Germany) and Associate Professor of the Graduate School for Management and Technology of the University of Maryland University College (USA). Ulf has delivered keynotes and been speaking to audiences in more than 45 countries. He is author of more than 10 books and 150 scholarly articles with over 3000 academic citations. Ulf is a trained coach, facilitator and expert for mindful communication, and holds degrees in English Language, Social Sciences and Education Sciences from the University of Bielefeld, where he finished his Ph.D. with honors in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning in 2003. He was awarded his habilitation in 2008 from the University of Duisburg-Essen. His writings on Quality in education are internationally awarded.
Vanessa Steinmetz has been working in the secretariat at the Chair of Education Management and Lifelong Learning at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Karlsruhe since January 2024.
The qualified marketing communications specialist worked as a marketing manager in a digital agency from 2014 to 2023. As the team's fairy, she contributes her knowledge and experience from the digital industry to the team in addition to general office organization and coordination.
Laura Eigbrecht is an academic assistant at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University at the Chair of Educational Management and Lifelong Learning.
As a doctoral candidate, she conducts research in the field of transformative and participatory future skills in higher education. After her binational bachelor's degree and her master's degree in children's and youth media, she worked at the children's channel of ARD and ZDF as well as in teaching and consulting in the field of migration, language and education.
She continues to produce podcasts and radio segments on topics such as the future of higher education and sustainability.
Jörn Allmang is an academic assistant at the Chair of Educational Management and Lifelong Learning at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University.
He studied educational science (BA and MA), specialising in media education and adult education, and has worked in various innovative areas of the e-learning industry, from conceptual work in an e-learning agency to a research institute. Prior to his position at the DHBW, he was employed as a research assistant at the University Medical Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg University, where he was responsible for the conception and implementation of (media) didactic training courses for lecturers.
Tanja Dauth is an academic assistant at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University.
She studied Tourism Management at the Cooperative State University in Ravensburg, completed 2 semesters abroad in France at the Université d'Angers and then worked as a semesters abroad in France at the Université d`Angers and then worked for over ten years as Head of Corporate Communications and Media Cooperation at L'TUR Tourismus AG in Baden-Baden.She was also responsible for public relations for the "Deutsche Medienpreis" award ceremony of the company media control Baden-Baden (award winners include Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama). Head of Corporate Communications and Media Cooperation at L'TUR Tourismus AG in Baden-Baden for over ten years.
She was also responsible for public relations for the "German Media Prize" awards ceremony organized by media control Baden-Baden (award winners included Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama).She was also a project manager in the mail order business and organized trips all over the world in the tourism industry.
At the DHBW, she is responsible for the network communication of the projects of the Chair of Education Management and Lifelong Learning and supports the "KI-Campus" project.
Aleydis Kleine-Allekotte ist seit März 2025 als akademische Mitarbeiterin an der Dualen Hochschule Baden-Württemberg am Lehrstuhl für Bildungsmanagement und Lebenslanges Lernen. Zuvor absolvierte sie ihren Bachelor in Psychologie sowie ihren Master in Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie an der Universität Tilburg in den Niederlanden.
Florian Linscheid ist Principal Investigator im EU-Projekt HUCO Labs, in dem er Future Skills für IT-Berufe erforscht. Er studierte Sozialökonomie und Internationale Kriminologie und bringt umfangreiche Erfahrung aus Forschung, Lehre und politischer Bildungsarbeit in das Team ein.
Seine wissenschaftlichen Schwerpunkte lagen bisher in der Untersuchung von Radikalisierungsprozessen, polizeilicher Stereotypenbildung und der Wahrnehmung institutioneller Legitimität. Methodisch arbeitete er dabei vor allem qualitativ und interdisziplinär.
Neben seiner Forschung war Florian viele Jahre als Seminarleiter in der gewerkschaftlichen Bildungsarbeit tätig – mit Fokus auf Mitbestimmung, Kommunikation und gesellschaftspolitische Fragestellungen.
Ehrenamtlich engagierte er sich in verschiedenen hochschul- und bildungspolitischen Gremien, u. a. in der Konzernauszubildendenvertretung der Deutschen Telekom und in der Projektkommission der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung.
Mit seinem analytischen Blick auf gesellschaftliche Dynamiken stärkt er die Forschungsperspektive im NextEducation-Team.
Research Assistant
Josefine Lilith Schaeffer has been a student assistant at the DHBW in Prof. Dr. Ehlers' team since December 2022. She is currently studying architecture at the Hda Darmstadt. In her free time she likes to draw and paint.
Studentische Hilfskraft
Patrick Wilhelm arbeitet seit August 2023 als studentische Hilfskraft an der DHBW im Team um Prof. Dr. Ehlers.
Zurzeit studiert er Wirtschaftsingenieurswesen mit der Fachrichtung Bauwesen in Aachen. Die Aufgaben im Team sind vorallem das Content-Managment der Websites.
Studentische Hilfskraft
Nancy Wolf ist seit Mai 2024 studentische Hilfskraft an der DHBW im Team um Prof. Dr. Ehlers. Momentan studiert sie Psychologie an der SRH Fernhochschule und befasst sich mit ihrer Bachelorarbeit. In ihrer Freizeit treibt sie gerne Kraftsport und verbringt Zeit mit ihrem Hund.
Studentische Hilfskraft
Nico Johannes Schroedter ist seit Mai 2025 bei Next Education als studentische Hilfskraft tätig. Er studiert an der Dualen Hochschule Baden Württemberg Karlsruhe BWL-Bank. Zuvor hat er drei Jahre Maschinenbau an der RWTH Aachen und am KIT in Karlsruhe studiert.