Jacobs University Celebrates First Habilitation in the Focus Area Diversity

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May 4, 2016

This is the pinnacle of academic qualifications, with which candidates prove their ability to lecture in science and conduct research. The economist Dr. Christian Müller was the first habilitation fellow in the focus area Diversity from Jacobs University in Bremen and, so far, only the second at the international university. The habilitation certificate was presented to the 43-year-old in the course of a formal ceremony on Wednesday.  Dr. Christian Müller has made a name for himself in the further development of economic forecasting methods. A Thuringian by birth, he studied at the University of Hull in England and at Humboldt University in Berlin, where he also obtained his doctorate. His particular field of expertise is econometrics, a subdiscipline of economics that unifies theoretical economics, empirical data, and statistical methods. After obtaining his doctorate, he moved to the KOF Swiss Economic Institute of ETH Zürich and, in 2013/2014, headed the economics faculty at the German University in Cairo, Egypt – with around 8,000 students, the largest German university in a foreign country. “Habilitation was the next logical step in my academic career,” says Dr. Müller, who appreciates the value of practice-oriented and transdisciplinary research, as is the norm at Jacobs University. In his habilitation thesis, founded on previously published articles, he addresses the utilization of data provided by surveys of companies for economic forecasting. “We have developed methods that allow more efficient use of these data and increase the precision of business cycle forecasts.”  The habilitation thesis, which was linked to the Diversity focus area at Jacobs University, is only one part of the qualification procedure. Candidates must also prove their teaching capabilities, for instance, by giving lectures. A lecture must also be given and defended in front of a board of examiners. Although habilitation is the traditional way to an appointment as a university professor, teaching qualification may also be evidenced by other scientific achievements. The first habilitation fellow from Jacobs University was the computer scientist Florian Rabe.

Foto: Felix Clebowski
left to right, Dr. Welf Werner, Dr. Margrit Schreier, Dr. Christian Müller, Dr. Arvid Kappas