FAU appoints Vice President

Prof. Dr. Bärbel Kopp takes over from Prof. Dr. Antje Kley in the Executive Board

In its meeting on 23 February 2018, the FAU University Council elected a new member to the Executive Board and confirmed three others in office. The committee followed the proposal made by FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger. The primary education expert Prof. Dr. Bärbel Kopp is taking over from the English specialist Prof. Dr. Antje Kley, joining Prof. Dr. Kathrin M. Möslein, Prof. Dr. Günter Leugering and Prof. Dr. Friedrich Paulsen, who have all been re-elected to the board. At the same time, changes are being made to the responsibilities allocated to the various members and the way in which portfolios are structured. In future, Kopp will be responsible for Education (in particular teacher training, designing the degree programme portfolio, and university of the third age), Möslein will take on responsibility for Outreach (including innovation and start-up activities, transfer of knowledge and technology, scientific communication and cooperation partnerships), Leugering will be Vice President for Research (responsible for research strategy, international cooperation and the Current Research Information System (CRIS)), whilst Paulsen’s new area of responsibility will be People (especially attracting new talent to FAU, supporting young researchers, ensuring equal opportunities, and encouraging talent and continued professional development). The four Vice Presidents will remain in office from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021.

Bärbel Kopp studied primary education at the University of Augsburg, with German as her main teaching subject. After several years as a primary school teacher, she began to study part-time for a doctoral degree in education at the University of Augsburg, which she completed successfully in 2001. She then started out on a full-time academic career, initially being appointed to a position at the University of Augsburg, and teaching at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. She then became a research fellow at the Chair of Education/Primary and Pre-Primary Education at the University of Passau, before accepting a position as Akademische Rätin (lecturer) at the Institute of Primary Education Research at FAU in 2007. She was offered a position as a professor at the University of Koblenz -Landau, which she rejected in favour of FAU. Since September 2010 she has been the Chair of Primary Education and Teaching Methodology I at FAU, with a focus on ‘Teaching and Learning’.

Bärbel Kopp is a member of the cooperative doctoral programme ‘Education as a Landscape’, which FAU is involved in together with the University of Bamberg, the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg and the Evangelische Hochschule Nürnberg. Her research focuses on dealing with heterogeneity and inclusion, as well as on teaching and learning in science and social studies in primary education. She also investigates transition periods in primary school and ways to encourage the related personal development of students, as well as exploring ways to tackle educational disadvantages and improve the quality of teaching in primary schools. She is an active participant in the Centre for Teacher Education at FAU.

Kopp is also a member of the sub-division for primary education at the German Educational Research Association (GERA), participating in the working group for encouraging new talent. In addition, she is a member of the Society for Teaching Science and Social Studies (Gesellschaft für Didaktik des Sachunterrichts – GDSU) and the Society for Empirical Education Research (Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung – GEBF). She is also a member of the working group on inclusion in the conference for primary school education and teaching at Bavarian universities, sometimes acting as a spokesperson. In an administrative role, she is responsible for representing research staff at the University. She is also a member of the committee for the allocation of tuition fee compensation and DFG overhead funding. Since 2015 she has been the Vice Dean for the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology at the Regensburger Straße campus in Nuremberg.

Information on the other members of the Executive Board can be found here.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Bärbel Kopp
Phone: +49 911 5302 528
baerbel.kopp@fau.de