University Council of TU Graz

The University Council from 2023 to 2028: from left: Barbara Steiner, Ulrike Farnik, Mariana Karepova (resigned), Philipp Gady, Christa Neuper, Georg List, Michael Stampfer

Gerhard Murer (not in the photo)

Christa NEUPER,
Chair

Christa Neuper is a neuropsychologist and has established and advanced the research field of brain computer interfaces in close cooperation between the University of Graz and TU Graz. From 2006 to 2011, she headed the Institute of Knowledge Discovery at TU Graz, and from 2009 to 2011 the Institute of Psychology at the University of Graz. From October 2011 to September 2019, she held the office of Rector at the University of Graz.

Mariana KAREPOVA,
Vice Chair, resigned 10.04.2024

Mariana Karepova studied economics at Vienna and furthered her education in innovation management at MIT. She is vice-chair of Platform Industry 4.0 Austria, a member of supervisory bodies in the innovation and education sectors and a member of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Office. She looks back on a 20-year career in research and technology promotion, which has led her to become the first female president in the now almost 125-year history of the Austrian Patent Office.

Barbara STEINER

Barbara Steiner is an art historian and has held leading positions in various exhibition houses in Germany. From 2016 to 2021 she directed Kunsthaus Graz, and at the beginning of 2022 she took over as director of Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. Barbara Steiner has also gained diverse experience in academic teaching. From 2015 to 2017, she was a substitute professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig and has also taught in Linz, Braunschweig, Copenhagen and Vienna.

Ulrike FARNIK

Ulrike Farnik is an authorised signatory and head of department at Schieneninfrastruktur-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft mbH and managing director of Tharros Business Consulting and Executive Coaching. She studied history, political science and communication at Vienna and general management at St. Gallen and has Master’s degrees in human resources and organisational development as well as coaching and supervision. She has had many years of management experience in corporate communications and human resources, has been a press spokesperson and senior consultant in an international management consultancy and is a lecturer in the railway management course at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences.

Philipp GADY

Philipp Gady studied law and joined the Styrian Gady Group at the age of 23. in 2009 he took over the management of the company, and in 2015 he became the sole managing partner of all the companies. The portfolio of the Gady Group includes car dealerships, agricultural machinery trade and Schlosskeller Südsteiermark. As of 2015, Philipp Gady has been deputy chair of the Trade Division in the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, and in 2020 he will be appointed vice president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

Michael STAMPFER

Michael Stampfer is a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna and has many years of experience in the field of Austrian and international research and technology policy. From 1992 to 1998 he worked at the Ministry of Science, and until 2002 at Technologie Impulse Gesellschaft (TIG), now FFG. Since 2002, Stampfer has been managing director of the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), which supports cutting-edge research through strictly juried international calls for project and individual funding.

Georg LIST,
Vice chair 25.04.2024

At AVL List GmbH, Georg List is responsible for the development of corporate strategy in three business units as well as for the group’s M&A activities. List studied mechanical engineering at ETH Zurich and has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining AVL, Georg List was a partner at Booz & Company (formerly Booz Allen Hamilton) specialising in innovation management in the automotive, aerospace and renewable energy sectors.

Gerhard MURER,
since 17.09.2024

Gerhard Murer studied Electrical Engineering at TU Graz. From 1984 to 2023, he held various management positions at Anton Paar GmbH in Graz, most recently as Lead Scientist. He is a book author and an expert in metrology and instrumental analytical methods. The method he invented for the selective determination of carbon dioxide in beverages is now used by all leading beverage producers worldwide. He is a long-standing member of the Scientific Senate
of the Christian Doppler Research Association, the Scientific Board of NAWI Graz and was spokesman for the Technology and Society Forum until 2023 at TU Graz.