Stefan Vorbach remains as Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. Also the head of the Institute of General Management and Organisation, he has held this office since 2019. Andrea Hoffmann, Vice Rector for Human Resources and Finance since 2011, was also reconfirmed in her position. New members of the team are Andrea Höglinger, who is coming to Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) as Vice Rector for Research after decades in research management at tha Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG, and Michael Monsberger, Professor of Building Technology at TU Graz, as Vice Rector for Infrastructure and Sustainability.
The Chair of the University Council of TU Graz, Professor Karin Schaupp, is delighted with the unanimous election of the designated Rectorate team: “With Andrea Hoffmann, Stefan Vorbach, Michael Monsberger and Andrea Höglinger, Horst Bischof has put together a very diverse team. From October 2023, the Rectorate will combine continuity with new perspectives and is thus ideally equipped to navigate TU Graz through upcoming challenges and continue its successful course."
Horst Bischof, Rector designate of TU Graz, has the utmost confidence in his now confirmed Rectorate team: "My thanks go to the University Council of TU Graz for confirming the Rectorate team. With these four proven professionals and team players at my side, I look forward to continuing to accompany TU Graz on its path to success from October 2023 with full commitment and a mix of fresh wind and internal experience."
The term of office of the new Rectorate of TU Graz begins on 1 October 2023 and will last four years.
A brief portrait of the future Rectorate of TU Graz
Rector designate: Horst Bischof
Horst Bischof has been Vice Rector for Research at TU Graz since 2011. The computer scientist was a visiting professor at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at TU Graz before he was appointed Professor of Computer Vision in 2004.
Born in Saanen, Switzerland, in 1967 and brought up in Upper Styria, Horst Bischof studied computer science at Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and then worked as a research assistant at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna. He returned to TU Wien as a university assistant, where he gained his doctorate in 1993 and his habilitation in 1995. As Vice Rector for Research, Horst Bischof has been responsible for the strategic research orientation of TU Graz as well as research and business cooperation and technology transfer since 2011. He has published close to 800 scientific works and has been presented with 20 national and international awards for his publications. The research portal Research.com lists him as the third most cited computer scientist in Austria.
Vice Rector designate for Research: Andrea Höglinger
Andrea Höglinger has been head of European and International Programmes (EIP) at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) since 2011. It acts as the coordinating national contact point for Horizon Europe and is active in numerous EU programmes and initiatives.
Andrea Höglinger graduated in social and economic sciences from the University of Vienna. In the early 1990s, she was one of the founding members of the Centre for Social Innovation, a non-university research institution in Vienna, where she also served as chief financial officer. Since 2000, Andrea Höglinger has held various management positions at the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and thus brings extensive expertise in the field of national and European research and innovation funding to TU Graz.
Vice Rector for Academic Affairs: Stefan Vorbach
Stefan Vorbach has been Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at TU Graz since 2019. In addition, the native German has been Professor of Entrepreneurship and Organisation since 2010 and heads the eponymous institute at TU Graz.
Stefan Vorbach attended secondary school in Leoben, later studying mechanical engineering and business economics at TU Graz and environmental protection technology at TU Munich. He received his doctorate from TU Graz in 1999 and habilitated in business administration at the University of Graz in 2005. There he subsequently worked as an associate professor at the Institute of Innovation and Environmental Management and at the Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research. In addition to his work as institute head at TU Graz, Stefan Vorbach was also Dean of Studies for the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in mechanical engineering and business economics and the Master’s programme in production science and management from 2012 to 2019. He has supervised around 400 Master’s theses and 25 doctoral theses in his career to date.
Vice Rector for Human Resources and Finance Andrea Hoffmann
Andrea Hoffmann has been Vice Rector at TU Graz since 2011. Prior to that, the Vienna native built up the commercial department at Modine Austria, where she was responsible for finance and accounting, controlling, human resources, IT and legal affairs and acted as commercial manager from 2003.
Parallel to her professional advancement, Andrea Hoffmann completed her studies in commerce at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, law at the Johannes Kepler University Linz as well as the University of Vienna, and business administration with a focus on change management and management development at Vienna University of Economics and Business. She became a doctor of law at Johannes Kepler University Linz in 2008. From 2008 to 2020, Andrea Hoffmann taught business law part-time at the FH Joanneum in Kapfenberg. From 2015 to 2018, she was Chair of the Budget Forum of Universities Austria (uniko). Andrea Hoffmann is a committed member of the TU Graz volunteer fire brigade.
Vice Rector designate for Infrastructure and Sustainability: Michael Monsberger
Michael Monsberger has been Professor of Building Technology since 2020 and was previously Professor of Integrated Building Systems since 2015. He is also deputy head of the Institute of Building Physics, Services and Construction.
Born in Carinthia, he studied mechanical engineering at TU Graz and received his doctorate in 2005 in the field of fuel cell systems. He was also a research associate at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Fuel Cell Systems at our university from 2003 to 2007. From 2007 to 2015, Michael Monsberger contributed his expertise to the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), first as a research associate in the Sustainable Energy Systems business unit, and later as head of the Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems business unit. On the Sustainability Advisory Board of TU Graz, Michael Monsberger is the spokesperson for the Buildings Working Group. In addition, he has played a leading role in the establishment of the Graz Center of Sustainable Construction at TU Graz over the past two years.
