In accordance with the transdisciplinary approach of the »Real-Time City« research center, dissertations are supervised that contribute to the research of urban, architectural and media spaces from different perspectives. They thus lay the foundation for cultural and design research that examines space in its cultural, technical, social, economic and political contexts.
The »Real-Time City« research center participates in the Doctoral College for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia. Members of the »Real-Time City« research center are represented in the »Building and Culture« department.
In addition, as part of a structured doctoral training program, the Köln International School of Design is participating in the DFG-funded Research Training Group »connecting – excluding: Cultural Dynamics Beyond Globalized Networks,« a collaboration of the University of Cologne, the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM) and the TH Köln. In this context, Simon Meienberg is currently writing a dissertation on infrastructural spaces in Dakar/Senegal.
In order to support young researchers, the areas of expertise »Design Theory and Research« and »Interaction Design« offer a joint doctoral colloquium, which complements the individual supervision.
The »Real-Time City« research center also participates in the inter-university colloquium »Design doctorates« of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (dgtf).
Doctoral Supervision by Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler
Alice Rzezonka
Title of dissertation: User, der – Begriffsprägung einer privilegierten Position am Personal Computer
Cooperative doctorate between the University of Bonn and the TH Köln (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Jens Schröter, Media Culture Studies and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research)
2018 – 2021, graduated with »summa cum laude«
Simon Meienberg
Title of dissertation: Borderlands: Migrant Spacing between Autonomy and Control
Cooperative doctorate between the TH Köln and the University of Cologne as part of the Research Training Group »connecting – excluding« funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research, and Prof. Dr. Martin Zillinger, Social and Cultural Anthropology)
since 2021
Julian Hoffmann
Title of dissertation: Übersetzungsprozesse – Rezeptionspraktiken des Digitalen als Dispositiv der Kunstvermittlung
Cooperative doctorate between the TH Köln and the University of Cologne as part of the Research Training Group »connecting – excluding« funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research, and Prof. Dr. Torsten Meyer, Art and Its Didactics)
since 2021
Marc Pfaff
Title of dissertation: Poetologie des Entwerfens. Zu Genese und Techno-Logik einer Zivilisationstechnik
Cooperative doctorate between the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and the TH Köln (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Reck, Art History in Medial Context, and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research)
since 2022
Carolin Schabbing
Title of dissertation: 4D. Imaging in Kulturproduktionen
Cooperative doctorate between the University of Bonn and the TH Köln (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Kathrin Friedrich, Media Studies: Digital Media Culture, and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research)
since 2023
Johanna Mehl
Titel der Dissertation: Human-Environment Relations: Rethinking Architecture and Design Practice in the Anthropocene
Cooperative doctorate between the TU Dresden and the TH Köln (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Orit Halpern, Digital Cultures and Societal Change, and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler, Design Theory and Research)
seit 2023
Further information for early stage researchers:
Service Desk of Graduate Center at TH Köln
Doctoral College for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia
Image: »Blind Spots« by Dorothea Elisabeth Schneid & Jessica Martins Zisa