More Courage at TU Braunschweig

Key Facts

Client: Vice President for Human Resources, Finance, and University Construction (HVP, Dietmar Smyrek)

Duration: February 2025 – December 2025

Responsible: Julius Othmer

Coordination: Project Office (Dr. Madita Olvermann & Henrike Wenzel) and Office of the President (Sarah Mbaruk, Advisor to the Vice President for Human Resources, Finance, and University Construction)

Members: Prof. Dr. Wolf-Tilo Balke, Prof. Elisabeth Endres, Bernt Erlewein (from 10/2025: Anne Fritz), Anke Formaniak, Dr. Laura Jess, Prof. Dr. Simone Kauffeld, Martin Mahnkopf, Dr. Mark Mennenga, Ina Müller, Julius Othmer, Prof. Dr. Anne Paschke, Dr. Doris Pester, Dietmar Smyrek, Robert Strötgen

Objective

In this Circle, the following points were clarified in the form of a position paper:

What bold action means in the context of administration at TU BS
What conditions must be created to enable such action, and what obstacles must be removed
How a path toward greater courage can be outlined and evaluated for the next 12 months

This position paper, including the measures, was completed in December 2025 and was favorably acknowledged by the Senate on January 21, 2026. An evaluation of the measures will take place at the end of the year.

What does “courage” mean to us as a university?

“Courage is a deliberate, voluntary act carried out after careful consideration, despite risk and an awareness of that risk, in order to achieve a noble, morally good, and worthwhile goal.”
~Definition according to Rate et al. (2007)

For us, courage is not an end in itself, but a strategic mindset:

It is the driving force behind decisive action in the face of uncertainty, for overcoming obstructive routines, and for seizing opportunities for innovation.
It is a catalyst for a continuous organizational development process—especially in administrative activities, where the tension between reliable structures and flexible solutions must be balanced.
Courage creates the conditions to enable innovation across performance dimensions and to understand debureaucratization not merely as an administrative task, but as a cultural shift