As of January 1, 2021, Prof. Dr. Çiğdem İşsever has assumed the position of the Berlin University Alliance’s academic director for the cooperation with the University of Oxford. She is lead scientist at the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) in Zeuthen and has been conducting research in the field of experimental high-energy physics as a professor at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since fall 2019. The position as academic director of the Oxford/Berlin Research Partnership was newly created to strengthen the partnership's governance structure and promote the representation of academic interests. Parallelly, an academic director will also be appointed at the University of Oxford.

Çiğdem İşsever is looking forward to her duties as the new academic director of the cooperation on the BUA side: "I am very excited to continue BUA's relationship with the University of Oxford, where I worked for 15 years. I believe that the Centre for Advanced Studies and the Oxford/Berlin Research Partnership have a significant role to play in understanding some of the most pressing issues facing society right now."

As the academic director of the Oxford/Berlin Research Partnership in Berlin, Çiğdem İşsever will work closely with Prof. Dr. Alastair Buchan, founder and director of the Oxford in Berlin center. Together, they will support researchers in joint projects, research proposals and events within the framework of the cooperation. They will also coordinate the activities of the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS), founded in July 2020, to advance research in the Grand Challenge Initiatives on social cohesion and global health. The University of Oxford’s appointment of an academic director for the Oxford/Berlin research partnership is expected to be made in spring 2021.

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kunst, president of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and spokesperson of the BUA, comments: "We are delighted to appoint Ms İşsever as academic director. She is highly familiar with the diverse range of projects within the cooperation of the three Berlin universities and the Charité with the University of Oxford and will coordinate them across the institutions. In addition, Ms İşsever has multifaceted experience in the field of international research and is also well acquainted with the University of Oxford. Her appointment is an important step for the long-term future of the Oxford/Berlin research partnership."

Prof. Dr. Çiğdem İşsever studied physics at the University of Dortmund, where she earned her PhD in natural sciences. She then assumed a postdoctoral position at the University of California Santa Barbara in the USA for three years before moving to the University of Oxford, where she completed her habilitation and became a professor of elementary particle physics. In the fall of 2019, she moved to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. In her academic career to date, Çiğdem İşsever has already received various grants to support her outstanding research activities, including an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council.