Design Research and the Need for Institutional Support in German-Speaking Networks: About the DGTF

Bianca Herlo is researcher at the Design Research Lab, Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), and Curator of the German-Israeli project: Community Now? Conflicts, Interventions, New Publics. She is Lecturer at the Kunsthochschule Weißensee, the BTK Hamburg and the UdK Berlin. Until 2013, Bianca was Coordinator at the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF). After studying at UdK, she has worked as a media designer, and as Cultural Manager for the Robert Bosch Foundation. She is the initiator and co-founder of *.ArtLabs – for art, design and technology.

Gesche Joost is chairwoman of the German Society for Design Theory and Research and Professor for Design Research at the Berlin University of Arts. Since 2005, she is head of the Design Research Lab, where she develops research and teaching projects in the areas of human-computer interaction, gender and diversity aspects in technological development, as well as social sustainability and participation. Until 2010, she was junior professor for Interaction Design & Media at the Technical University of Berlin. As a visiting professor, she taught Gender and Design at the HAWK Hildesheim. Since 2014 she is Germany's Digital Champion for the European Commission.