For more than 15 years I have therefore volunteered in the Petrus congregation in Rastatt, where I started out as a youth leader and, as a church elder, drove forward the youth work and the digitalisation of our congregation.
Far from my home congregation, I am now getting involved in new areas in Heidelberg. As representative of the doctoral researchers in the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order, I stand up for their concerns in the Cluster Committee, and since 2026 I have been a member of the party Alliance 90/The Greens.
Youth leader
A caring community in which you are more than a number and people look out for one another – that is something we are increasingly losing in a digital, global world. In the Petrus congregation in Rastatt I experienced the value of such a community, and I pass it on to the next generation. Organising and leading youth groups and summer camps is not a hobby for me but a responsibility to society that fills me with a sense of purpose.
Church elder
In 2017 the parish leadership co-opted me into the council of elders, and in the 2019 church elections the congregation confirmed me in office. To carry out this role, I kept living in Rastatt and commuted to Heidelberg for my studies.
At the start of my term, the focus was on digitalising our services with modern projection technology, on youth work and on representing the interests of the congregation’s young members. With the structural and transformation process EKiBa 2032 we then took on a difficult challenge: it called for savings in buildings and staff and ultimately led to the merger of several parishes and congregations. As this process neared the finish line and my term was coming to an end as well, our congregation also had to fill the pastor’s position anew. I did not stand again in the 2026 elections, because my doctorate needs my full attention and I wanted to pass my seat on the council of elders to someone who will carry on the office with the same dedication I brought to it during my studies.
PhD representative
Our lab is part of the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order, which is funded under the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments to strengthen top-level German research at an international level. When my term as church elder came to an end, I had the opportunity to combine my volunteering with my focus on the doctorate. So in 2025 I stood for election as representative of the doctoral researchers on the cluster’s steering committee – besides Heidelberg University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is also part of the cluster.