On 1 April 2026, Dr. Franca Alexandra Rupprecht will take over as Managing Director of the Department of Computer Science.

Dr. Rupprecht obtained her PhD in 2018 from the University of Kaiserslautern as part of the international Research Training Group “Physical Modelling for Virtual Manufacturing Systems and Processes”, a joint programme between the University of Kaiserslautern, the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, Berkeley. Her doctoral research was supervised by Prof. Ebert and Prof. Aurich (Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering). During this time, she undertook several research visits to UC Davis, totalling nine months.

She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Hagen’s Computer Graphics and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research group, where she supervised various industry-funded and externally funded research projects.

In 2019, she founded the medtech company insight.out, which develops digital diagnostic solutions for the healthcare sector. As Managing Director, she oversaw the company’s establishment and was responsible for its strategic development, organisational structure, and HR and financial planning. Under her leadership, innovative digital testing methods and platform solutions were created to support diagnostic processes in medicine and therapy, developed in collaboration with scientific institutions and clinical partners.

With her return to her alma mater, Dr. Rupprecht brings a wealth of experience at the intersection of research, technology development and organisational management to her new role in the Department of Computer Science.

Dr. Rupprecht succeeds Dr. Schürmann, who is retiring after 20 years of service to the department. He will continue to be available to the department on a part-time basis in an advisory capacity for a further year.