Prof. em. (mult.) Dr. Monika Bessenrodt-Weberpals was Professor of Physics and Gender Studies at HAW Hamburg (2004-2023) and Adjunct Professor of Experimental Physics at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (since 1996). From 2007 to 2023, she was Vice President for Studies and Teaching and Gender Equality at HAW Hamburg,
She studied physics and mathematics as well as philosophy and education at the University of Düsseldorf, sponsored by the German National Academic Foundation. After completing her doctorate in experimental plasma physics (1984), she moved to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching near Munich. In 1990 she habilitated in experimental physics.
Monika Bessenrodt-Weberpals has extensive expertise in the accreditation system: She has many years of experience with the accreditation or evaluation of study programs and system accreditation (including as a member of the physics expert committee and as deputy chair of the ASIIN systems working group) as well as the institutional accreditation of universities (as a member of the accreditation committee of the German Council of Science and Humanities). She was also a member of the Standing Commission for Teaching and Studies of the German Rectors’ Conference and a member of various supervisory boards, including as Chairwoman of Hamburg Open Online University GmbH. She is also involved in the nationwide network “Lehren – Das Bündnis für Hochschullehre”. In 2011, she was awarded the Badge of Honor of the German Physical Society. In 2024, she received the “IDEA Honorary Award (Innovation in Digital Equality Award) of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg for Equality of Women and Men in the Digital World”.
For more than 30 years, she has also worked as a reviewer for national and international journals, for national and international universities and scientific institutions as well as for scientific funding programs at state and federal level.