- Function: Head of Higher Education Research
- Phone: +49 5241 9761-23
- E-Mail: Sigrun.Nickel@che.de
- Assistance: Sarah Brodacz
Dr Sigrun Nickel heads the Higher Education Research unit at CHE. Her current areas of work focus in particular on permeability and cooperation between vocational and academic education, knowledge transfer between higher education research and science management, and advisory services relating to students’ mental health. She also conducts evaluation procedures and, in this context, serves as a peer reviewer.
Beyond her research and evaluation work, Dr Nickel has many years of experience as an expert reviewer for federal and state ministries and as an advisory board member for research projects and higher education institutions. She is currently, among other roles, a member of the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) working group on “Higher Education Strategies in Times of Demographic Change” and of the expert group “Permeability between Vocational and Academic Education” convened by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Stifterverband and the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA). She is active in several professional associations, including the German Society for Higher Education Research (GfHf), the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER) and the German Evaluation Society (DeGEval).
Sigrun Nickel studied German Studies, Sociology and Education at the University of Münster. After completing her degree, she undertook editorial training (Volontariat) as a newspaper journalist. She earned her PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Klagenfurt (Austria) with a dissertation on “Participatory Management of Universities”. In addition, she completed part-time training as a systemic organisational consultant.
Dr Nickel has been working at CHE since 2005. Her previous professional positions included education policy editor at taz die tageszeitung in Hamburg, Head of the Communications and Strategic Higher Education Development Department at the Hamburg University of Economics and Politics (HWP), staff member in the Hamburg science authority, and academic director of the University Development (ProUni) project at the University of Hamburg.