The Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW) was founded in 2020 to promote doctorates at universities of applied sciences (HAW) in North Rhine-Westphalia and to establish their own structures for this purpose. Building on the experience of the Graduate Institute NRW (2016-2020), the college bundles the scientific expertise of the HAW and supports their profile development.
The central tasks of the PK NRW are:
- Promoting doctoral studies at universities of applied sciences (both in cooperation with partner institutions and under independent doctoral awarding rights)
- Supporting academic exchange and the scientific qualification of doctoral candidates
- Ensuring non-discriminatory access to doctoral studies for graduates of universities of applied sciences
- Fostering networks to strengthen practice-oriented research and academic profiling
With his extensive expertise in the field of sustainable construction of reinforced concrete structures – particularly through research on geometry optimization of concrete slabs using internal formwork (void formers) – his successful acquisition of third-party funding, regular academic publications, and broad experience in supervising doctoral candidates, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andrej Albert meets all requirements for a professorial membership in the PK NRW and has now been admitted accordingly.
We would like to congratulate and wish every success in his work in the Building and Culture Department!
