Team

My main research interests are in the areas of geoinformatics, human-computer interaction, location-based services and mobile and ubiquitous computing. I am particularly interested in interaction with and through spatial concepts, in location privacy and digital sovereignty, and in evaluation methods for mobile and ubiquitous systems. I joined ifgi in April 2011 as a professor, after having worked as a (senior) lecturer at Newcastle University from 2005 to 2011. Prior to coming to Newcastle, I spent some time as Postdoc at Lancaster University. Before that, I worked at the German Research Center for AI (DFKI). I received my PhD and MSc from Saarland University, Germany.

Projects: I am currently coordinating the EU MSCA SCALA (Spatial communication and ageing) and participating in the BMBFTR-funded "Intelligent Pendeln" Projekt. Previous projects include further EU-funded doctoral networks (DCOMM, GEO-C) as well as projects on location-privacy (SIMPORT) and reproducibility (O2R/O2R2).

Simge is an urban scientist who has a multidisciplinary background of urban planning and geoinformatics. She pursued her Master and Ph.D. studies on urban design and sustainability assessment at Mimar SInan Fine Arts University. After her Ph.D., she worked as a PostDoc at TU Vienna and ran the Co-Solution project which aimed to combine technological advancements with participatory and sustainable design. Currently, she is part of IfGi and continues to explore innovative solutions that brings promotes open and inclusive urban decisions.

I am a research associate at Beemo GmbH and currently pursuing a PhD within the SCALA project, where my research focuses on modeling spatial objective measures and user perceptions of bikeability. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from Alexandria University, and a Master's degree in Geospatial Technologies from the University of Münster (Erasmus Mundus Joint MSc Program). My Master's research explored bikeability and urban accessibility within the X-minute City framework. Now, in collaboration with Beemo GmbH and through the use of the Naviki app, I aim to investigate how spatial environments shape cycling experiences and route preferences. This work reflects my interest in active urban mobility, cycling behavior modeling, and human-centered design.

Project: SCALA Project- Spatial Communication and Ageing across Languages: Navigation support for bicyclists of different ages (DC11)

I hold an Iranian master's degree in regional planning and a bachelor's degree in urban engineering. I have a multidisciplinary background and have contributed to both the technical mapping and analytical reporting aspects of creating maps and reports for detailed plans, urban master plans, and tourism development projects.Furthermore, I have been a university lecturer in Iran for more than ten years.I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. at (IfGI),where I am exploring new approaches to enhance civic participation in renewable energy planning within the smart city context. My research aims to support more inclusive and participatory decision-making in sustainable urban development.

I am Ruslan, the DC6 PhD candidate in the SCALA project, investigating spatial communication in patients with neurological disorders (primarily, autoimmune encephalitis and Alzheimer's disease) at the University Hospital Münster. I obtained my Bachelor's in Translation and Linguistics from the University of Vienna (Austria) and my Master's in Cognitive Sciences from the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences in Rovereto (Italy). My interests lie in natural and artificial intelligence, as well as all things language(s).

Hi, I am Chris and I am a PhD student at the Institute for Geoinformatics. After graduating from the University of Münster in 2020 with a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, I completed my Master's degree in the same fields in 2023. In September of 2023, I began a one-year professional experience at the Faculty of Information Systems as part of the IP project. In October of 2024, I commenced my Ph.D. under Chris Kray, also as part of the same project. I am currently researching the trade-off between privacy and utility in traffic management.

Project: The “Intelligent Pendeln” (IP) project aims to collect and anonymize traffic data in Osnabrück in order to create transport services and improve infrastructures so that people can travel in a more demand-oriented and resource-efficient manner.

I am a PhD student at the Institute for Geoinformatics and have worked in the SIMPORT (Sovereign and Intuitive Management of Personal Location Information) project for 3.5 years. There, we tried to find out how we can strengthen the digital sovereignty of people who use location based services. My main focus has been user perception of location privacy and digital learning experiences. My research interests are location privacy, human computer interaction and software engineering in research contexts. Having previously worked as a software developer, my broader field of interest is the relationship between technology and society. I've received a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Geoinformatics from the University of Münster.

Eftychia is a graduate of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Patras, as well as of the joint Erasmus Mundus MSc in Geospatial Technologies. After joining the SITCOM lab as a research associate and PhD student, her research focuses on reproducibility of geovisualisations. She has also been part of the DFG-funded 'Open and Reproducible Research' project. She is currently involved in the Erasmus Mundus MSc in Geospatial Technologies (funded by Erasmus+) as a research associate with teaching duties, and in the Visual Question-Answering with Thematic Maps project (NFDI4Earth incubator lab track) as the project lead. Eftychia also has industry experience as a software engineer.

Project: Erasmus Mundus MSc in Geospatial Technologies (GeoTech), Visual Question-Answering with Thematic Maps (VISQAM)

While employed on the third-party-funded IIP-project, Caro works on her Masters degree in geoinformatics at the university of Münster. Within the IIP-project, she takes on responsibilities of dashboard conceptualization and development, as well as some research on Bikeability. Her areas of interest include location privacy, public transport and open source software.

Project: The "Intelligent Pendeln" Bicycle dashboard aims to evaluate and visualise the bikeability of urban cycleways by using open data sources. The aim is to help cyclists and decision makers gain a better understanding of a city's bicycle infrastructure quality.

I am a researcher on the DC12 project SCALA, which explores spatial communication in both virtual and physical excursions at the University of Münster. I earned an interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree in psychology and geography from Sarah Lawrence College in the United States. Following graduation, I became increasingly interested in cognitive psychology and linguistics, and graduated from University of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a Master's degree in cognitive neuroscience and language learning. Now, I’m eager to apply my background in social sciences to the realms of virtual reality, language, and geoinformatics.

Project: Spatial communication in virtual and physical excursions (DC12)

I am a PhD researcher in the SCALA project (DC10) at the Institute for Geoinformatics at the University of Münster, where I will investigate spatial communication in mixed reality across the lifespan. I hold a bachelor in Geosciences and a Master’s degree in Geospatial Technologies from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's program.

Project: Spatial communication in mixed reality across the lifespan (DC10)

Rajasirpi is a Geospatial software developer, graduated from the University of Münster in 2024 with a Master's degree in geoinformatics and spatial data science. Since October 2024, I have been employed as a Research Associate in the IP project at the Sitcom Lab. My role in this project is dashboard development, designing frontend and backend systems, building APIs and ETL processes, handling complex spatial datasets and transformations, and deploying scalable infrastructure using modern DevOps practices

Project: The "Intelligent Pendeln" Bicycle dashboard aims to evaluate and visualise the bikeability of urban cycleways by using open data sources. The aim is to help cyclists and decision makers gain a better understanding of a city's bicycle infrastructure quality.

I have been a research associate with teaching duties at the Situated Computing Lab since October 2024. Prior to this, I studied Computer Science at RWTH Aachen University, focusing on Human–Computer Interaction. In the winter term of 2024, I ran the exercise courses for the Introduction to Geoinformatics class, and in the summer term of 2025, I did the same for the Human–Computer Interaction class. I am also collaborating on the IP ('Intelligentes Pendeln') project, with my research focusing on schematic visualisations of sustainable mobility choices in cities.

Project: The "Intelligent Pendeln" Bicycle dashboard aims to evaluate and visualise the bikeability of urban cycleways by using open data sources. The aim is to help cyclists and decision makers gain a better understanding of a city's bicycle infrastructure quality.