About me
Who are you, and what do you do professionally? Since when are you Software Campus participant, and with whom are you collaborating (Industry Partner)?
My name is Rene Fischer, I did study business informatics during my bachelor’s and computer science for my master’s.Currently, I’m doing my doctorate in the field of software engineering at the chair of Prof. Peter Liggesmeyer and would like to push forward the digitalization, especially within the healthcare system. Starting 2026 I’ll be part of the Software Campus and working together with Merck KGaA as a partner on our project MoDiPharm – Modular Data Room for Innovation within Industry 4.0 and Pharma 4.0. Appropriately, I’m working at Fraunhofer IESE as a research assistant and project manager, where I engage with “Pharma 4.0.” I’m very much looking forward to collaborating with Merck to set new impulses for digital transformation within the pharmaceutical industry.
Career
Which was your most challenging experience in your career that you had to face up until now?
My biggest challenge was to be the first person in my family to start studying. Therefore, I had nobody around to directly ask about their experiences or how to manage everyday life as a student. Simple questions, such as “How does studying really work?” or “How do I finance my study?” were questions I had to answer on my own. In retrospect, one often realizes that solutions to one’s own challenges already exist, but the wrong questions have been asked. Occasionally, we always encounter situations like these in our lives—also in everyday working life. This is why my most fundamental learning out of it is the exchange with peers—whether it’s co-students, professors, or every other person in your studies or future work life—helps enormously and makes hurdles superable.
Personality
Which values and character traits do you see as fundamental for people in leading positions?
To me, fundamental values and character traits are an open culture of error and transparency. Particularly in research, things do not always go according to plan—which is why it is crucial to know how to deal with setbacks, even if they are based on your own decisions. Furthermore, to me, it is important that a manager does not act in complete isolation but rather as part of the team. This means that an open dialogue is essential, as nobody can know everything on their own; only by working together will the best solutions be found / the best solutions will only be found by working together. Like agile working with scrum, I consider the task of people in leading positions—which is to support and enable their team—comparable to that of a scrum master, who protects their team from the outside to make space for their productive work.
Mindset
What gets your creativity flowing?
To me, it’s very easy to get my creativity flowing, and luckily, the surroundings do not really have an impact on me in this regard. The topic is crucial. It must be interesting to me and preferably also challenging. That’s the moment when many ideas come into my mind. With a team, it’s more joyful because you get to share your thoughts, pass the ball to each other, and combine different perspectives. Especially in research and within innovative projects, this creates a dynamic that makes new approaches and creative problem-solving possible.
Impact
Imagine the following scenario: You’d have access to an unlimited budget for sustainable purposes. What exactly would you like to implement?
With an unlimited budget, I would expand the bicycle infrastructure. As an enthusiastic cyclist and bikepacking fan, I see enormous potential in sustainable mobility. To render the bicycle a great alternative to a car, safe and well-developed routes must be provided so that long distances can easily be covered. Especially during trips, it is noticeable how progressive some countries—like the Netherlands or Sweden—are in this regard. There is already a great foundation within Europe with the EuroVelo initiative; this one I would like to expand more consequently and nationwide.
Source language of this interview: German
