Doctoral Centre Engineering Sciences
Are you ready to play an active part in shaping the technologies of tomorrow through your doctorate research?
From sustainable mobility and smart production systems to innovative energy and materials technologies: at the Doctoral Centre “Engineering Sciences”, we combine technical expertise and scientific excellence to deliver cutting-edge, application-oriented research. Interdisciplinary teams, strong partnerships and state-of-the-art laboratories create an environment in which innovation flourishes and technical progress becomes a reality.
Start your doctorate in one of the four thematic clusters, supervised by two of our 23 research-led professors:
- Vehicle safety: vehicle testing, accident research, driver assistance systems
- Electromobility: battery technologies, powertrain systems, charging infrastructure
- Sustainable Energy Systems: energy efficiency, smart grids, renewable energies
- New Materials Technology: Materials for production, surface and materials research
Get to know your future doctoral colleagues and gain an insight into their areas of research.
Fatih Sezgin
Doctoral researcher at the Doctoral Centre “Engineering Sciences” within the Vehicle Safety Cluster
“I’m doing my doctoral research in the field of environmental perception for vehicle safety systems. The exciting thing about my doctorate at THI is that I get to explore a wide range of topics and am constantly learning new things. I have brilliant colleagues, enjoy close contact with industry partners and receive excellent supervision. This means I can draw on the professors’ experience and knowledge at any time, whilst at the same time pursuing my own research ideas. It’s an approach I really like.”
At the Doctoral School for Engineering Sciences, 43 doctoral candidates are currently conducting research on innovative dissertation projects. Two doctoral candidates have already successfully completed their doctorates.
Ongoing doctoral theses
| Name | Topic | Supervisor | Cluster |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shariq Akbar | Improving the Performance of Thermal Source Networks through Flexibilisation with Combined Multi-Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage Systems | Prof. Tobias Schrag & Prof. Daniel Navarro Gevers | Energy Systems |
| Stefan Asam-Utz | Development of loss-optimised modulation strategies for the PECIN multilevel inverter, taking into account harmonic behaviour in the electric powertrain | Prof. Christian Endisch & Prof. Ralph Kennel | Electromobility |
| Elisabeth Baer (née Sturm) | Combination of Simulation and Experiments for Statistical Predictions of Simulation Quality | Prof. Ulrich Tetzlaff & Prof. Manuela Waltz | New Materials |
| Tobias Baldauf | Optimal heat management in grid-connected biogas plants with high heat utilisation and high use of residual materials | Prof. Markus Goldbrunner & Prof. Tobias Schrag | Energy systems |
| Leonardo Barbosa da Silva | V2X Conformance Testing in a HiL Environment Using AI-based Techniques for Message Generation | Prof. Christian Facchi & Prof. Andreas Festag | Vehicle Safety |
| Jonas Bauernfeind | Active safety and advanced driver assistance for emergency services | Prof. Christian Birkner & Prof. Thomas Brandmeier | Vehicle safety |
| Alexander Baumann | Development of safety-oriented operating strategies for lithium-ion batteries | Prof. Christian Endisch & Prof. Klaus Kefferpütz | Electromobility |
| Silas Correia Lobo | Development of an evaluation methodology for VRU safety Car2X applications (VRU Safety Protection with V2X Communication) | Prof. Christian Facchi & Prof. Andreas Festag | Vehicle safety |
| Leticia Cristófoli Duarte | Synthetic Road Spray Validation Framework to Assess Realistic Sensor Degradation for Automated Driving Testing | Prof. Werner Huber & Prof. Valentina Donzella | Vehicle Safety |
| Niklas Denter | Optimisation of intersectoral renewable heat networks | Prof. Matthias Huber & Prof. Tobias Schrag | Energy systems |
| Ömer Dönmez | Development of a cost-effective automated valet parking system | Prof. Ondrej Vaculin & Prof. Andreas Riener | Vehicle Safety |
| Rainer Engert | Advanced Sensor Fusion for Automotive Object Detection in Safety-Critical Scenarios | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Christian Birkner | Vehicle Safety |
| Maikol Funk Drechsler | Replaceability of proving ground tests for the type-approval of automated driving vehicles using X-in-the-Loop methods | Prof. Werner Huber & Prof. Valentina Donzella | Vehicle Safety |
| Markus Geisler | Trustworthiness of AI-based multisensory perception systems | Prof. Werner Huber & Prof. Michael Botsch | Vehicle Safety |
| Michael Graf | Modelling of interference effects on vehicle environment sensors under adverse weather conditions using physics-based machine learning | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Ondrej Vaculin | Vehicle Safety |
| Markus Gregor | Methods for predicting the condition of traction batteries in technical investigations | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Sergej Diel | Electromobility |
| Felix Herrmann | Holistic modelling, analysis, techno-economic and multi-criteria optimisation of micro-energy piles in multimodal energy systems | Prof. Markus Goldbrunner & Prof. Tobias Schrag | Energy systems |
| Robert Huber | Safety-Critical Near-Field Perception: Synergistic Radar-Camera Optimisation for Robust Detection of Vulnerable Road Users under Specific Interfering Influences | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Christian Birkner | Vehicle Safety |
| Maximilian Inderst | Adaptive, early activation of irreversible restraint systems, taking into account the variance in possible crash scenarios and occupant movement induced by vehicle dynamics | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Ondrej Vaculin | Vehicle Safety |
| Basit Jimoh | Safety Assessment of Lithium-ion-Based Batteries: Misuse Cases and Degradation | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Sergej Diel | Electromobility |
| Abinav Kalyana Sundaram | Uncertainty-Aware Hybrid AI Models for State Estimation in Intelligent Vehicle Systems | Prof. Michael Botsch & Prof. Wolfgang Utschick | Vehicle Safety |
| Tobias Kern | Cooperative Driving through a Combination of Centralised and Emergent Controls | Prof. Christian Birkner & Prof. Thomas Brandmeier | Vehicle Safety |
| Daniel Raphael Koch | Optimisation of a lithium-ion equivalent circuit cell model, taking into account mechanical influences and parameter variations, for the creation and validation of a battery system model | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Sergej Diel | Electromobility |
| Thomas König | Methodology for investigating road traffic accidents involving driver assistance systems and automated driving functions | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Werner Huber | Vehicle safety |
| Robin Langer | Technical functional testing of the environmental perception of automated vehicles | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Werner Huber | Vehicle Safety |
| Bertha Lwakatare | Enhancement of Grid Stability in End-of-Line Communities – Comparison of Grid Extension and Decentralised Renewable Energy Solutions | Prof. Wilfried Zörner & Prof. Daniel Navarro Gevers | Energy Systems |
| Daniel Maksimovski | V2X Priority Cooperative Manoeuvre Coordination for Connected and Automated Vehicles | Prof. Christian Facchi & Prof. Andreas Festag | Vehicle Safety |
| Lucas Müller | Predictive control of air-source heat pump systems in detached houses using adaptive AI approaches | Prof. Tobias Schrag & Prof. Daniel Navarro Gevers | Energy Systems |
| Joshua Ngetuny | Exploring the Potential of Small-scale Biogas Systems in Developing Countries (Based on a Case Study in Morocco) | Prof. Wilfried Zörner & Prof. Markus Goldbrunner | Energy Systems |
| Richard Polzer | Behaviour of Lithium-Ion Batteries Under Dynamic Loads: Experimental and Numerical Investigation | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Sergej Diel | Electromobility |
| Niklas Rossberg | Methodologies for Data-Driven Elicitation, Clustering and Analysis of Driving Scenarios for the Validation of Automated Driving | Prof. Michael Botsch & Prof. Wolfgang Utschick | Vehicle Safety |
| Lukas Rozek | Estimation of occupant injury severity | Prof. Christian Birkner & Prof. Thomas Brandmeier | Vehicle safety |
| Christina Schieber | Investigation of cell swelling, cell ageing and the characterisation of lithium-ion cells for commercial vehicle applications | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger & Prof. Sergej Diel | Electromobility |
| Anna-Lena Schlamp | RL-based coordination of multimodal traffic at roundabouts | Prof. Werner Huber & Prof. Stefanie Schmidtner | Vehicle Safety |
| Florian Scholz | Optimisation of the fast-charging process for lithium-ion batteries through the use of online electrochemical impedance spectroscopy | Prof. Christian Endisch & Prof. Gordon Elger | Electromobility |
| Fatih Sezgin | Detection of obstacles in pre-crash situations for predictive vehicle safety systems | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Christian Birkner | Vehicle safety |
| Fabian Steinberger | Sinter modelling – sintering limits in the field of Power Electronics modules | Prof. Gordon Elger & Prof. Annegret Kerschenlohr | Electromobility |
| Michael Theiler | Intelligent battery systems | Prof. Christian Endisch & Prof. Gordon Elger | Electromobility |
| Akhilesh Yadav | Development and Implementation of a Non-intrusive Load Monitoring Algorithm for Application in the Dairy and Pig Fattening Industries | Prof. Markus Goldbrunner & Prof. Daniel Navarro Gevers | Energy Systems |
| Dennis Zdetski | Safeguarding the Deployment of Forward-Facing Restraint Systems | Prof. Thomas Brandmeier & Prof. Ondrej Vaculin | Vehicle Safety |
| Simon Zieher | Decentralised Coordination and Trajectory Planning of Multi-Agent Systems Incorporating Safety Guarantees | Prof. Klaus Kefferpütz & Prof. Michael Botsch | Vehicle Safety |
| Andreas Zippelius | Reliability prediction of solder joints using physical and data-driven methods | Prof. Gordon Elger & Prof. Ulrich Tetzlaff | Electromobility |
Completed doctoral theses
Get an overview of the dissertations that have already been completed and discover the wide range of topics covered by the research projects at the Doctoral School for Engineering Sciences.
| Name | Year | Thesis topic | Primary supervisor | Second supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr.-Ing. Maximilian Bauder | 2025 | Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems for Forensic Accident Analysis. Opportunities and Challenges Posed by Car-to-X Communication | Prof. Hans-Georg Schweiger | Prof. Andreas Festag |
| Dr Shiva Agrawal | 2026 | Enhancing Object Detection of Road Users Using AI-based Sensor Fusion of Roadside-Mounted RGB Cameras and 3D Radar | Prof. Gordon Elger | Prof. Klaus Kefferpütz |
Professors
At the Doctoral School for Engineering Sciences, 23 experienced professors with proven research strengths and academic expertise will guide you through your doctorate. Get to know your potential supervisors, who will support you both academically and personally throughout your doctorate.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Brandmeier
Electrical Engineering and Vehicle Communication
Thomas.Brandmeier@thi.de
Electrical Engineering and Vehicle Communication
Thomas.Brandmeier@thi.de
Prof. Dr. techn. Priv.-Doz. Andreas Riener
Human-Machine Interface and Virtual Reality
Andreas.Riener@thi.de
Human-Machine Interface and Virtual Reality
Andreas.Riener@thi.de
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Hans-Georg Schweiger
Automotive Electronics and Electric Mobility
Hans-Georg.Schweiger@thi.de
Automotive Electronics and Electric Mobility
Hans-Georg.Schweiger@thi.de
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Tetzlaff
Materials Science, Chipless Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Composites
Ulrich.Tetzlaff@thi.de
Materials Science, Chipless Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Composites
Ulrich.Tetzlaff@thi.de
Pursuing a doctorate at Doctoral Centre ENG
The Doctoral Centre “Engineering Sciences” offers you the ideal conditions for advancing your research and completing a quality-assured doctoral programme.
Ideal conditions for your doctorate
- A structured qualification programme
- Access to modern laboratories, test sites and technical infrastructure
- Individual supervision by experienced professors with a strong focus on practical applications
- Collaboration with companies and international research partners on real-world problems
- Close networking amongst THI PhD students, with regular meetings and events
Doctoral degrees
The Doctoral School for Engineering Sciences awards the academic title “Dr.-Ing”.
Applying to the Doctoral School
Dr Monika Kolpatzik, Managing Director of the THI Doctoral School, will provide you with personalised advice both before and during the application process.
Discover your research environment
As a doctoral researcher, you will become part of a dynamic research network and benefit from the close collaboration between THI’s research institutes and the academic, business and wider communities.
Contact persons
Management Team
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Endisch: Academic Director of the Doctoral School for Engineering
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Birkner: Deputy Academic Director of the Doctoral School for Engineering
- Prof. Christian Facchi:Academic Director of the Doctoral School
- Dr Monika Kolpatzik:Managing Director of the Doctoral School
Doctoral Student Representative
- Elisabeth Baer: Doctoral School for Engineering Sciences
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