From Hans-Leinberger-Gymnasium to professor at the Landshut University of Applied Sciences via TU Munich – that’s a quick summary of Prof. Andreas Hauptner’s career path. The Landshut native has been teaching “Advanced Experimental Physics” at the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies since the start of the summer semester. He also leads the introductory seminar course for physics and heads up the new laboratory for advanced physics in the Engineering Education course. The still-new bachelor’s course is a success story for Landshut. Students have a free choice once they graduate: move on to a teaching job or do a master’s degree in engineering.
After his Abitur [secondary school leaving exam] in 1993, Hauptner studied “Technical Physics” at the Technical University of Munich. He completed his doctorate at the Chair of Physics of Hadrons and Nuclei. As part of his doctoral thesis, Hauptner set up a radiation workplace at the accelerator lab in Garching, where living cell cultures – with a resolution of less than one micrometre – could be irradiated specifically with individual, highly-energetic ions. After a brief post-doctoral period, he switched to a central division of the teaching department of the Faculty of Physics at TU Munich. In addition to heading up the practical physics course for mechanical engineering and, most recently, the life sciences courses at the Weihenstephan School of Life Sciences, he was also responsible for supervising the physics teacher training courses.
Called back to his hometown
“When I was a doctoral student, I noticed that I really enjoyed teaching physics,” says Hauptner. “I was able to gain valuable experience of teaching at a university as head of the practical course, as well as via lots of other teaching activities.” That helped him decide to pursue a career as a professor. When the university invited applications for a professor of physics with a focus on engineering education last summer, it was exactly the kind of professional opportunity Hauptner had been hoping for: “Not only could I pursue the work that gave me so much joy, but I could also return to my hometown at the same time.”
The physics professor immediately felt welcome at Landshut University of Applied Sciences. Everywhere he goes, he finds people willing to help and professional colleagues. “For me, the professorship here is a real stroke of luck,” says Hauptner, “and I’m really looking forward to incorporating my experiences up to now into my teaching and giving the Engineering Education course new momentum.” Hauptner has one primary goal: to bring a fascination about the natural sciences closer to the students, and to prepare them for their later careers as teachers in the best way possible. “The conditions at Landshut University of Applied Sciences are perfect for it,” says Hauptner.
Photos: Landshut University of Applied Sciences/Thomas Kolbinger
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