On June 6, 2025, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Kratzsch was formally inaugurated for his second term of office as Rector of the HSZG.
On Friday, June 6, 2025, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Kratzsch was formally inaugurated for his second term as Rector of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The investiture took place in the Bürgersaal of the town hall of the university town of Zittau.
Thomas Zenker and Octavian Ursu, the Lord Mayors of the university towns of Zittau and Görlitz, gave welcoming speeches and impulses for the inauguration. The official speech at the inauguration was given by Minister of State Sebastian Gemkow. The Chairman of the University Council, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Welf-Guntram Drossel, performed the symbolic inauguration. Miriam Meyer, representing the Student Council, also spoke, while Prof. Stefan Kornhuber, representing the Senate, and Tom Walter, representing the Staff Council, offered their personal congratulations to the Rector. Following the ceremony, the university hosted a reception.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Kratzsch was re-elected Rector by the Extended Senate in the first ballot on November 8, 2024. His second term of office began on March 1, 2025 and runs until February 28, 2030. Born in Freiberg, he has been a professor at the HSZG since 2011 and has been at the helm since 2020.
For me, the further development of our university is much more than a task - it is a matter close to my heart. It is about consolidating what has already been achieved, expanding initiatives that have already been started in a targeted manner and boldly breaking new ground. The visible progress made in recent years shows what we can achieve as a community. I would like to build on this: with a clear strategy, open dialog and the firm goal of positioning the HSZG in a sustainable and future-oriented way.
”Here you can find the Rector's speech at the Investiture Ceremony on June 6, 2025.
The Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, also sent his congratulations on this festive occasion.
Professor Kratzsch is an asset to Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the students in Lusatia and the Saxon academic landscape. As Rector since 2020, he has been providing visible impetus with great commitment and foresight and setting a decisive course. This includes modern learning concepts, close partnerships with regional companies and global players as well as future-oriented new degree programs and scientific collaborations. He has been contributing his expertise to science in Saxony for many years. Even before his tenure as Rector, he was already shaping projects with regional and professional appeal as a researcher and project manager. I am delighted that the university has developed continuously and successfully under his leadership and wish him much creativity, joy and success for his second term of office.
”During his first term of office, Prof. Kratzsch steered the university through the coronavirus pandemic, as a result of which digital and hybrid teaching formats were established - an important cornerstone for the digitalization of the university.
Under his leadership, the "University for Future Process" (U4F) was introduced, a participatory development program and central project to secure the future of the university in the region's structural change. Among other things, this resulted in the strategy paper "University Development 2030+", which formulates sustainable goals in the areas of digitalization, internationalization, research, transfer and climate and resource protection.
The university has also developed structurally under his leadership: The establishment of the Saxon Film Academy, the inauguration of the mobile learning location for STEM promotion as part of the large-scale project "Zukunftslernort Oberlausitz" (ZukLOS) and the active role in the science network Hi!Lusatia e. V. are visible successes. Prof. Kratzsch is also involved as deputy chairman of the Saxon HAW state rectors' conference and as state spokesperson for the HRK.
Prof. Kratzsch has a clear vision for his second term of office: the HSZG should be a "university of the future" - regionally anchored, globally networked, digitally progressive and socially effective.
Plans include the establishment of a center for digitalization, the development of new, practice-oriented degree courses, for example in civil engineering, semiconductor technology and teaching with a special education component, as well as the strengthening of the KIA model (cooperative studies with integrated education).
In the spirit of the "third mission", Prof. Kratzsch is focusing on even more intensive networking with regional and international partners. In addition, Prof. Kratzsch intends to further advance the strategic education initiative "ZukLOS". With this initiative, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is pursuing the goal of promoting STEM education in the region through extracurricular activities. "I see the development of the university as a collaborative process. It's about combining our own ideas with the potential of others - for a strong university in a strong region," says Prof. Kratzsch.
