HSZG awards first research professorship
Prof. Dr. Knut Petzold has been awarded the first research professorship at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for his research on “Securing a Skilled Workforce in Saxony and the Region.”
Prof. Dr. Knut Petzold has been awarded the first research professorship granted by Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for his research on “Securing a Skilled Workforce in Saxony and the Region.” The professorship will begin in the 2024–25 winter semester and will last for four semesters. Funding for this comes from special allocations by the Free State of Saxony for the university’s basic research infrastructure.
Since 2020, Knut Petzold has been a professor of methods in empirical social research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. His general research interests lie in empirical social structure analysis and social inequality research, with a particular focus on multi-method research designs. The research professorship will enable him to intensify his current work at the intersection of university, labor market, and migration research.
In order to attract academic specialists and managers from Germany and abroad to regional labor markets in the long term, in-depth knowledge of the interplay between individual motives, institutional framework conditions and regional location factors is required.
”Petzold studied sociology and psychology at the University of Leipzig, where he also earned his doctorate in 2011. His career path took him through Siegen, Magdeburg, Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Hanover, and Bochum, among other places, before he finally settled in Görlitz. He is currently the spokesperson for the “Modeling and Simulation” section of the German Sociological Association (DGS) and is actively involved as an organizer of the “Sociology of Spatial Mobilities” research stream within the European Sociological Association (ESA).
As part of the research professorship, three interrelated research areas will be continued and expanded through additional applications for third-party funding. The first research area examines the potential that immigration through universities creates for regional labor markets. A second research area focuses on the significance of social capital against the backdrop of complex spatial mobility processes, such as weekly commuting and working from home. A third research area examines the role of perceived political culture as a locational factor in attracting and retaining academic specialists and leaders. Accompanying outreach events with representatives from the professional field are planned.
With its decision in January 2023, the University Executive Board paved the way for the appointment of research professorships. These will be awarded alternately among the STEM and social sciences and humanities subject groups. The goal is to strengthen professors’ research capabilities and ability to secure external funding, as well as to support ongoing research and knowledge transfer activities. The funds provided allow the research professor to be partially exempt from teaching duties and cover the costs of supporting staff and materials during the funding period. The next research professorship will be awarded to the STEM subject group and is scheduled to begin in the winter semester of 2026/27. Applications must be submitted in January 2026, provided that the necessary funding remains available. For further information, please contact the Research Office. Together with Prof. Dr. Knut Petzold, the Research Office will provide updates on the progress of the research.
For more information about Prof. Dr. Knut Petzold, please visit his profile on the faculty website.
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