What was your most moving moment or your most important experience in your career?
I can't really name one moment or experience, there have been quite a few, such as giving my first lecture as a very young scientist in front of 70 students, that really made an impression on me. Or I am always moved when you work with colleagues on difficult questions, experience collective thinking and then, after some effort, a problem is solved and the realisation or answer is there. And the experience of being able to move things forward together is also something you don't forget so quickly.

What are you particularly proud of - for example in relation to your own students,your work area or contributions to the institution?
I don't know much about 'pride', but sometimes I do feel satisfaction, for example when students develop intellectually in the courses, start to argue independently and ultimately contradict me with clever arguments. When graduates of mine have been able to place themselves very well professionally. When a small study that I wrote together with a colleague is still used as a professional basis in public discussions ten years later or when our research ideas are suddenly taken up in discourses that were previously completely unknown to me. Such moments make me happy and somewhat satisfied.

When you look at your field of research: What developments in child and youth welfare have particularly moved or surprised you in recent years?
In child and youth welfare, the implementation of shared responsibility for all young people, including young people with disabilities, is on the agenda. At the moment, responsibility still lies mostly with different institutions. It was clear for a long time that this process would be difficult, but I didn't expect it to take so long. Overall, I still see a lot of need for change in child and youth welfare, but in recent years there has been an increased focus on the perspective of young people, as well as on the principles of young people's participation - that is a good development. We certainly need to continue to take a critical look here, but the independent perception of young people has developed positively in their favour in recent years.

Where do you currently see the greatest challenges and need for action?
Child and youth welfare costs money, and a lot of money is invested in it. This is a good thing and must be recognised. What is difficult, however, is the current pressure to economise, which is also affecting the youth welfare sector. It is a wrong decision to make cuts here. I am sure that this will lead to even higher costs in the medium term. And also with regard to youth welfare research, the major challenge remains to bring together the views of young people and their families on youth welfare services with the views of the professionals and the institution, without the perspective of the users being pushed into the background.

You worked for several years in leadership or organisational roles at the University of Wuppertal - as vice-dean, dean and most recently as vice-rector. What attracted you to this job?
Actually, I just wanted to research and teach in peace. In this respect, it didn't appeal to me at first, especially as I couldn't imagine myself in these roles. It took me a long time to think about it and I had to be asked more questions. But when I then decided to say 'OK, I'll do it', I very quickly reached the point where I wanted to take on the responsibility, understand things in detail and be well informed about the connections and details so that I could organise things on this basis. These were not always easy tasks - for example, I became Dean in 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic began. This was managed very well by the rectorate at the time, but it was still a daily challenge at faculty level and caused me quite a few headaches. Overall, however, I am very grateful for the great trust and, in some cases, the great support I received. The last few years in the rectorate, especially with these five wonderful colleagues, have been a really good and productive time for me.

Do you look forward to your upcoming retirement with nostalgia or anticipation?
Both: I will certainly miss the daily contact with many people at the university, who are so friendly to me every day, and the exciting collaboration with my colleagues - not least those in the rectorate. I don't know if it's melancholy. However, I'm actually looking forward to having more freedom in my time and, to be honest, I probably won't miss one or two tasks or meetings that aren't particularly enjoyable.

Are there any projects or topics that you would like to stay involved with or pursue in the future?
Yes, there are indeed: I would like to finalise two anthologies that I am publishing with colleagues very soon. In the past, there wasn't always as much time as I would have liked. Then I still have a lot of empirical interview material on social pedagogical user research, one of my main research areas, which I am keen to continue working on. I would like to realise a book project together with a colleague and then there are also a few ongoing doctorates and degrees that I have supervised. And there are also concrete ideas for smaller new research projects. I am still very open and curious. And perhaps my collaboration, experience and expertise will also be useful in other areas.

What are you looking forward to beyond work and research?
Above all, I'm looking forward to being able to spontaneously go on an extended hike with my husband in the Bergisches Land region on a random morning in the middle of the week, weather permitting. I have also planned a few smaller travel projects. And I'm also looking forward to no longer being so strictly tied to the semester periods when planning my holidays - because early summer is a botanically great time in the mountains, which I hardly know. That has rarely been possible so far. And simply reading a text - even a scientific one - to the end, without the immediate pressure to finish it and without feeling guilty about having to do something else, that's also something I'm really looking forward to at the moment.