Vice President for Research und Appointments

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Stephan Völker studied electrical engineering at TH Ilmenau, graduating in 1992. Following his studies, he earned a doctorate in Ilmenau's Lighting Engineering Group. He received the Helwig Prize from the Deutsche Lichttechnische Gesellschaft e.V. (LiTG) for his dissertation. Völker then moved to Lippstadt to take up a position as design engineer for lighting engineering in Hella's Corporate Research & Development/Optics Department. In 2002, Völker was appointed research lecturer at the University of Paderborn, where he was responsible for lighting engineering in the newly established L-LAB (a public-private partnership between Hella KG and the University of Paderborn). In addition to supervising numerous final and doctoral theses, he also developed a lighting technology curriculum for the University of Paderborn. In 2006, Professor Völker completed his Habilitation thesis titled "Hell- und Kontrastempfindung - ein Beitrag zur Entwicklung von Zielfunktionen für die Auslegung von Kraftfahrzeug-Scheinwerfern" (Brightness and Contrast Sensing - A Contribution to the Development of Target Functions for the Design of Automotive Headlights). He received the German Transport Safety Award (Deutscher Verkehrssicherheitspreis) for his Habilitation thesis.

He has held research positions at the University of Paderborn, University College London, and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia.

Stephan Völker was appointed head of the Chair of Lighting Technology at TU Berlin in 2008. Five years later he was elected vice dean and subsequently dean of Faculty IV. From 2016 to 2022 he represented the University's professors on the Board of Trustees. Since 1 April 2022n Stephan Völker has been vice president for research and appointments of TU Berlin.

Stephan Völker is a contributer to textbooks and reference books and a policy advisor at municipal and federal level. He is also a member of numerous national and international expert committees, most significantly as the representative for Germany in Division 4 (transport and outdoor lighting) of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).