Prof. Dr. Maria Rentetzi, Internationalization Officer

Internationalization Officer

Prof. Dr. Maria Rentetzi
Chair of Science, Technology and Gender Studies

Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 61, D-91052 Erlangen
Phone: +49 9131 85 26980
E-mail: maria.rentetzi@fau.de

Internationalization Officer

Internationalization Officer Prof. Rentetzi is responsible for increasing the international visibility of FAU, expanding our presence abroad and fostering the welcoming culture at FAU for international students, teaching staff, researchers and support staff. She assumes strategic responsibility for the cross-sectional topic of internationalization at FAU and provides support for developing activities abroad through quantitative and qualitative expansion of international collaboration networks, as well as consolidating strategic partnerships across the globe. The Internationalization Officer liaises with the Executive Board, and exercises the powers they assign to her relating to internationalization.

Curriculum vitae

Prof. Rentetzi is a physicist and a historian, and this is reflected clearly in her research: she focuses on the common ground between science and technology, the history of science, the history of diplomacy, political science and international relations. Her research and teaching focus on two intertwined research areas: exploring the political and historical nature of science and technology and taking a critical approach toward gender as an important analytical category in efforts within the field of science and technology.

After studying at Aristoteles University Thessaloniki (BSc in Physics) and completing a Master’s degree in the History of Science and Technology at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), she obtained a doctoral degree in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech, USA. She received an award for her doctoral thesis from the university. Thereafter, she was a postdoctoral fellow and guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) and received a Lise Meitner scholarship from the Austrian Science Fund.

Other positions she has held include positions as a guest professor at TU Berlin, a Silverman professor at the University of Tel Aviv and a professor at NTUA. Her list of publications is long and varied, covering topics such as the history of radioactivity and nuclear science, gender and science and the history of tobacco culture and technology in Greece.

Prof. Rentetzi has won numerous prizes and awards for her research, including the Gutenberg-e prize from the American Historical Society and an ERC Consolidator Grant for researching the history of radiation protection and the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in setting radiation standards after the Second World War. In connection with this, she is currently working on developing a new research strand: Diplomatic Studies of Science.

Rentetzi is a corresponding member of the International Academy of History of Science, a member of AcademiaNet, an advisory member of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPST/DHST) and a founding member and treasurer of the Association of ERC Grantees. She was the scientific advisor for scientific diplomacy of the deputy Greek foreign minister (2017-2018) and President of the Commission on Women and Gender Studies of the IUHPST/DHST in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (2013-2021).

She has been the Internationalization Officer at FAU since February 2022.