Sometimes no career plan is the best plan

Spotlight on profs: Prof. Dr. Gerald Ackner lectures in applied cognition psychology at Furtwangen University

What’s on a psychologist’s desk? Several model brains, of course. They provide the perfect backdrop for a conversation with Prof. Dr. Gerald Ackner. As a professor in the Engineering Psychology and Human Factors degree programmes at Furtwangen University (HFU), his work revolves around people — around perception, decision-makingand the question of how people interact with technology.

Ackner’s path to his field of expertise was anything but straightforward. “I have a pretty unconventional résumé,” he laughs. That’s exactly what he likes to tell his students; many are afraid of making the wrong decisions or taking detours. But his own career shows that sometimes having no plan is the best plan. In any case, the Berlin native had never planned on becoming a professor.

After high school, Gerald Ackner was initially fascinated by a different scientific field — geophysics. He wanted to study to learn more about volcanoes and tectonics — but quickly realised he wasn’t really up to the challenge of advanced mathematics and theoretical physics. “Everyone else was impressively good,” he recalls, adding cheerfully, “And I failed spectacularly at first.”

So he set out to implement Plan B and headed to the career information centre at the job centre. However, he didn’t even need to seek advice — because right in the lobby, Ackner found brochures lying around, including a Lufthansa flyer. They were looking for temporary flight attendants for long-haul flights. Without a second thought, he applied — and spent the next two years flying all over the globe. Mumbai, San Francisco and Kyoto left a particularly lasting impression on him. Above all, though, it was the encounters with people that inspired him. On long night flights, he struck up conversations with passengers, asking about their professions, life stories and whether they were happy with their work. “That was probably my first cross-sectional interview study,” Ackner says in retrospect.

As luck would have it, the curious flight attendant encountered a striking number of psychologists. “They were often extremely satisfied with their profession, and I realised just how incredibly diverse the field of psychology is,” says Ackner. He managed to secure a spot in the programme through a waiting list process, in which the University of Würzburg selected him and enabled him to begin his psychology studies.

There, he quickly found his first academic home in social psychology. He was interested in why people perceive situations differently and how other people influence our behaviour. As early as his first semester, he sought out research opportunities and worked as a student assistant.

Another coincidence eventually led him to the subject that is now so close to his heart. “I was living in a shared apartment with a friend, and he worked at the Institute for Traffic Psychology,” Ackner recalls. “He was always telling me how exciting it was and how well it would suit me. I actually only applied there to get my roommate to stop bugging me — but his stories had already made me very curious.” It would prove to be a decisive turning point. From then on, Ackner’s research projects focused on the interaction between humans and technology; driver-assistance systems, prototypes on test tracks and the question of how technical systems can remain controllable by humans even in critical situations. In the process, he also rediscovered his old passion for physics. The mathematical and technical fundamentals became a practical tool for solving concrete problems.

After completing his studies, Ackner initially remained at the University of Würzburg and worked in research for a year. “Crunching numbers,” he says, recalling the extensive statistical work. At the same time, he looked for an opportunity to pursue a doctorate — and found it in collaboration with Opel/General Motors. An industry-based doctorate seemed particularly appealing to him; closer to practical application, closer to concrete real-world questions.

Ackner became the first psychologist to earn a doctorate at Opel on a topic that still occupies him today; the interaction between humans and technology. Together with international colleagues, including researchers from the U.S. and Israel, he investigated how people perceive dangers and how different warning signals influence their reactions. Using driving simulators, Ackner studied distracted attention and explored how technical systems can better support people. His research findings were directly incorporated into the development of safer solutions. Even after completing his doctorate, Ackner remained connected to Opel — for twelve years, he worked there on topics related to people, vehicles and safety.

Then Gerald Ackner was drawn to the opportunity to bring his expertise from research and industry to a university of applied sciences; Furtwangen University was seeking faculty members to help establish the Engineering Psychology programme. And so, as a professor starting in 2018, he helped shape this programme from the very beginning. Since then, he is convinced, “This is the best job in the world. I love every day with the students!”

Practical relevance is particularly important to Gerald Ackner — this is where HFU can play to its strengths. To keep his own practical experience up to date, Ackner briefly stepped away from his role as professor during a practical semester and worked on a project instead. “It was a great experience to step out of the role of evaluator for a change.” He then incorporated these new insights directly into his teaching. Gerald Ackner views good teaching as a mission — for him, this means conveying a high level of subject-matter expertise while consistently demonstrating why knowledge is needed, he explains.

He also brings this conviction to his role as Vice-Dean for Innovative Teaching Methods in Faculty II: Engineering & Technologies, where he explores what learning at universities might look like in the future. For him, it is crucial that teachers and students see themselves as a community, “as people who are searching for knowledge together.” And in doing so, find their own personal paths — with or without a plan.

Spotlight on professors

In this series, we introduce the prestigious scholars who teach and conduct research at Furtwangen University. HFU is a university of applied sciences; therefore, its professors have many years of practical experience. We present these fascinating personal and professional stories in no particular order.