Professor Staubach, what made you decide to take on the Deputy Professorship position at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar?
I have a strong connection to the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar thanks to my many years of working here, especially in the Department of Geotechnics. My main focus is ensuring that teaching and research can be optimally carried out until the professorship position is appointed. 

What are you most excited about in this position?
A lot of the geotechnical engineering courses were only offered online in the past semesters; thanks to the deputy professor position, these courses can now be held in-person again, something which makes me very happy.
In addition to this, I am especially looking forward to working on exciting projects with research and industry partners and representing the Department of Geotechnics and the Institute of Structural Engineering both within Germany and internationally through associated publications. 

What does your research focus on?
Research in the Department of Geotechnics focusses on the foundations of offshore wind turbines. When it comes to the energy transition, wind turbines are incredibly important and their installation accounts for a large proportion of the cost. Using numerical methods developed in our department, we are able to measure the foundations more economically and thus contribute to establishing new, more environmentally-friendly installation methods. The latter is achieved by investigating alternative foundations, such as the Suction-Caisson design, which avoid affecting sea life with the incredibly loud noise of standard foundation construction. We are also working on new design methods for improving foundations together with partners from the industry; these methods are intended to make sites with less than favourable conditions more usable. 

What does good teaching mean to you?
Good teaching encourages interest in the subject at hand. Acquiring knowledge is then just a matter of course. This can be achieved through varied lectures and seminars, as well as lab and computer exercises and excursions. This is rounded off by giving students the opportunity to be directly involved in current research through their final project or thesis.
The results of our research are especially reflected in the Master’s degree programmes. In courses that focus on the various types of foundations, the importance of geotechnics and its role in sustainable construction is also addressed. To this end, we focus on methods that are sustainable, even in light of increasingly challenging requirements. Some examples of this are methods for improving foundation soil, using geotextiles and targeted use of vegetation to stabilise soils. 

What, in your opinion, are the challenges that civil engineering is facing now and will be facing in the future?
A central challenge is the issue of sustainability in civil engineering; geotechnics plays a big role here as producing foundations typically releases enormous amounts of CO2. Improving foundations by using methods that do not require concrete or steel are therefore significantly more sustainable and will become increasingly important in the future.

Contact
Deputy Prof. Dr.-Ing. Patrick Staubach
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Department of Geotechnics
Coudraystraße 11c, Room 209
Phone: +49 (0) 3643 / 58 45 54
E-mail: patrick.staubach[at]uni-weimar.de