Job Talk: Federal Liaison Officer at the German Space Agency

The job talk is offered by the Academic Career Development, the Bonn Graduate Center and the Alumni Network

Dr. Christiane Heidbrink provides insights into her work as a Federal Liaison Officer in the Joint Office of the Executive Board Division of the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In this role, she serves at the interface of science, public administration, and policymaking, coordinating cooperation between the German Space Agency and Germany’s federal ministries.

Before joining the German Space Agency at DLR in 2024, Dr. Heidbrink worked as a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Center for Global Studies (CGS) at the University of Bonn from 2018 to 2024. Her research focused on international relations, global power shifts, Chinese foreign policy, and security studies. As Project Manager of the Bonn Power Shift Monitor (BPSM), she examined the political implications of changing global power structures, with particular emphasis on China’s growing international influence. She completed her doctorate at the University of Bonn in 2024 with the dissertation “Narration, Cooperation, and Confrontation: A Comparative Study of the Belt and Road’s (De)Securitization”. Prior to her doctoral studies, she earned a Master’s degree at the University of Bonn, where her thesis focused on security sector reform in Afghanistan. She previously completed a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government at the University of Münster.

Alongside her professional career, Dr. Heidbrink serves as Speaker of the Bonn section of the Young Generation of the German Association for Security Policy (JGSP), where she is actively involved in organising and moderating events, fostering dialogue between academia, security practitioners and the general public.