Brain City Berlin Ambassador Prof. Dr. Uwe Bettig

Brain City Berlin

As Professor of Management and Business Administration of Health and Social Services, Prof. Dr. Uwe Bettig has been working for years to improve the situation of people in need of care as well as the working conditions in the health care system. The Brain City Ambassador actively uses Berlin's high networking potential.

In 1994, a young man was working as a janitor in a local hospital during his year of civilian service in Germany. He was shocked by the challenges facing hospital employees. The adversity he witnessed sparked an aspiration to improve the working conditions in the healthcare system and the situation of those in need of long-term care.

The young man’s name is Dr Uwe Bettig and his passion led him to dedicate his career to this cause. Fast-forward to the present day Uwe Bettig has been passionately working in healthcare, researching management tools to improve the working conditions in the field. He is currently a Professor of Management and Business Administration of Health and Social Services at the ASH Berlin.

Uwe Bettig was initially attracted to a career in Berlin as the city promised the opportunity to get to know the key players in healthcare, politics and society. He has now worked in the city for many years and considers the conditions for research in the capital ideal: “Berlin has the most exciting academic landscape in Germany; it is great to work here. We have a large network of partners with whom we can realize our projects. All major players in the healthcare system are represented in Berlin.” Uwe Bettig has embarked on many interdisciplinary collaborations and he is currently working with partners from across other universities, research institutions and healthcare facilities to establish a project exploring the implications of robotics in nursing.

Berlin has the most exciting academic landscape in Germany; it is great to work here. All major players in the healthcare system are represented in Berlin.

He is also passionate about educating future healthcare professionals. His greatest career achievement was established in his previous position as President of ASH Berlin: a series of new courses, including a nursing-degree. In his current job, he splits his time between researching and teaching and enjoys the opportunity to share his research results directly with his students. However, he feels that the teaching load can be excessive. It is the major challenge facing those working in universities of applied sciences, and leaves senior academics stretched and with little time to educate doctoral candidates. He feels the first step to addressing this is to create additional jobs for researchers.

Outside of work, Uwe Bettig enjoys the around-the-clock action of Berlin and the rich and diverse variety of cultural and sporting events on offer. His perfect weekend starts with a lie in – if his young children will allow it – , followed by a large breakfast with all the trimmings. He also likes heading to the surrounding areas of Berlin with his family.

Uwe Bettig has come far since his days as a janitor but his desire to improve the working conditions in healthcare has not faded. He is constantly motivated by people who volunteer for the community, and believes that without them many things in society would not be possible.