Philipp Eudelle is Professor at Offenburg University, Dean of the Faculty of Business, and Deputy Director of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI). His teaching focuses on economic policy and quantitative methods. His main academic research topics include the analysis of the benefit of public research funding and strategies for improvement of research cooperation between public and private organisations. Professor Eudelle was educated at Offenburg University, Ecole Doctorale Augustin Cournot in Strasbourg (DEA), and Strasbourg University (Dr.).

Professor Andreas Klasen founded the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI) in 2017, and served as its Director until 2024. He left Offenburg University in November 2024 and is now Professor of International Business at Brunel University of London (UK), as well as Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford Smith School, University of Oxford (UK). 

His research is focused on export finance and climate cooperation, as well as international business and global economic governance. Publications include the Elgar Encyclopedia of Public Management (contributing author, Edward Elgar, 2022), The Handbook of Global Trade Policy (editor, Wiley, 2020), Innovationen für eine digitale Wirtschaft (contributing author, Springer, 2020) and Beyond Gridlock (contributing author, Polity, 2017). He regularly speaks at international academic and practitioner conferences as well as international fora such as COP, G7, G20, the OECD and the WTO, was invited to give expert evidence to the UK Parliament and has long lasting experience as an economic adviser in WTO disputes.

Until 2015, Professor Andreas Klasen was a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Germany and PwC’s Economics & Policy leader, serving as Managing Director of the official German export credit agency. Andreas Klasen was educated at Leibniz University Hannover, Northumbria University and the University of St Andrews, studying law, business and theology and receiving his doctoral degree in finance.

Dr Roseline Wanjiru is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI). She is Associate Professor of International Business and Economic Development at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, and is the Head of International Business and Strategy subject group. Her research projects investigate international trade and exports policy, foreign direct investment impacts and organisational strategies for innovation and location decisions. Current projects consider the impacts of economic activity on specific locations, with a focus on investment, employment, skills and innovation outcomes.

Dr Roseline Wanjiru is an expert advisor to government, business and civil society on trade and development policy, exports and innovation strategy. She currently sits on the expert committee advising the Secretary of State for International Trade as a member of the Export Guarantees Advisory Council. The Council members advise on the operations of UK Export Finance.

Dr Roseline Wanjiru completed a PhD in Economic Geography at the University of Leeds and a Masters in Development. She has a Master of Business Administration from the School of Management, University of Bradford. In addition to extensive international experience working across Europe, Roseline has international experience working in developing economies of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Richard Nyuur is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI). He is Professor of International Business and Head of the International Business, Marketing and Strategy Department at the University of Bradford School of Management. Prior to joining Bradford in 2022, he was an Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, and held a number of leadership roles within the Faculty of Business and Law.

His research broadly engages with international business and strategy focusing specifically on foreign direct investment; SME internationalisation, international innovation and strategic adaptiveness; international human resource management, and corporate social responsibility. His publications have appeared in top-tier journals such as, British Journal of Management, Journal of International Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Small Business Management, International Journal of HRM, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Multinational Business Review, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Thunderbird International Business Review, Human Resource Development International, and International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics. He has successfully co-guest edited special issues for Critical Perspectives of International Business journal, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management Journal.

Professor Richard Nyuur currently serves on the editorial boards of Critical Perspectives of international Business, Journal of African Business, and European Journal of Economics and Management.

Dr Simone Krummaker is a Fellow at the Institute for Trade and Innovation. Her research focuses, in particular, on strategy and implementation of risk management frameworks in the financial sector, artificial intelligence and machine learning. She is also Associate Dean and Senior Lecturer in Insurance at Bayes Business School, City, University of London (UK) and Course Director of the MSc Insurance & Risk Management.

Previously, Dr Simone Krummaker worked as Senior Lecturer in Finance at the University of Westminster, at the University of East Anglia London and as Senior Researcher at the Center for Risk and Insurance and Associate Lecturer at the Institute for Insurance Economics, both at Leibniz University of Hannover.

Dr Simone Krummaker holds a doctoral degree (Dr. rer. pol.) and a high level German University degree (Diplom Ökonom) from Leibniz University of Hannover. She is also a certified insurance professional (Versicherungskauffrau, Chamber of Industry and Commerce).

Dr Mathias Bärtl is full Professor of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research and a Member of the Institute for Trade and Innovation (IfTI) at Offenburg University. His research covers extensive work regarding quantitative benchmarking for governments, export credit agencies and international associations. Publications include “Prediction of Claims in Export Credit Finance” (Risks, 2020).

He delivered research projects, e.g., for Afreximbank, Atradius Dutch State Business, CESCE in Spain, EKF Denmark’s Export Credit Agency, GIEK in Norway and SERV in Switzerland. Before joining academia, Mathias Bärtl was a Senior Scientist in the NATO International Staff (Operations Research, NATO Communications and Information Agency). Responsibilities included the technical lead of the strategic assessment of the ISAF mission, planning of strategic NATO capabilities and other projects with a quantitative-analytical focus. Previously, he served as an Air Force officer with activities in the field of logistics, as well as development and analysis of processes and knowledge management in the context of multinational operations.

Professor Mathias Bärtl was educated at the Universität der Bundeswehr München and Arizona State University at Phoenix. He holds a doctoral degree (Dr. rer. pol.) and a high level German University degree (Diplom Kaufmann).

Dr. Michael Stopfkuchen is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Trade and Innovation. He is Consultant for ESG Innovation & Management at AKA European Export + Trade Bank in Frankfurt, and in this function he is responsible for conceptualisation and cross-divisional coordination of all company-wide ESG projects. In addition to developing innovative approaches for green and sustainable finance business models, cooperation with external partners at institutional and corporate level is of great importance here.

His research focuses on export finance, international trade and public policy management: conducting benchmarking and market studies, developing strategy and policy frameworks as well as designing organisational structures and training programmes. The current focus in the area of export finance is on SDGs, ESG and sustainable finance projects. Furthermore, research and strategy concepts in the area of government support for SMEs are still in the spotlight.

Dr. Michael Stopfkuchen holds a PhD from Northumbria University (Business and Law), a Master’s degree from Offenburg University (Business) as well as a Bachelor’s double degree from DHBW/Open University (Business).