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 he left Offenburg University in 2024. He is now Director of the lill Institute for Public Value and Honorary Research Associate at the University of Oxford (UK).

His academic work focuses on public policy, economic competitiveness, and international public finance. He also provides strategic counsel to governments and public financial institutions. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and forums, including COP, G7, G20, the EU, the OECD, the United Nations, and the WTO, and has been invited to provide expert evidence to the UK Parliament.

Prior to joining academia, he was a Partner at PwC, as well as Co-Head and Managing Director of the export credit agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was educated at Leibniz University Hannover, the University of Wales, Northumbria University, and the University of St Andrews, where he studied law, business, and theology and received his doctoral degree in finance.

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 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).