Ursula Eicker

Ursula Eicker

Canada Excellence Research Chair at Concordia University | Canada

Prof. Ursula Eicker holds a Ph.D. in Solid State and is an accomplished author but is now the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable, and Resilient Communities and Cities. She is also the Founder of the Next-Generation Cities Institute at Concordia University, which brings together 200 researchers from 14 universities to address the challenges of urban transformation using a transdisciplinary approach. The project develops tools and strategies for a sustainable future in the fields of built and natural environments; mobile, secure and sharing cities; and arts, culture, and community.

While holding leadership positions at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies, Ursula coordinated many international research projects in building energy efficiency, renewable energy systems, and urban scale simulation. Since June 2019, she has led an ambitious research programme to establish transformation strategies toward zero-carbon cities in domains that include sustainable transport and circular economy.

As well as employing urban data analysis and modelling frameworks in her multidisciplinary work, Ursula is building an urban modelling and data platform that assesses urban decarbonisation strategies and she leads a team designing gamification interfaces (Future City Playgrounds) and web-based digital twins (Citylayers) that she hopes will greatly improve user engagement and understanding.