Anja Karen Kölling graduated from the Free University of Berlin in 2007 in modern German literature, linguistics, psychology and theatre studies. Following this, she completed supplementary studies in applied literary studies and German as a foreign language.

She began her international teaching career in 2000 with German as a foreign language classes and cultural work at the Casa de Cultura Alemã of the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Fortaleza (Brazil) and during the progression of her professional career, she has worked at the German House of New York University, the universities UFRRJ in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Università degli Studi di Milano in Milan (Italy), the Goethe-Institut in Lisbon (Portugal) and the GLS Language Centre in Berlin, among others.

After several years as a teacher in welcome and German classes at the Oberstufenzentrum Modeschule Berlin (2015–2018), Karen Kölling worked as a project manager and editor in adult education at Cornelsen Verlag from 2018 to 2020. At the same time, she volunteered as a trainer at the Netbased Learning Institute in Berlin and also led freelance nationwide and international teacher training and coaching courses, mainly for DaF/DaZ teaching. From 2021 to 2024, she worked as a DAAD lecturer at the Università degli Studi di Milano.

As a native of Potsdam, she returned to her hometown after her stay in Milan and has since been involved in promoting multilingualism in everyday life and the concrete transfer of theory into practice at the University of Potsdam as part of the innovative teaching project ‘Teaching German in multilingual primary school classes’. Since 2025, she 's also an academic assistant in Prof. Dr. Giera's team in the field of inclusive German didactics at the University of Potsdam. There, she focuses on theatre education methods, embodied learning and pronunciation training in connection with reading skills in German lessons.

Her proposed doctoral project is based on a design-based research approach that integrates both qualitative and quantitative methods in a mixed-methods design. The aim is to develop and investigate theatre education-based intervention concepts for promoting pronunciation and reading skills, particularly reading fluency and reading comprehensibility, among secondary school students.

The close connection between teaching practice, teacher training and research shapes her profile, as does the development of practical didactic concepts for publishers and language schools. Karen Kölling has received funding from the DAAD for her academic activities on several occasions.

Ms. Menike is a doctoral student under Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera, University of Potsdam and Prof. Dr. Thorsten Roelcke, Technical University of Berlin. A native of Sri Lanka, university lecturer and former international scholarship holder of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Ms. Menike completed her master's degree in German as a Foreign and Second Language/ Foreign German Studies at Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 2017. Immediately after completing her Bachelor's degree in German Studies at the University of Kelaniya, she started her first job as an Assistant Lecturer in German at the same university in 2008. After five years of teaching experience in German, she was hired as the first Lecturer of German in Tourism in the Department of Tourism Management at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka in 2013. Since May 2018, she has been working there as a Senior Lecturer in German. During her academic time, she has gained experience as a researcher in DaF/DaZ teaching, as an intern at ÜAG Sprachinstitut Jena, and student mentor in Germany and abroad. She has also worked as a lecturer in German for vocational education at Arugambay in Sri Lanka and as a guest lecturer at University College, Batangala and Sabaragamuwa University. In addition, she supervises bachelor theses, organizes conferences, and conducts baccalaureate examinations in German in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, she coordinated the Diploma of Tourism Management at Sabaragamuwa University. As an experienced university lecturer in Sri Lanka, she is enrolled as a PhD student with Prof. Dr. Winnie-Karen Giera at the University of Potsdam since the winter semester 2021/22. In her doctoral thesis (term: 2022-2026), she is investigating the development of German language teaching in Sri Lanka.

The Austrian-born academic began her studies with a Master’s degree in German Language and Literature at the University of Vienna, graduating in 2005 with a focus on children’s and young adult literature. During her studies, she worked as an educational and research assistant at the International Institute for Children’s Literature and Reading Research in Vienna.

Her professional career then led her to a bilingual training institute specialising in deafness and diversity, where she worked as a project manager developing inclusive educational programmes. After completing her teaching degree in special education, she joined the teaching staff of Vienna’s public schools.

Until 2022, she worked as a special education teacher at several schools in Vienna, focusing on reading and language development. In this role, she taught primary school children in inclusive and multilingual settings and initiated numerous projects such as Kamishibai theatre performances and early childhood literacy programmes.

From 2019 onwards, she played a key role in establishing the “Primary School Reading Department” within the Vienna Board of Education, contributing significantly to the professional development of teachers in inclusive contexts. Her dedication has been recognised through several awards from the Vienna Board of Education, and in 2016 she was nominated for the Reading Award for her project Reading Tandems in Multilingual Classes.

Since 2009, she has also worked as a freelance university lecturer and author in Austria and abroad. Her publications include a textbook on early literacy development in heterogeneous classrooms, as well as teaching materials and scholarly contributions to inclusive education.

In 2022, she took up a full-time position at the University College of Teacher Education in Lower Austria, in the Department of Diversity, where her work focuses on German and literacy didactics, inclusive teaching for D/deaf and hard of hearing learners and mentoring in school practice.

Since September 2025, she has served as Head of the Special Needs Department, focusing on educational support for D/deaf and hard of hearing young learners at an educational campus in Vienna.
In June 2024, she began her doctoral research on “Inclusive German didactics for children who are D/deaf or hard of hearing”.