About us

History of the ZfbK

Today, more than ever, success in studies and careers depends not only on specialized knowledge, but also on personal, social, communicative, didactic and cognitive skills. In order to provide students and teachers with the best possible support in acquiring these key qualifications, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (JLU) founded the Center for Competence Development (ZfbK) in 2010. Today, it is the central point of contact for all JLU students when it comes to acquiring cross-disciplinary relevant competencies and individual counseling for personal profile development. Many programs that have become established at the ZfbK resulted from the projects "Einstieg mit Erfolg" (2012-2016) and "Einstieg mit Erfolg 2020" (2017-2021), which were financed by third-party funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The conception and acquisition of the funding was realized by the founding professor, Prof. Dr. Susanne Göpferich-Görnert.

Objectives of the ZfbK

The ZfbK is a central, teaching-oriented, scientific institution of the Justus-Liebig-University. The center serves the interdisciplinary competence development of students. Its tasks include, in particular, the scientific conception, administration and implementation of offers for the self-determined and study-accompanying acquisition of interdisciplinary relevant study and employment competencies as well as foreign language competencies, individual counseling for personal profile development for studies and career as well as their further development and evaluation.

In the departments of Career Services, Key Competencies, Languages & Cultures, and the Psychological Counseling Center, which complement each other synergistically, students find the orientation they need for successful further development beyond their disciplinary horizons at every stage of their studies - from the start of their studies to their careers.

Here you can find the statutes of the ZfbK

Direktorium

The Executive Director of the Direktorium is the member of the Presidium responsible for academic affairs: Prof. Dr. Alexander Goesmann

Deputy to the Executive Director: Prof. Dr. Edith Braun

Here you can find the list of Direktorium members (24.04.2026)

A professor serving on the leadership team is assigned to oversee the academic direction of one of the center’s three departments. The assignment of a department to a specific academic director is based on the academic expertise of the professor serving on the leadership team.

For the department „Career Services“:

Prof. Ute-Christine Klehe, PhD - Professor for Work and Organizational Psychology (FB 06)

For the department „Study skills“:

Prof. Dr. Christian Heiliger - Professor for Theoretical Physics and Dean of Studies FB 07

For the department „Foreign Languages & Cultures“

Prof. Dr. Hélène Martinez - Professor for Teaching Methods for Romance Languages and Literatures (FB 05)

The Direktorium is responsible for all matters concerning the Center that are not assigned to the Executive Director, the management, or another body by law, the Basic Regulations of Justus-Liebig-University, or the bylaws.

The Direktorium meets at least once every semester.