"It was a very quick transition from learner to teacher. I only defended my dissertation in December 2022," says the junior professor, looking back on an eventful time. He took up the junior professorship in Cologne in March. He has mastered the challenges of this new phase of his life well, and the responsibility for a course is very exciting. "As I was already able to lead exercise groups and substitute for lectures in Heilbronn, I felt very well prepared for the tasks in Cologne," says Sachs.

Reward for outstanding dissertation

In November, the newly qualified professor was awarded the prize for the best dissertation at the Technical University of Munich for his doctoral thesis. Sachs summarizes the core theses of his dissertation entitled "Integrated planning of unreliable flow lines with limited buffer capacities and spare parts provisioning" as follows: "We developed a design process that considers both the buffer capacities and the spare parts to be stockpiled together, thereby  saving costs.” The fact that this work was also honored with an award fills Florian Sachs with pride: "I was very pleased. Also for everyone who worked with me on it over five years, for my doctoral supervisor Gudrun Kiesmüller and all my colleagues. It was a nice highlight at the end of this journey on the way to becoming a doctor."

Especially as this doctorate is not just something special for him, as it is the first one for a doctoral student at the TUM Heilbronn Campus. "My supervisor and boss has a lot of experience in organizing courses and how they should be taught, and has guided us very well on the one hand and given us the freedom to organize courses ourselves on the other," says Florian Sachs gratefully. Moreover, that on a campus that was still in the construction phase at the time. "In terms of structures, the campus is simply not like other universities in Germany, where everything is very chair-based. I had much more contact with other research teams right from the start, especially with Prof David Wuttke’s team," says Sachs.

Ready for a comeback

According to Sachs, the city is constantly evolving, as is the campus. Born in Magdeburg, he quickly settled in Heilbronn: "You have short distances and a campus where everyone is together. And at the same time an attractive environment, when I think of the vineyards or events like the wine village." A return is therefore not out of the question: "TUM has attracted great people to Heilbronn and is very well positioned academically. And if I had the opportunity to take the next step in my career there, which would definitely be a nice thing."