Branislav Sloboda

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Branislav Sloboda (sometimes Branislaw Sloboda ; born August 28, 1943 in Martin , Slovakia ) is a Slovak- German forest scientist , mathematician and computer scientist . From 1994 to 2008 he was head of the Institute for Forest Biometry and Computer Science (since 2007 Department of Ecoinformatics, Biometry and Forest Growth of the Büsgen Institute) of the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology at the Georg-August University in Göttingen .

Live and act

Branislav Sloboda studied forest sciences at the University of Forestry and Wood Technology in Zvolen and the Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno (Mendelova zemědělská a lesnická univerzita v Brně, MLZU). After the diploma examination in 1967 he was assistant at the chair of mathematics at the MLZU until 1969, but then went to Germany, where he worked at the Forest Research and Research Institute Baden-Württemberg (FVA) in Freiburg im Breisgau . With Scripture to represent growth processes with the help of first order differential equations , he was in 1972 when Walter creator at the Forestry Faculty of the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg to Dr. rer. nat doctorate . He then worked until 1976 as an assistant at the University of Freiburg and as a research assistant in the biometrics and computer science department of the Forest Research and Research Institute. In the winter semester of 1976/77 he completed his habilitation with the thesis Mathematical and stochastic models for describing the statics and dynamics of trees and stands for the subjects of forest biometrics, forest yield science and wood measurement .

In the same year he received a C3 professorship as head of the forest biometrics department in the forest science department of the Georg-August University in Göttingen , which he held until 1994. He did not accept an honorable call to the Chair of Forest Biometry and Computer Science at the Mendel University for Agriculture and Forestry Brno, as he instead had the opportunity to head the newly created Institute for Forest Biometry and Computer Science in Göttingen, which at the same time was associated with a C4 professorship . It was the first independent chair for this subject in Germany. Since his appointment on November 23, 1994, Sloboda headed the institute, which was incorporated into the newly created Büsgeninstitut as part of a reorganization of the faculty in 2007 as the department of ecoinformatics, biometrics and forest growth. In 1986 and 1995 he was elected dean of the forest science department for two years and was a member of the university's senate from 1997 to 1999. After more than 30 years of teaching and research at the University of Göttingen, Sloboda retired on October 17, 2008 with a celebratory colloquium . Winfried Kurth was appointed as his successor as head of the institute . Sloboda, however, continues to hold a “professorship with administrative mandate” at the institute.

Sloboda has always had an international focus in its research. He developed a particularly close cooperation with the Technical University of Zvolen and especially with Professor Štefan Šmelko . In 1992, the TU Zvolen awarded Branislav Sloboda an honorary doctorate (Dr. hc) for his research in the field of biometric forest growth modeling. Sloboda's collaboration with Japanese biometric researchers was also very intensive, especially Tasiti Suzuki from the Imperial University of Nagoya , whom he had invited to Göttingen in the 1983/84 winter semester. Receiving the JSPS Award enabled Sloboda to hold visiting professorships at the Japanese universities of Nagoya and Tokyo in 1988 and 1994 .

Sloboda has been a member of the Center for Computer Science at the University of Göttingen since 2000. He is also the contact person for the GAUSS PhD Program for Environmental Informatics, an integrative master’s and doctoral program in environmental informatics , and belongs to the editorial group of the international journal Journal of Forest Science .

Branislav Sloboda lives in Göttingen .

Research priorities and services

For decades, Sloboda has been dealing with the mathematical description of growth processes of individual trees and entire forest stands as well as their implementation in growth models and spatial information systems. This means, on the one hand, the generation of virtual forest landscapes in the computer, which are immediately accessible and can be used in research as well as for decision-making and knowledge transfer for students, forestry practitioners and the public. In addition, Sloboda and its employees develop integrated competition and growth models as well as spatial, forest information systems and GIS modeling for forest planning and forest ecosystem analysis. His institute is also closely involved in the research carried out by the Research Center for Forest Ecosystems at the University of Göttingen.

Since the beginning of its scientific work, Sloboda has attached great importance to the development of software and hardware . It was these technical aids that made the use of complex biometric methods in teaching, research and practice possible in the first place. Sloboda made significant contributions to the development of the field of forest biometrics and computer science.

Since Sloboda also attaches great importance to a solid and equal level of knowledge of its students, he also repeats the entire mathematical school material in his lectures - from set theory to stochastics, including the corresponding exercise hours. In-depth courses on special - for example statistical applications - build on this.

Fonts (selection)

  • The QF calculator. A new instrument for determining the area of ​​trunk cross-sections (at the same time a contribution to the theory of trunk cross-sections) , communications from the Baden-Württemberg Forest Research and Laboratory (Issue 24, Biometry Department, No. 3), Freiburg im Breisgau 1970
  • For the representation of growth processes with the help of differential equations of the first order , communications from the Baden-Württemberg Forestry Experimental and Research Institute (Issue 32, Biometry Department, No. 5), Freiburg im Breisgau 1971 (also dissertation, Freiburg im Breisgau 1972
  • Mathematical and stochastic models for describing the statics and dynamics of trees and stands , habilitation thesis, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976
  • As editor: Biometric models and simulation techniques for processes of research and applications in forestry = Biometric models and simulation techniques for processes in forest research and practice , publications from the Forest Faculty of the University of Göttingen and the Lower Saxony Forest Research Institute, (Volume 90), Frankfurt am Main 1988 ( ISBN 3-7939-5090-5 )
  • as editor together with Štefan Šmelko: Biometric contributions to static and dynamic model approaches in forest sciences and practice. German Association of Forest Research Institutes, Section Forest Biometry and Computer Science, 5th Conference, Marlin / Zvolen September 16-20 , 1991, Zvolen 1991 ( ISBN 80-228-0316-2 )
  • as editor: Models for automated growth measurement and evaluation techniques, climate-oriented growth models, inventory methods and their applications , publications from the Forestry Faculty of the University of Göttingen and the Lower Saxony Forest Research Institute, (Volume 106), Frankfurt am Main 1992 ( ISBN 3-7939-5106- 5 )
  • as co-editor: German Association of Forest Research Institutes, Section Forest Biometry and Computer Science - 12th Conference and International Biometric Society - German Region, Ecology Working Group, Autumn Colloquium, Göttingen, September 29 - October 1, 1999 , The Green Series, Göttingen 2000 ( ISBN 961 -6020-25-0 )
  • as co-author: Special issue for the 70th birthday of Prof. DrSc. Štefan Šmelko , Festschrift Štefan Šmelko, Allgemeine Forst- und Jagdzeitung, Volume 172, Issues 8/9, Frankfurt am Main 2001

literature

  • Joachim Saborowski: Professor B. Sloboda appointed , in: AFZ. General forest journal for forest management and environmental protection , 50th volume, issue 8/1995, p. 444 ISSN  0002-5860

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Branislav Sloboda's curriculum vitae on the pages of the Department of Ecoinformatics, Biometry and Forest Growth of the Büsgen Institute of the Georg-August University of Göttingen
  2. ^ Joachim Saborowski: Professor B. Sloboda appointed . In: AFZ , volume 50, issue 8/1995, p. 444
  3. ↑ -pgu-: Ceremonial colloquium on the farewell of Prof. Dr. Branislav Sloboda , press release of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen No. 227/2008 of October 16, 2008 ; Retrieved January 3, 2009
  4. ^ Employee directory of the department of ecoinformatics, biometrics and forest growth ; Retrieved January 3, 2009
  5. ↑ Branislav Sloboda's curriculum vitae on the pages of the Department of Ecoinformatics, Biometry and Forest Growth of the Büsgen Institute of the Georg-August University of Göttingen
personal data
SURNAME Sloboda, Branislav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sloboda, Branislaw
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak-German forest scientist, mathematician and computer scientist
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Martin , Slovakia