Rebecca Gösker – Crisis Director
Dear future participants of TICS 2019! My name is Rebecca Gösker, and I will be holding the position of Crisis Director at this year’s edition of Tübingen International Crisis Simulation. Although originally from Germany, I spent most of my life moving around, spending the majority of the time growing up in Asia. After moving to Austria for high school, I soon delved into the world of MEP, moving to MUNs when I began university. After three years of studies and an undergraduate diploma in political science, I still see no end in my passion for these international conferences. Especially crisis simulations have taken a special place in my heart, with no experience coming close to the intense exhilaration and valuable lessons learnt from these types of conferences. I am extremely humbled and honoured to take on a position of such responsibility at the 2019 edition of TICS and hope that the conference will exceed your expectations. The topic will be a demanding one, with a wide array of issues and conflicts that must be dealt with on both regional and international fronts, but I am certain that you will be up for the challenge and look forward to seeing you there!
Chairs
Paul Gussmann – Chair of Ghana
After having participated in a series of Model United Nations and Model African Union Conferences, with the biggest one being in New York, Paul simply cannot get enough of them. He loves the intensity, need for creative thinking, change of perspective as a delegate, heated debates, sleep deprivation, and adrenalin kicks shortly prior to deadlines that are part of every simulation he attended. But his favorite aspect is to have a good time with people who are as passionate as he is about international politics. He thinks that it is vital to promote the importance of international collaboration, diplomacy, and multilateralism in today’s world. The world is a not a zero-sum game where a win for one country implies a loss for another, but international cooperation can create a situation with mutual gains. These conferences are a great way to promote and spread global thinking. He is thankful for the opportunity to be the President of Ghana at this year’s conference. Even though this is going to be his first international crisis simulation conference, he is sure that he will adapt to the format quickly. He is looking forward to having a great time with you!
Tobias Kalmbach – Chair of Côte d’Ivoire
Tobias will be chairing the cabinet of Côte d’Ivoire in this year’s edition of TICS. Being born in the most beautiful town in the world, he is glad to come back to the place that he considers his hometown. After graduating from high school, he started his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. Currently, he is a Master’s student in Mannheim. In his first university week, a fellow student that he met in a lecture convinced him to come to the kickoff of his university society MUN Mannheim. He really liked the mix of debating and socials. Therefore, he started participating in MUN conferences. The people he met there were amazing! Hence, he could not stop traveling to conferences and was part of ten of them during the last four years. At KICSIM 2017, he fell in love with the concept of a crisis simulation. Hence, he is honored to get the opportunity to chair at TICS. He is excited to be part of a challenging crisis and awesome socials. He is looking forward to meeting you soon in Tübingen!
Anders Sandberg – Chair of Cameroon
Anders did his first conference 7 years ago. This year’s conference will be his third time participating at TICS. At this point, he has already ”officially” retired from MUNing three times, yet he somehow finds himself signing up for another one. Whilst spending his days working in the life science sector, he is always happy to reconnect with his old study of choice – politics and history – and he is definitely not the one to pass up the chance for a few good MUN social events either.
Udit Sawhney – Chair of Nigeria
Udit is a Master’s student in Economics at the University of Tübingen. By the virtue of his studies, he has a key interest in issues relating to trade, poverty, inequality, and development. During his undergrad days in India, he was a member of his university’s parliamentary debating team. Parliamentary debating is considered to be the most spontaneous form of debating wherein the candidates get a mere 20 minutes to prepare and provide logical arguments to the given motion. At TICS, he will be heading the cabinet of Nigeria, a country that is considered to have one of the highest potentials of economic growth in the African continent and at the same time faces the most turbulent social environment.
Jasmina Simon – Chair of the United States
While her studies in economics at the University of Mannheim focus mostly on theory, Jasmina is always eager to delve into real-world problems and politics at various MUNs. Having been part of the MUN community for 5 years now, she has been to multiple international conferences and is a member of the board of MUN Mannheim. Just earlier this year, she discovered her passion for crisis simulations, and since Tübingen is not too far from Mannheim, TICS is just the perfect match. Jasmina is very much looking forward to intense discussions, fast-paced cabinet interactions, surprising turns, sleepless nights, and the best trade deals in history. After all, we are here to make America great again.
Maurice Thaidigsmann – Chair of China
Maurice is currently working on innovation projects in the Swiss public sector for a startup consultancy in Zurich. He recently finished his Master’s degree in Public Policy and Human Development at United Nations University – Merit in Maastricht after studying political science and public law in Tübingen. NGO work, hiking, soccer, and computer games can easily fill his weekends.
He has served as a delegate, chair, crisis manager and organizer of MUN conferences. His passion for MUNs is rooted in a deep commitment to human rights and international cooperation as well as his fascination for meeting new people from different backgrounds. While escaping the grim real world for a world full of ideals and positives vibes, he can get very invested in preparing and adopting his designated position – beware!
He decided to join TICS 2019, because this conference is the most fun and substantially lavish of them all in a beautiful small university town, organized by highly dedicated and hard-working folks.
Peter Pelzer – Editor in Chief
Peter acquired a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Bonn in early 2019. In mathematics, current political developments are deliberately set aside. In order not to restrict himself to the limits of pure science, Peter has become an active member of the BIMUN/SINUB association in 2016. He has since then participated in several MUNs both as a delegate and member of the organizational team. His MUN career came to a preliminary end with the position of editor-in-chief of TICS 2018. In September 2019, Peter commenced studies of European and International Law at Maastricht University. He is eager to return to crisis-ridden autumn Tübingen as editor-in-chief of The Sub-Saharan Star and Le Sapeur Observant.
Crisis Manager
Markus Breyer – Crisis Manager
Markus will be a Crisis Manager in the upcoming TICS 2019. He is 20 years old and studying history (main subject) and computer science (minor subject) in his 5th semester in Tübingen. He first took part in a Modell European Parliament in school in 9th grade, and since then participated at two MUNs while still in school. After he started studying in Tübingen, he heard of TICS in his first two weeks and, remembering the fun he had at MUNs, signed up just before the applications closed. He really enjoyed the conference and the concept of the crisis simulation, which really adds to the normal MUN experience, so he decided to join again last year, as well as this year. This time he wanted to do something a bit different, which is why he applied as a Crisis Manager.
He is very excited for this year’s edition and looks forward to meeting new people, looking at the crisis evolving and the cabinets’ reactions to the problems they have to face.
Sophia Giel – Crisis Manager
Sophia is a fourth-year law student from Tübingen. Her first crisis simulation was immediately followed by a MUN conference in Spain at the beginning of her studies, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last one.
Becoming obsessed with meeting new people from all over the world, intense debates and great parties, she participated in several MUNs and Crisis Simulations as a delegate, chair and board member for three years and found great friends in Europe and beyond. She is looking forward to enriching this year’s edition of TICS with her enthusiasm and passion for international dispute and crisis management.
Furthermore, TICS has a special place in her heart considering she was part of the Executive Board creating the first edition of TICS ever in 2016 and participating as Crisis Director in 2018. Besides her passion for international law and human rights, she enjoys (ballroom-) dancing, history, and literature.
Lukas Grundsfeld – Crisis Manager
Having participated in several Model UN-conferences, including the National Model UN in New York, he is looking forward to his first crisis simulation. Due to the urgency of crisis situations and the special dynamics of conflictual confrontations, he expects TICS to be a very challenging and impressive experience.
He is currently beginning his Master’s in Peace Research and International Politics and therefore has a strong interest in international conflicts and their resolution. The Gulf of Guinea presents a perfect example of the complicated interconnectedness of global and local dynamics in present-day conflicts.
As a crisis manager, he looks forward to being creative and bringing up scenarios which challenge the delegates to engage in equally complex cooperation and to undertake multifaceted efforts to defuse crises and address underlying causes of conflicts.
He hopes that TICS 2019 will bring the opportunity for fascinating and rewarding substantive work, as well as for great social encounters between a diverse group of people – and thereby a lot of fun!
Simon Kuss – Crisis Manager
As one of the members who organized TICS for the first time in 2016, he is very committed to the overall spirit and idea of TICS. After having participated in several Model United Nations Conferences and Crisis Simulations, he really can tell that it is an unforgettable experience you do not want to miss. It is a great place to debate, to change the world the way you would like to (if you could), and to meet new people from different countries and backgrounds. He is pleased to be able to organize yet another unique and memorable edition of TICS and to be Crisis Manager.
Patrick Lessmeister – Crisis Manager
Patrick is 23 years old and currently studying Law and Philosophy at the University of Freiburg. He participated in his first conference in 2014 and has since attended several national and international MUNs and crisis simulations as a delegate, including the World MUN 2015 in Seoul. Over the last couple of years, he has focused almost exclusively on crisis simulations in his “MUN life”, finding them to be the more interesting and engaging conference format. He especially enjoys the creative element of the job as a crisis manager, which is why he will be returning to TICS this year as a crisis manager after greatly enjoying the role at multiple conferences, including TICS 2018. He is especially excited for TICS 2019 because of its subject matter, which will likely take many participants out of their comfort zones and thereby create interesting dynamics within the simulation. He will be looking forward to meeting everybody at the conference, which if the 2018 edition is any indication, will once again be a great experience.
Richard Winkler – Crisis Manager
In 2018 he had the opportunity to take part in TICS and he did not quite know what to expect. It turned out to be an amazing experience. He had the fortune of meeting so many great people, during the conference and at the social events in the evenings. The conference itself provided such a great opportunity to debate and to engage in politics as well as quite memorable moments. That is why he wants to contribute to making TICS 2019 a success as part of the TICS Board and as Crisis Manager.