Interdisciplinary Minds

About

Dr. Iris Mencke

I founded Interdisciplinary Minds in order to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and develop it in a structured way. With over ten years of international research experience at the interface of the humanities and natural sciences, I bring a clear understanding of the challenges and conditions that shape interdisciplinary work.

On this basis, I got to know a wide variety of ways of thinking and working, as well as diverse disciplinary cultures. Working at disciplinary and methodological intersections has always brought its own set of challenges — but it has also proven to be the path that leads to new insights and perspectives. In my experience, truly innovative approaches emerge where disciplines meet. It is precisely this work at the intersections that sharpens one's flexibility and capacity for reflection, becoming a driving force for both personal and organizational development.

More about me: www.iris-mencke.de |

Coaching, Training & Facilitation

I completed two years of intensive training in systemic coaching to provide scientists with targeted support in overcoming interdisciplinary challenges. Since then, concepts such as systems theory and constructivism have played a key role in shaping the work of Interdisciplinary Minds.

In addition, I have completed certified further training as a co-creative facilitator, the principles of which have also been deeply incorporated into the training methodology of Interdisciplinary Minds. Transformative learning, future skills and co-creation are central methodological and content-related focal points of my work.

Science & Research

In my doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, I studied the behavioral and neuronal foundations of musical perception. The focus was on prediction processes, which I investigated on a neurophysiological level as part of the predictive coding approach. At the behavioral level, I investigated which factors contribute to a preference for complex, unpredictable and exploratory music.

This examination led me on an interdisciplinary research journey: from Husserl's phenomenology to philosophical aesthetics and John Dewey's Art as Experience to the fundamentals of neurobiology, the physical and psychophysical properties of sound and the technical principles of magnetoencephalography.

Short biography

Since 2025: Co-founder of the startup“BrightSync”
2025: Co-Creative Facilitator, certificate from the German Society for Transactional Analysis (DGTA)
2025: Systemic coach, certificate from the German Society for Systemic Therapy, Counseling and Family Therapy (DGSF)
2023-2025: Research assistant, Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics, University of Oldenburg
2023-2025: Junior Research Fellow, Department Brain & Mind, Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst
2022: Journalist, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Nature & Science section
2022: Doctorate in Psychology(Dr. rer. nat.), Institute of Psychology, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main
2016-2022: (Post-)Doctoral Student, Music Department, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt/M.
2019–2020: Ph.D . student, Centerfor Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University (DK)
2015-2016: Visiting student, Music, Mind & Brain Group, Dept. of Psychology, University of London (GB)
2016: M.A. Musicology, Institute for Music and Media Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin
2012: B.A. German Studies / Musicology, Institute for Music and Music Education, University of Potsdam

Volunteering & Commitment

I am involved as a mentor and coach for Mentoring Hessen, as well as in the GROW@Goethe program, which brings together alumni of Goethe University with students. I am also active in Netzwerk Wissenschaftsmanagement e.V. - as a member of the extended board, the annual conference working group and as spokesperson for the "Inter- and Transdisciplinarity" working group. These activities enable me to play an active role in shaping science and university development.

Journalism & Science Communication

Reflecting on and communicating scientific content has always been a central concern of mine. As a music and science journalist, I have worked for Hessischer Rundfunk and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, among others. I have also presented my research in various concert halls, including the Elbphilharmonie, the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Scholarships & third-party funding

2025: Fellow of the tdAcademy, Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Frankfurt/Main, Project: The role of art-based approaches for the transformative potential in inter- and transdisciplinary research collaborations
2023-2025: Postdoc funding through the Walter Benjamin Program of the DFG (main applicant)
2024/2025: Funding for science communication by the Volkswagen Foundation (co-applicant)
2023: Junior Research Fellowship Research Area Brain & Mind at the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg - Institute for Advanced Science, Delmenhorst, Germany
2022: Scholarship holder of the FAZIT Foundation
2019: Research Fellowship, Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, Denmark
2019: Research Training Supplement, Graduate School of Health, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
2015: PROMOS scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD

Interdisciplinary Minds

Interdisciplinary Minds was born out of the realization that there is already a wealth of knowledge about what constitutes successful inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. What is often missing is the bridge to practice - to where this knowledge is needed. As a platform in development, Interdisciplinary Minds aims to close precisely this gap: through formats and offers that promote dialog and collaboration across specialist and sector boundaries. At the same time, Interdisciplinary Minds sees itself as a network space in which people, organizations and expertise can come together to shape and strengthen future collaboration between disciplines and sectors.

If you are interested in a cooperation, joint project or format development, I look forward to hearing from you!