As a child, Bianca Wiesmayr dreamed of writing books – today, she writes scientific papers. Her journey so far might be summed up like this:
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Bianca is now a postdoc in our lab. Between the children's story from Mushroom Town and her dissertation, she first completed a business-focused school. Even then, she was especially drawn to logical tasks – the Excel formulas couldn’t be nested deeply enough. She went on to study information electronics. A doctorate in computer science? That wasn’t part of the original plan. But then came a research paper, a conference presentation, another paper – and before she knew it, she was fully immersed in academic life.

And it suits her well: Bianca loves to travel and has a passion for languages – both of which combine beautifully with research, she says. What she especially enjoys is that publications and presentations allow her to express her creative side, while her analytical mind focuses on technical challenges.

She never had a grand career plan, she explains. Instead, it all happened step by step – and that turned out to be just right. “I’m glad I didn’t know back then everything that was ahead of me,” she says with a smile, speaking about the long and at times demanding road to becoming a postdoc. Now, she’s all the more glad to have made it this far. Just recently, a new research project was approved, which will run for two years starting in July.

And there’s more to celebrate: her dissertation has already won two awards. In March, she received the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation Award, presented by Dr. Helga Wagner and former Austrian Minister for Women, Maria Rauch-Kallat. Bianca was also nominated for the Dissertationspreis des Fachbereichs Softwaretechnik der Gesellschaft für Informatik – as part of the Software Engineering Conference 2025, held in February in Karlsruhe. Her work ranked among the top three submissions.

In our lab, we collect magnets from the countries our team members visit for conferences and events – and quite a few of them come from Bianca. You'll find another impressive collection if you look at her scientific publications. Bianca is dedicated and driven – and when someone needs a sharp eye for presentation details or feedback on a paper, she’s the person to ask.

After several trips, she’s now back at the OIC with us. She's happy to be home for a while again, she says. Currently on the agenda: finishing the next publication – and fitting in the occasional board game.
And now that the doctorate is done... maybe there’s time for that book after all?

Bianca, we congratulate you on your achievements and are happy that your path led you to our lab. You've been with us almost from the beginning – and have helped shape many of our milestones along the way.