Team
Global Talent Mentoring is co-directed by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger (University of Regensburg) and Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), who lead a multinational team collaborating across their institutions in Germany and at the Hamdan Foundation in the United Arab Emirates to operate and grow the program as a flagship offering of the Hamdan Foundation’s World Giftedness Center.

Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger
Project Director
Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger is full professor for educational sciences at the University of Regensburg (Germany). She holds the Chair for School Research, School Development, and Evaluation. She is vice president of the International Research Association for Talent Development and Excellence (IRATDE). She is also a member of the editorial board of the German journal Talent Development and served from 2007 to 2014 as editor in chief of the journal High Ability Studies. Prof. Dr. Stoeger has published more than 250 articles, chapters, and books on giftedness, self-regulated learning, motivation, fine motor skills, and teacher education. She is a member of several national and international scientific boards and expert commissions in the field of giftedness research and gifted education.
Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler is Chair Professor of Educational Psychology and Research on Excellence at the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany). Prof. Drs. Ziegler is the Founding Chairman of The European Talent Support Network (ETSN) and the immediate Vice-President of the European Council of High Ability (ECHA). From 2014 to 2021, Prof. Drs. Ziegler served as editor-in-chief of the journal High Ability Studies. His work predominantly focuses on gifted education and talent development. He developed the actiotope model of giftedness, which promotes a systemic conception of giftedness. In his research, his main interests are learning resources and effective learning environments, self-regulated learning, mentoring, and gifted identification. Prof. Drs. Ziegler has published over 450 articles, chapters, and books in the field of educational psychology.

Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler
Project Director

Dr. Daniel Patrick Balestrini
Joint Coordinator and COO

Dr. Julia Steinbach
Joint Coordinator

Christin Graml,
M. A.
Area Coordinator,
Program Experience and Research

Ildikó Győryné Csomó, B. A.
Area Coordinator,
Branding and Networking

Matthias Mader,
M. A.
Area Coordinator and CTO,
IT and Platform

Faisal Ahsan,
B. S.
Developer

Hessa Alamri,
B. A. S.
Senior Researcher

Huda Alhammadi,
B. B. A.
Senior Researcher

Mohammad AlSuwaidi, B. S.
Developer

Christopher Anastasiu, M. A.
Developer

Michael Bloß,
B. Ed.
Senior Researcher

Natalia Cabal Duque, M. D.
Senior Researcher

Shiva Kazemi,
M. A.
Senior Scientist

Lisa Kreitschmann,
B. Ed.
Senior Researcher

Dr. Zulaikha Mohamed Alblooshi
Senior Researcher
Former Members:
Mehmet Bicakci, M. A.
Dr. Shan Eschborn
Karin Hüttche, M. A.
Elke Krüsmann, M. A.
Dr. Linlin Luo
Ferah Noor, M. A.