New at UDE: Rossana Cavagnini
Making Better Decisions with Data
- von Dr. Alexandra Nießen
- 18.08.2026
How can supply chains be shortened, or how can plant-based products be produced more energy-efficiently in agriculture? Assistant Professor Dr Rossana Cavagnini is developing data-based models and algorithms to address these issues. She has taken up the Chair of Business Administration, specialising in Data Analytics, at the Mercator School of Management, University of Duisburg-Essen.
Companies and public sector organisations have to make decisions on a daily basis – often under uncertain conditions and in the face of increasingly stringent regulations. Rossana Cavagnini combines machine learning methods with mathematical optimisation techniques to develop the best possible solutions. “For example, I’m investigating how logistics companies can plan their delivery routes efficiently whilst complying with local authority regulations on environmental and climate protection,” says Cavagnini.
But the economist isn’t just interested in logistics. She is also researching how energy consumption in agriculture can be reduced without compromising yields. “Vertical farming makes this possible,” says Prof. Dr Cavagnini. In this form of urban agriculture, the production of fruit, vegetables or mushrooms is moved from the fields into buildings, with crops grown on several levels stacked one above the other. The aim is to use resources as efficiently as possible and to enable sustainable decisions in urban areas. “Through my research, I want to drive forward solutions that promote an environmentally and socially sustainable future,” emphasises the 36-year-old.
Rossana Cavagnini completed her undergraduate and doctoral studies in Italy: she studied Business Administration at the University of Brescia (2009–2014) and was awarded her PhD in 2019 at the University of Bergamo. Her research stays took her, amongst other places, to Loyola University Chicago in the USA (2017), the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation in Montréal, Canada (2019), and RWTH Aachen University, where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher from 2019 until her appointment at the UDE.
More information:
Prof. Dr. Rossana Cavagnini, Mercator School of Management, Data Analytics, rossana.cavagnini@uni-due.de
Editor: Dr. Alexandra Niessen, phone. +49 (0)203/37-91487, alexandra.niessen@uni-due.de