Anja Feldmann

Are the trains running even though it’s snowing? Which highways should be avoided at the beginning of the holiday season? If you’ve ever looked for information on the Internet – information that many other people are looking for at the same time – you may have encountered traffic congestion. “The Internet functions very well as long as not too many people want the same content at the same time,” says Professor Dr. Anja Feldmann. She is a computer scientist working on changing this situation, and in 2006, she became head of the “Intelligent Networks Management of Distributed Systems” at Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, an institute affiliated with the Technische Universität Berlin (TU). For her efforts in bringing together theory and practice, Feldmann was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, a sponsorship award with the largest purse in Germany, as well as the Berlin Science Award.

Understanding How People Use the Internet

“In order to change anything, we have to understand how people use the Internet in the first place,” notes Feldmann. For several years now, she’s been working on an Internet traffic analysis and modeling.  When do people access which content and how many do so?  This is the central question. Professor Feldmann and her team are also developing ideas on how to improve the infrastructure of the Internet, both in the short and long term. 

“We need to bring more innovation to the Internet,” says Feldmann. In recent years, it’s been mostly end-user devices, such as computers and mobile phones, that have developed further, while the Internet continues to be based on technology that is essentially 20 years old. This is why Professor Feldmann is working on ideas exploring what a new Internet might look like. One of them envisages operating several networks parallel to each other with the help of different Internet protocols. In that case, it would be possible to have a secure net for online banking, for example, and another one in which users could move anonymously. 

Companies Act as Both “Problem Suppliers” and  “Solution Recipients”

A number of the developments generated by Professor Feldmann and her team are already in use, for example, via their collaboration with Deutsche Telekom, which is only one of their many cooperation partners in private industry. From small Internet providers in and around Berlin to large telecommunication companies throughout Germany, Feldmann works closely together with hands-on practitioners. “Companies provide us with their “problems” and, in return, we provide them with practical new ideas on how to solve them,” she notes. Professor Feldmann gained experience in the close cooperation of business and science during her time in the United States. After receiving her doctorate at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, she worked in the development lab at the computer and tech manufacturer AT&T.

Professor Feldmann was surprised to receive the Leibniz Prize – the only Berlin-based scientist to do so. “You never expect to win such a prestigious award,” she says. She learned of the award – and of the €2.5 million in prize funds – shortly before Christmas. The funds will flow directly into the work of Professor Feldmann and her team: “For example, we want to strengthen our international network, host guest scientists and support individual projects.”