Academic Career
- Since October 2024: Research Assistant in the Research Group on Urban and Regional Economics, Prof. Paula Prenzel, at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau
- Since June 2024: Ph.D. candidate (Dr. rer. Pol.) with the working title “Demographic Sensitivity of Municipal Tasks—A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Municipalities in the Context of Demographic Change”
- July 2021 – September 2024: Research Assistant at the Chair of Urban, Regional, and Environmental Economics, Prof. Martin Junkernheinrich, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau
- 07/2017 – 10/2020: Freelance consultant for the City of Speyer
- April 2017 – June 2017: Internship at the Speyer City Administration
- 08/2016 – 02/2017: Research Assistant at the Chair of Economic Geography, Prof. Gans, University of Mannheim
- 2017–2021: Master of Science in Economics (English), Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg
Master’s thesis: Sensitivity Analysis of the Economic Complexity Index - 2012–2017: Bachelor of Science in Economics, University of Mannheim
Thesis: Population Development in Cities with Different Levels of Centrality in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region
Courses
- Economics for Spatial Planners (Lecture and Seminar)
- Regional Economics and Regional Analysis (Lecture)
- Regional and Economic Feasibility Analyses (Seminar)
- Municipal Economics (Lecture)
- Local Government Finance and Development (Seminar)
- Spatial Economics (Lecture)
- Economic Analysis of Spatial Development Measures (Seminar)
- Environmental Economics and Environmental Policy (Lecture)
- Spatial Consequences of Environmental Policy (Seminar)
Economic Valuation of Environmental Goods (Seminar)
Projects
Master’s
- Spatial Transformation – What Can Digital Applications Contribute to Spatial Development? A Case Study Using the Digital Twin of the City of Helsinki, Finland (2024, in collaboration with IPS)
- Innovation Districts as a Tool for Revitalizing Shrinking Cities – A Comparative Study of the Cities of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Cincinnati, Ohio (2022, in collaboration with IPS)
Between Beach Chairs and the Housing Crisis: Sylt Caught Between the Tug-of-War of Tourism (2025, in collaboration with Ö-Recht)
Bachelor’s
- Demographic Change as a Challenge for Regional Location Development, with Special Consideration of Labor and Land Shortages (Summer Semester 2024)
Theses
Bachelor
- The Role of Municipal Climate Adaptation and Its Financing Options (2023)
- The IT Industry as an Opportunity for the Future in Regional Structural Change?—An Analysis Using the Saarland as an Example(2025)
- Public Engagement in Municipal Climate Protection and Climate Adaptation Measures – A Study of the District of Kusel(2025)
Climate Protection and Climate Adaptation in Municipalities—An Analysis of Funding and Stakeholder Structures Using the City of Mannheim as a Case Study (2026)
Master’s
- Digitalization Strategy as a Tool for Sustainable Urban Development: The Case of the State Capital Mainz, with a Special Focus on Mobility, the Environment, and Digital Administration (2023)
- Regional Determinants of Economic Development: The Case of the Saarland—Identification of Key Factors and Drafting of a Strategic Concept (2024)
- The Impact of Municipal Financial Resources on the Acquisition of Funding for Climate Protection and Climate Adaptation Measures in Rhineland-Palatinate Municipalities (2025)
- Evaluation of the Added Value of Smart City Projects – Can the Impacts of Urban Development Measures in a Smart City Be Qualitatively Assessed and Monetized? (2024)
- Nudging for a Livable City—A Study on the Use of Nudging as an Anti-Littering Measure in Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate (2024)
- Green Industrial Parks – An Opportunity for the Municipal Budget and Location Development? – Using the Revitalization of the Northern Kaiserslautern Industrial Park as an Example (2023)
Presentations & Conferences
- June 17, 2026: Regional Science Association (RSA) Annual Conference – Regions as Arenas in a Changing
World, in Gothenburg. Presentation: “Changing the understanding of municipal finances – a quantitative approach to
analyze the determinants of local public expenditure in times of demographic change.” - January 29, 2026: 8th Geography of Innovation Conference, in Budapest. Presentation: “Discovering municipal treasures – a machine learning approach to municipal financial data.”
- April 15, 2025: REAL CORP 2025, in Graz. Presentation: “Introducing a Financial Twin App for Exploration of Municipal Financial Patterns,”
in collaboration with Pankaj Kumar Sharma.
Publications
- Micosatt, G., Hestermann, S., Knobe, D., Junkernheinrich, M. (2026). Spatial Distribution
of Baby Boomers: Past and Future Development Patterns as well as
Adaptation Requirements for Public Services. In: Spellerberg, A., Ruzika, S.
(eds.) Ageing Smart – Digital Tools in the Municipal Context. Springer VS,
Wiesbaden. - Frankenberg, D., Hestermann, S., Junkernheinrich, M. (2026). Financial Capacity for Action
of Municipalities in the Context of Demographic Change – Causal Relationships and
Key Areas of Strain. In: Spellerberg, A., Ruzika, S. (eds.) Ageing Smart – Digital
Tools in the Municipal Context. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. - Kumar Sharma, P., Hestermann, S., Mayer, J. (2025). Introducing a Financial Twin App for
Exploration of Municipal Financial Patterns. In: Schrenk, M., Popovich, T., Zeile, P., Elisei,
P., Beyer, C., Ryser, J., Kaufmann, H.R. (eds.). REAL CORP Conference Proceedings.