Sandra Soltau studied linguistics, economics, and cultural studies at the University of Passau and, after several years’ experience as a cultural manager, completed a PhD at the Department of Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim with a thesis on models of financial support for the independent music scene in Germany. After completing her PhD, she worked for two and a half years as the managing director of the Haus am Waldsee—a venue for contemporary art, after which she came to the Berlin University of the Arts, where she worked from April 2012 to June 2016 as coordinator of the Research Training Group “Knowledge in the Arts.” In addition, she coordinated the Academic Advisory Board of the Berlin University of the Arts from 2013 to 2016.