function dozent_get_the_user( $user = null ) {

		if ( $user instanceof \Dozent\UserData){
			return $user;
		}

		if ( $user ) {

			if ( is_object( $user ) ) {

				if ( $user instanceof WP_User ) {

					return $user;

				} elseif ( ! empty( $user->ID ) ) {

					$_user = get_userdata( $user->ID );

					return $_user;
				}
			}

			if ( is_numeric( $user ) ) {

				$_user = get_userdata( $user );

				return $_user;

			} elseif ( is_email( $user ) ) {

				$_user = get_user_by_email( $user );

				return $_user;

			} else {
				$user = get_user_by( 'slug', $user );
				if ( ! $user ) {
					$user = get_user_by( 'login', $user );
				}

				return $user;
			}
		}

		$username = get_query_var( 'dozent_profile_username' );

		if ( $username ) {
			return get_user_by( 'slug', $username );
		}

		$user = wp_get_current_user();

		return $user;

	}