The new visiting professorship allows the Kassel Institute to focus on selected topics in both research and teaching; at the same time, the institution is expanding its faculty with distinguished personalities in sustainability research. In future, the visiting professorship will be awarded each semester. The first holder is Dr. Franziska Hoffart (35), who works at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin and the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI). She studied economics and philosophy in Bayreuth, Stellenbosch (South Africa), Bochum and Shanghai (China) and received her doctorate in economics from the Ruhr University Bochum.

In addition to energy policy issues, the economist's academic career has focused in particular on the question of how a transformation towards a more sustainable and just future can succeed. Hoffart believes that Germany does not have ambitious enough goals in this area - and that politicians are not implementing them decisively enough. "I am investigating which factors are accelerating or slowing down the transformation, what future scenarios could look like and which measures are conducive to transformation," she explains.

As part of the workshop "Transformative science-society relationships using the example of the energy transition" on October 25, 2024, interested parties will have the opportunity to talk to visiting professor Franziska Hoffart and other researchers in a fishbowl discussion on the topic of "Technologies and the humanities for a sustainable transformation - where do they meet and how far apart are they?".

The Kassel Institute brings together the University of Kassel's broad spectrum of research and teaching on sustainability in the context of its four areas of expertise: society, nature, technology and culture. In addition, the university is currently establishing a whole series of sustainability courses and professorships.

Further information on the event can be found here.
Further information on the visiting professor can be found here.

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