Dissertation Projects
Research question: How can the uncertainties associated with climate change be dealt with in the natural and social sciences and from the perspective of normative theories?
| PdD students | Dissertation project | Supervisor | Co-Supervisor |
| Lukas Brunner | Uncertainties in atmospheric circulation processes at mid-latitudes during recent climate change | Steiner | Birk |
| Kian Mintz-Woo | Moral Uncertainty about Climate Change: What is it, Does it Matter, and How? | Meyer | Steininger |
| Sungmin O | Uncertainties in measured extreme precipitation events | Foelsche | Sass |
| Katharina Schröer | Exploring the causes of rare extreme precipitation events in the south-eastern Alpine forelands | Kirchengast | Sass |
| Josef Innerkofler | Radio occultation excess phase processing with integrated uncertainty estimation and use for tracing climate change signals | Kirchengast | Birk |
| Hallgeir Wilhelmsen | Climate change diagnostics from atmospheric observations and climate model data | Steiner | Winiwarter |
Research question: What are the critical thresholds of ecological, social and economic systems considering their vulnerability and resilience and how do they relate to normative thresholds of well-being (sufficiency justice)?
| PhD students | Dissertation project | Supervisor | Co-Supervisor |
| Sajeev Erangu Purath Mohankumar | Scenarios of low carbon society-sector agriculture | Winiwarter | Steininger |
| Johannes Haas | Impact of climate change on groundwater resources: Feedback mechanisms and thresholds under drought conditions | Birk | Posch |
| Clara Hohmann | Uncertainties and thresholds of hydrological changes in south-eastern Austria in a warming climate | Kirchengast | Birk |
| Michael Kriechbaum | Social and economic uncertainties and thresholds for the diffusion and adoption of renewable energy systems | Posch | Bednar-Friedl |
| Florian Ortner | Integrative Perspectives of Natural Hazards in Alpine Valleys | Sass | Steininger |
| Silke Carmen Lutzmann | Thresholds in torrential systems of alpine watersheds | Sass | Foelsche |
| Eike Düvel | The Normative Significance of the Imposition of Risks of Rights Violations in the Context of Climate Change | Meyer | Baumgartner |
Research question: What are scientifically sound, technologically and institutionally feasible, economically efficient and ethically justifiable and sustainable strategies for responding to climate change?
| PhD students | Dissertation project | Supervisor | Co-Supervisor |
| Matthias Damert | Individual mobility as climate challenge-Climate change risks and corporate vulnerability in the automotive sector | Baumgartner | Bednar-Friedl |
| Javier Lopez Pról | Transformation to a Low Carbon Economy | Steininger | Posch |
| Yadira Mori-Clement | Coping with climate change: fair burden sharing among industrialised and developing countries | Bednar-Friedl | Meyer |
| Arijit Paul | Sustainable strategies of companies in energy intensive sectors to cope with climate change | Baumgartner | Meyer |
| Christian Unterberger | Thresholds and fat tail risks in public decision making about climate change | Steininger | Kirchengast |
| Daniel Petz | Sufficientarian Weighing of the Imposition of Risks of Rights Violations and Other Set-backs of Interest in the Context of Climate Change | Meyer | Winiwarter |
| Vincent Hess | Economic and Ethical Consequences of Natural Hazards in Alpine Valleys | Steininger | Sass |
| Philipp Babcicky | Private Adaptation to Climate Change: Explaining Adaptive Behaviour of Flood-prone Households | Posch | Steiner |
| Hannah Hennighausen | Understanding the effects of risk, uncertainty and externalities on decision-making in the context of climate change adaptation | Bednar-Friedl | Foelsche |
| Stefan Nabernegg | Instruments for GHG emission reductions: A macroeconomic evaluation of technological, regulative and behavioural policies | Bednar-Friedl | Baumgartner |
Research question: What are strategies for a transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient society and economy, and how can the necessary qualitative transition be implemented and legitimised politically and legally?
| Supervisor | Field of research | Research topic | PhD students |
| Baumgartner (SC1) | Innovation and sustainability research | Innovation strategies of companies in the mobility sector to reduce GHG emissions | Jyoti Prajapati |
| Bednar-Friedl (SC1) | Climate and environmental economics | The economics of transformational adaptation | Lennart Vogelsang |
| Bednar-Friedl (SC2) | Climate and environmental economics | An economic assessment of different instruments of adaptation finance | Alexander Marbler |
| Meyer (SC1) | Normative Theory | The empirical demandingness of alternative normative understandings of loss & damage | Laura Garcia Portela |
| Meyer (SC1) | Normative Theory | Legitimate expectations in stranding assets | Rutger Lazou |
| Meyer (SC3) | Normative Theory | Emission-generating activities - their benefits and normative distributive significance | Laura Siggelkow |
| Posch (SC1) | Innovation and sustainability research | The role of electricity-"prosumers" in the transition towards a low carbon energy system | Rafia Zaman |
| Posch (SC2) | Innovation and sustainability research | Consumer decisions: The case of sustainable mobility behaviour | Annina Thaller |
| Schulev-Steindl (SC1) | Environmental Law | Climate Lawsuits against States | Carlotta Garofalo |
| Schulev-Steindl (SC2) | Environmental Law | Legal Aspects of Consumption-based Instruments for Climate Change Mitigation | Lydia Omuko-Jung |
| Steininger (SC1) | Climate and environmental economics | The macroeconomic implications of climate-benign tipping interventions in energy-intensive industry | Raphaela Maier |
| Steininger (SC2) | Climate and environmental economics | The macroeconomics of low carbon mobility transition | Anna Dugan |
Research question: How should we deal with uncertainties and risks, in particular with extreme events and the associated consequences?
| Supervisor | Field of research | Research topic | PhD students |
| Birk (SC1) | Meteorology and hydrology | Impact of extreme events and changing environmental conditions on groundwater recharge | Raoul Collenteur |
| Birk (SC2) | Meteorology and hydrology | Sustainable use of groundwater resources under changing climate conditions and the transition to a low-carbon society-hydrogeological constraints vs. societal demands | Ainur Kokimova |
| Foelsche (SC1) | Physical climate science | Uncertainties in modelled extreme precipitation | Esmail Ghaemi |
| Foelsche (SC2) | Physical climate science | Atmospheric rivers as moisture sources for extreme precipitation events | Bahareh Rahimi |
| Cherry Guest (SC1) | Physical climate science | Hydrological intensification and damage risks due to extreme convective rainfall events in a warming climate | Md Humayain Kabir |
| Kirschengast (SC2) | Physical climate science | Hydrological low-flow dynamics and damage risks due to extreme hot and dry spells in a warming climate | Dagmar Henner |
| Maraun (SC1) | Physical climate science | Understanding and Attributing the Severity of Extreme Precipitation Events | Aditya Mishra |
| Maraun (SC2) | Physical climate science | Climate Information Distillation | Nicole Ritzhaupt |
| Steiner (SC1) | Physical climate science | Evolution and predictability of temperature and hydrological extremes connected to atmospheric blocking under climate change | Kamilya Yessimbet |
| Steiner (SC2) | Physical climate science | Attribution of temperature and hydrological extreme events to human-induced climate change | Mastawesha Engdaw |