Doctoral candidate in Science and Technology Studies Laura Bomm is awarded a Doktoratsfertigstellungsstipendium of the Literar-Mechana for her doctoral thesis project on citizens’ perceptions and sensemaking of plastics in contemporary Austrian society. The scholarship is awarded for up to six months for the completion of a doctoral thesis. Congratulations!

Social and cultural anthropologist Catherine Raya Polishchuk has received an ifk Junior Fellowship for her doctoral thesis project on urban renewal in Vienna. The fellowship is awarded by the International Research Center for Cultural Studies (University of Art and Design Linz) for one academic year and includes the possibility of a funded stay abroad in the following year. Congratulations!

Nyamadzawo “Max” Sibanda and Emily Genatowski about the support systems PhD students may rely on during their studies. Find out why institutional support and personal engagement were crucial for Emily and Max when they arrived in Vienna, how they now provide support to others and what a can of Japanese matcha and a belt have to do with getting support as a PhD student.

(by Ahrabhi Kathirgamalingam and Aytalina Kulichkina)

In academic spaces, individuals from underrepresented social groups often face systemic barriers that hinder their full participation and success. Such barriers include systemic biases in hiring, promotion, access to resources, and lack of representation. Underlying factors, including persisting racism, sexism ...

Women journalists often face various forms of sexual harassment at the workplace and on assignments. A recent study conducted by communication scientist Birte Leonhardt together with Folker Hanusch, Shailendra Singh and Geraldine Panapasa demonstrates how widespread the phenomenon is and how inadequate safeguards contribute to harassment’s wide-ranging effect on journalists’ lives.

(by Ekaterina Zhelenkova)

Education is today a sector in receipt of record-high and still rising amounts of investment. And for good reason, since education has proven to be the major driver behind reducing poverty, propelling development and overall welfare. Increased education is also behind lower fertility rates and better child health outcomes ...

Psychologist Stephanie Bührer from the Department of Communication was interviewed about her doctoral research on perpetrators of digital hate. She explains why identity formation and group dynamics are crucial for digital hate and why we still know little about the personal motivation behind hateful online posts. (in German)

(by Daniela Paredes Grijalva)

Concerns around climate change impacts are increasingly coming to the surface with heat waves and flood events on the rise. The place we call home, Earth, is being transformed, in some cases in irreversible ways. Ecological and social systems are put to test; some readjusting, others collapsing. In the midst of it all, we ...

Aleksandra Wojewska was interviewed for the Ö1 Podcast Matrix about her doctoral research on price formation and socio-ecological transformation in global production networks. Aleksandra provides insights into local dynamics of extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo, explains the history and politics of exploitation and traces the journey of Cobalt from Africa to Asia.