Dr. Simon Schaub
Researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences at Heidelberg University, HCE member since 2024.
My key research questions are:
- How can we improve the governance of complex environmental problems?
- How do political actors respond to climate change?
- To what extent is climate action influenced by political and institutional factors?
- How can barriers to sustainable agri-food systems be overcome?
Why I joined the HCE
To be able to successfully tackle the environmental crises of the 21st century, we need holistic approaches that are informed by the collaboration of different scientific disciplines. The HCE provides an exceptional platform to foster such collaboration within the university and beyond, and helps me to advance my research on the environment and sustainability.
My highlights so far
I greatly benefited from being a fellow of the HCE College during my PhD. The interdisciplinary exchange during the fellowship opened doors for me to participate in interdisciplinary research on the environment and greatly enhanced my ability to think interdisciplinary and collaborate across disciplines. Especially rewarding were two interdisciplinary special issue workshops I conducted with support of the HCE – one on water pollution by contaminants of emerging concern and one on governance approaches to climate and forest protection. Currently, being involved in a seed project funded by the HCE allows me to advance my research on nature protection and sustainable agri-food systems.
My key partners
My involvement in the HCE has resulted in collaboration with a number of partners of various disciplines at Heidelberg University, including biology (Center for Organismal Studies), environmental physics (Institute of Environmental Physics), computational science (German Studies Department), public health (Heidelberg Institute of Global Health), sociology (Center for Ibero-American Studies), and environmental economics (Alfred-Weber-Institute).
In Germany, I collaborate with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products in Dresden, Institute of Forest Sciences Freiburg, the Environmental Physics Department in Tübingen, or the Center for Interdisciplinary Risk and Innovation Studies in Stuttgart.
Internationally, I work together with partners at the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, Oslo University, the London School of Economics, or the Institute of Global Health at the University College London.