New FWF-project: How a European zoo biobank aims to support conservation

The new FWF-funded project “Banking on zoos for conservation?” addresses the question how a collection of biological materials from zoo animals might contribute to the conservation of endangered species.

The project investigates the so-called biobank of the European zoo organization EAZA, which collects and stores blood and tissue samples in four different European locations. The project team focuses on the work in and organization of the biobank in relation to international conservation policies. The central question is how such a collection of samples and their use in research relates to the socio-politically complex issues of biodiversity and mass extinction.

The project will be led by Erik Aarden and run from May 2025 until April 2028.

The project has two positions to fill, for which you can find further details here: https://www.aau.at/blog/job-openings-doctoral-and-postdoctoral-level/

Job openings (doctoral and postdoctoral level)

For the project Banking on zoos for conservation? Towards a multispecies perspective on conservation research in the EAZA Biobank, funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, I am looking for two colleagues to join me at the Department of Society, Knowledge and Politics, of the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. The project will start in May 2025 and run until April 2028.

In this project we will study how the collection and storage of biological materials from zoo and aquarium animals in the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) Biobank is expected to contribute to research for the conservation of endangered species. As a networked facility located at four European ‘hubs’ the biobank aims to gather specimens from all species kept in European zoos and aquaria. This initiative thereby serves such institutions’ aims to contribute to preserving endangered species, yet raises questions about how practices within and organization of the biobank relate to a wider policy environment of conservation ambitions. To address such questions, the project will explore the practical, organizational and broader policy layers of the EAZA Biobank.

For this research on the different layers of the biobank I am looking for:

  • A doctoral researcher to focus on biobanking practices at individual zoos, aquaria and hubs
  • A postdoctoral researcher to focus on the broader legal and policy environment in which the biobank operates

Your responsibilities in the project will include participation in project work and meetings; planning and conducting empirical research on the EAZA Biobank; and contributing to the publication and dissemination of project results. Fieldwork will require travel to relevant international institutions (incl. zoos, aquaria and intergovernmental organisations) and (for the doctoral position) extended periods for ethnographic work on-site.

Your qualifications should include a completed MA or PhD degree in science and technology studies (STS), sociology, anthropology, political science or other relevant social science disciplines and/or in relevant fields of biological and environmental sciences. Applicants are expected to have demonstrable interest in or experience with research on the sociopolitical dimensions of biodiversity and conservation research. Good knowledge of English in speaking and writing is required.

Both positions will be paid according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for Austrian universities.

To apply for either position, please send the following documents to erik [dot] aarden [at] aau [dot] at no later than the 28th of February 2025:

  • A motivation letter (max 2 pages), in which you indicate for which position you apply and how you would see your contribution to the project;
  • An academic CV (max 3 pages);
  • An example of your writing (which may be part of your MA/PhD-thesis);
  • Name and contact details of one reference.

In case you would like to know more about the project or the positions, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have at erik [dot] aarden [at] aau [dot] at!

A Look Back at the First Year of the Department of Society, Knowledge, and Politics (SoKPol)

On January 1, 2024, three smaller institutes merged to form the new Department of Society, Knowledge, and Politics. In this report, we reflect on the personal and academic highlights of the first year of “SoKPol.”

Report by Helene Sorgner

Sociology, Science and Technology Studies, and Science Communication and Higher Education Research: These three fields of study, previously represented by separate organizational units at AAU, have been united under one roof since early 2024. The newly established Department of Society, Knowledge, and Politics builds on the shared interests of its members, fostering more intensive exchange and new synergies—as demonstrated by numerous activities during the first year.

Research Stays Abroad

The first half of the year was characterized by research-related absences as several department members embarked on extended stays abroad.

From November 2023 to the end of March 2024, Anja Bauer completed a research stay at Arizona State University (ASU) as part of her tenure-track agreement. She spent the initial phase at the School of the Future of Innovation in Society in Tempe, Arizona,followed by two months at the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes in Washington, D.C.. The stay resulted in lectures and publications addressing the authority of scientific policy advice in an era of polarization and post-truth politics.

Julia Malik spent 13 months in Colombia for her dissertation project. Her ethnographic fieldwork on a digital classification and administration system for social welfare was supported by a Marietta Blau Grant and mobility funding from the University of Klagenfurt.

Christof Lammer has been a fellow at the Käte Hamburger Center “inherit. heritage in transformation” at Humboldt University in Berlin since April 2024. Studying the case of the giant panda, he examines how humans measure kinship to protect species, and how this transforms not only human-animal  relations but also power relations in society, bureaucracy and  politics.

Research Projects

The year 2024 brought numerous new projects to the institute, along with new team members.

Erik Aarden has been co-leading a project titled “The Governance of and through Tests” since April, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and conducted in collaboration with Ingrid Metzler (Karl Landsteiner Private University for Health Sciences). The project examines the testing strategies of three European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Viktoria Meklin will be writing her dissertation as a research associate on this project.

Another project by Erik Aarden, “Making Meanings of Biodiversity: Species Monitoring and Science Communication at Two Austrian Biosphere Reserves,” is funded by the AAU Research Council. Together with master’s student Jasmin Gramschek, he investigates the practices and concepts of biodiversity in the Nockberge and Wienerwald biosphere reserves.

Under the leadership of Martina Merz and with contributions from Daniel Barben, the “City Science Lab (University of Klagenfurt): Climate & Cities Missions in Action” secured over one million euros from a special budget of the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF). The project aims to support Klagenfurt on its path to climate neutrality. A university hub, based at the Department of Society, Knowledge, and Politics, will bring together researchers from various disciplines and drive a just transition to a climate-resilient city of the future.

Publications

Lammer, Christof. 2024. Performing State Boundaries: Food Networks, Democratic Bureaucracy and China. New York: Berghahn Books.

Staff Updates

  • Anja Bauer received tenure in January, becoming an Associate Professor. She is among the first to achieve qualification under AAU’s new tenure-track model.
  • Helmut Guggenberger, former head of the Institute for Sociology, retired in October but remains affiliated with AAU as a lecturer.
  • Michael Jonas joined the team taking on teaching responsibilities from Christof Lammer.
  • Martina Merz resumed her full teaching and research activities at the institute in December after serving four years as Vice-Rector for Research.
  • Helene Sorgner returned from parental leave in September.
  • Daria Jadreškić transitioned to the Digital Age Research Center (D!ARC) at AAU following the end of the research project “Producing Novelty & Securing Credibility in LHC-Experiments.”

Department Retreat

On September 25 and 26, 2024, the institute held its first joint retreat at St. Georgen/Längsee. In-depth discussions covered shared teaching content, research interests, and institutional responsibilities. A hike around the lake was followed by a celebratory farewell for Helmut Guggenberger.

Department Retreat in St.Georgen. Credit: Kornelia Kanyo

Research Colloquium

The winter semester of 2024/25 marked the launch of a new event format: the research colloquium. In this series, the institute’s researchers present their current work. Open to all interested parties, the colloquium fosters exchange beyond institutional boundaries. Initial presentations included Anja Bauer (on insights from her research stay in the U.S.), Erik Aarden (on biodiversity monitoring practices in an Austrian national park), and Vedran Duančić (on techno-optimism in the final years of Yugoslavia).

Holiday Celebration

A special highlight at the end of the year was a joint dinner at Gasthaus im Landhaushof. For some institute members, this was a long-standing tradition; for others, a new experience. The gathering marked the conclusion of a successful year and the beginning of new traditions, reflecting a growing institute with strong foundations and ambitious plans for the future.

Invitation to the research colloquium of the Institute for Society, Knowledge and Politics: Can Science and Technology Save a (Dying) State? Sen. Scientist Dr. Vedran Duančić on December 12, 2024 from 3:15 – 4:45 p.m. in room S.2.05.2.05

Can Science and Technology Save a (Dying) State? Techno-Optimism in the Last Days of Socialist Yugoslavia

During the 1980s, as the economic, social, and political crisis in socialist Yugoslavia was intensifying, science and technology came to play an unprecedentedly prominent role in the public discourse. Science and technology were seen both as (one of the) culprits responsible for the crisis and, at the same time, as a force uniquely suited to help overcome it. The talk will discuss the conceptualizations of the relationship between science, technology, economy, and politics at the peak of socio-political crisis in Yugoslavia and suggest that this was a “pessimist” manifestation of techno-optimism. How did this curious take on techno-optimism relate to ways of thinking about science and technology across the world toward the end of the Cold War, especially in the developing and (semi-) peripheral countries? The talk will further address the tensions between science and technology as preferred vehicles of economic development as well as investment recipients. The proposals on how to utilize science and technology in order to change the course of the country’s development were more interesting for their political-ideological than practical ramifications. They offer not only a glimpse into the conflict between the “technocrats” and defenders of self-managerial socialism (as well as within those groups), but also depict science- and technology-driven visions for the future of a country that would soon disintegrate.