Rising temperatures and more frequent and longer periods of drought are changing the living conditions of animals and plants. Food chains are breaking down and species are becoming extinct—with consequences for the entire ecosystem. „In extreme cases, climate change is causing populations to decline and animal species to become extinct,“ says Professor Dr Caroline Müller from Bielefeld University. The academic heads the Chemical Ecology research group at the Faculty of Biology. „Studies show that with a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees, the extinction risk of animals and plants increases by 4 per cent—but with a rise of 3 degrees, this risk increases to as much as 26 per cent.“

Article by Bielefeld University

InChangE offers 5 Individualisation Fellowships

In the joint project "Individualisation in Changing Environments" (InChangE) funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of NRW, the Universities of Münster and Bielefeld are exploring the causes, mechanisms and effects of individualisation in changing environments in an interdisciplinary discourse between the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. The disciplines represented in the joint project are biology, philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, geoinformatics, psychiatry and health sciences.

To promote excellent academics who are at the beginning of their independent research career, Bielefeld University and the University of Münster are offering a total of five Individualisation Fellowships (18 months, salary level TV-L E14, 100 %) for external researchers. These positions will offer the successful candidates the opportunity to further develop their independent research in the field of interdisciplinary individualisation science and to prepare their application for an individual research grant.

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Individual differences do not only exist in humans, but in all organisms. But when and how do they emerge during the lifetime? From 20 to 23 September, the InChangE Summer School 2022 brought together PhD students and postdocs to address these questions in an interdisciplinary discourse between natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Together with invited speakers, the participants explored the relevance of different life phases for individualisation in keynote talks, group sessions and in-depth discussions from the perspective of various disciplines.

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New InChangE postdoc: Olena Orlova

Dr Olena Orlova has recently started as a postdoc in the research association InChangE. She will focus on mathematical modeling of causes and consequences of individualisation in changing environments. Her research goal is to investigate the role of individualisation in ecological and evolutionary processes as well as in economic processes such as digital transformation of the markets with the help of individual-based models on the intersection of biology and economics and to intensify cross-fertilization between the two disciplines.

Olena holds a PhD degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and in Economics from Bielefeld University, and is also trained in systems analysis and IT. Her previous research focused on investigating relationships between individuals’ preferences, individuals’ interactions and specific interactional structures. In particular, she studied the impact of heterogenous individuals’ preferences on the formation of interactional networks. Before joining InChangE, Olena was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hagen, where she worked with dynamic models with heterogeneous agents in environmental economics. She also has four years of practical experience outside academia, in modeling and management in the financial industry during the turbulent years of the global financial crisis.

Personal website of Dr Olena Orlova

InChangE Workshop: Interdisciplinary understanding of environment

On 16 August 2022, members of the joint project InChangE came together for a workshop on the understanding of the concept of environment within the involved disciplines. The event was organised by the project participants Prof Dr Marie Kaiser, Anton Killin, PhD and Prof Dr Annette Malsch as part of the methodological cross-sectional project to further develop interdisciplinary conceptualisation and synthesis. Through presentations from various disciplines – including philosophy, biology, geoinformatics, sociology, economics and health sciences – and detailed discussions, the participants exchanged views on the respective conceptual understanding of the different disciplines.

InChangE Workshops

Jakub Krukar is a new InChangE postdoc

Dr Jakub Krukar has recently joined the research association InChangE as a postdoc. He is a researcher and lecturer in spatial cognition – a branch of cognitive science studying how people think about, think in, and think with space.

Krukar's background and approach are interdisciplinary, with an MA in psychology, a PhD from a department of architecture, and postdoctoral experience in geoinformatics. He applies cognitive psychology methods in the fields of geoinformatics, architecture, and human-computer interaction. His previous projects focused on studying visitor behaviour inside art galleries, designing wayfinding technologies to support in-car navigation as well as improving algorithms for designing user-centric buildings.

Personal website of Dr Jakub Krukar

Niels Boissonnet joins InChangE as postdoc

Dr Niels Boissonnet has recently started as a postdoc in the research association InChangE. He is trained in Economics, Mathematics, Philosophy and Psychology and completed a PhD in Economics on the concept of preference change. In this work, he proposed a model accounting for deliberate preference change. After his PhD, he started adopting a revealed preference approach to account for different psychological mechanisms which entail preference reversals. In his InChangE project, he aims to provide a framework to better integrate moral concerns into individual preferences and to question philosophically models of economic agents.

New InChangE member: Marisol Herrera-Rivero starts as postdoc

Dr Marisol Herrera-Rivero has joined the research association InChangE as a postdoc this month. She will investigate molecules and biological pathways that play critical roles in major psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. With her work, she aims to advance the understanding of genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders from disease susceptibility to treatment responses and thus contribute to pave the way towards personalized medicine.

Herrera-Rivero completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico, focusing on the exploration of peripheral biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Afterwards, she has specialized in the use of molecular biology techniques, omics bioinformatics and statistical data analyses to study diverse complex traits and polygenic diseases. In particular, she studies genetic factors and gene-environment interactions that contribute to shape different susceptibilities, disease courses and treatment responses in neurological and psychiatric conditions. Additionally, she focusses on other phenotypes that represent serious health threats, such as conditions affecting the heart and vasculature. She has published literature reviews, book chapters and research articles in recognized scientific journals, and collaborated with various renowned national and international research groups.

ResearchGate profile of Dr Marisol Herrera-Rivero

Individual differences exist not only in humans, but in all organisms. The JICE Institute at Bielefeld University and University of Münster is investigating the role that individualization plays under changing conditions. Since the end of November 2021, the new research network InChangE has been coordinated under the umbrella of the institute. The network is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia through its profile-building program. It is intended to combine the methods and knowledge of natural sciences, humanities and social sciences in order to systematically investigate individualization. InChangE ties in with the Transregio Collaborative Research Center NC³ (CRC-TRR 212) of the two universities, which has been researching individual ecological niches since 2018. What leads to the individualization of humans and animals? Four Bielefeld academics report on this from the perspective of their research.

Article by Bielefeld University

The JICE, the joint project InChangE and the SFB-TRR 212 invited to the joint "Individualisation Symposium 2022" in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Bielefeld on 5 April. The event focussed on the interdisciplinary discourse of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities on individualisation in changing environments and on promoting the collaboration between the research associations.

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At the Joint Institute for Individualisation in a Changing Environment (JICE), researchers from natural sciences, social sciences and humanities examine individualisation. They focus on the interplay between the individual and the environment. The JICE, which is supported by the University of Münster and Bielefeld University, builds on the Transregio Collaborative Research Centre SFB-TRR 212. Christina Hoppenbrock asked the JICE Directors Prof Dr Barbara Caspers (Bielefeld University) and Prof Dr Jürgen Gadau (University of Münster) about the strengths and goals of the new association, which invites all members and interested persons to a symposium at the University of Bielefeld on 5 April.

Interview [de]

Open postdoc positon at the Mental Health Clinic

Research Associate (gn*)
(*gn=gender neutral)

We are looking for you to join the Mental Health Clinic as soon as possible on a project-limited basis until 31 October 2024.

Full-time, remuneration according to TV-L E13, depending on qualifications and assignment of duties.

The Universities of Bielefeld and Münster have set themselves the goal of empirically investigating the topic of individualization in changing environments in an interdisciplinary discourse between life sciences, humanities and social sciences (project InChangE).

To this end, researchers from biology, health sciences, philosophy, psychology, medicine and psychiatry, economics and sociology are working together and are funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. We are looking for creative and curious postdocs to support us in this very interdisciplinary endeavor.

Applications can be submitted until 16 April 2022.

Anton Killin joins InChangE as postdoc

Anton Killin, PhD has started as a postdoc in the cross-sectional project "Concept Formation and Synthesis" of the research association InChangE this month. In the project, he will aim to identify the conceptual differences and commonalities regarding individualisation between the involved disciplines and to develop a common vocabulary for the interdisciplinary research area.

Killin is a philosopher of science and an evolutionary theorist. He has published on the evolution of music and language, cognitive and cultural evolution, and topics in the philosophy of music, philosophy of biology and philosophy of archaeology. The new member of InChangE earned his PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and has completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Australian National University, Florida International University and Mount Allison University. He has also completed a research fellowship at the National Library of New Zealand and has taught courses at Victoria University of Wellington and Massey University. He is co-editor of Explorations in Archaeology and Philosophy with Sean Allen-Hermanson (Springer 2021) and, with Adrian Currie, the "Creativity in Art, Science, and Mind" topical collection for the European Journal for Philosophy of Science.

Personal website of Anton Killin
 

Open postdoc positon at the Institute of Geoinformatics

The Institute of Geoinformatics at the University of Münster is seeking to fill the position of a

Postdoctoral Research Associate
Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in
(salary level TV-L E 13, 100%)

for the externally funded project Individualisation in Changing Environments (InChangE) at the earliest possible date. The position is fixed-term until 31 October 2024.

Applications can be submitted until 18 February 2022.

Job advertisement of the University of Münster

InChangE Workshop: Interdisciplinary understanding of individualisation

Participants of the joint project InChangE met for a workshop on Thursday, 13 January 2022, to exchange views on how "individualisation" is understood and interpreted in different scientific disciplines.

The event was organised by the project members Prof Dr Marie Kaiser and Prof Dr Annette Malsch and took place in a hybrid format: Some participants came together in Building X at Bielefeld University, observing current safety regulations, while others joined virtually.

During the workshop, speakers from various disciplines provided insightful insights into the understanding of the term "individualisation" in their respective fields - including biology, philosophy, psychology, health sciences, sociology, economics, medicine and psychiatry. In addition, detailed discussions focused on the differences and similarities in the understanding of the term between the different disciplines.

InChangE Workshops