Viktoria Jansesberger studied at the University of Salzburg and moved to the University of Konstanz as part of her doctoral studies in 2021. She obtained her doctorate in political science there in 2024. In her dissertation, she investigated the political and social conditions under which sudden extreme weather events trigger protests or repression.

During her time as a doctoral student and postdoc, she was involved in various research projects. In 2023, she spent time as a visiting doctoral candidate at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, one of the world’s leading institutions for peace research. She has been working as a postdoc in the cluster of excellence at the University of Konstanz since 2024.

In her research, Jansesberger takes an empirical approach to examining the impact of climate disasters and resource depletion on political unrest and conflict, the effectiveness of development aid in managing such crises and the ethnic dimension of social inequality in developing countries.

Viktoria Jansesberger will take up her position in the Department of Political Science on 1 January 2026. The assistant professorship (without tenure track) is limited to a five-year term.

The aim of the new professorship is to investigate the political consequences of global environmental changes as a result of climate change. Such changes have a severe impact on such issues as migration, conflicts and inequality, and present major challenges for political and social actors as well as for the population.

The professorship is intended to help strengthen the global competence of political science in Basel and deepen its links to sustainability studies and social science disciplines. The Max Geldner Foundation is providing the University of Basel with CHF 200,000 a year to fund the professorship.