The ocean is the habitat of animals and plants 鈥� as well as a place where diverse human activities take place: more than half of the world鈥檚 population lives in coastal areas, tourism fills beaches, ships transport 90 per cent of all goods around the world, and humans intervene significantly in the marine ecosystem through fishing, wind turbines and oil drilling. On 1 November 2025, Prof. Dr. Tanja Bogusz was appointed to a new Heisenberg professorship at 麻豆官网 that will allow her to investigate the sociology of the ocean. The German Research Foundation鈥檚 (DFG) Heisenberg Programme is open to outstanding researchers who fulfil the requirements for appointment to a tenured professorship.
At LUH, the professor and head of the work area macrosociology and sociology of scientific research plans to continue expanding her long-standing collaboration with the German Marine Research Consortium, the German Marine Research Alliance, and her national and international marine science network. In the new Forum Wissenschaftsreflexion building, scheduled to open in 2026, she will strengthen the key research area Interdisciplinary Studies of Science in terms of research strategy and personnel. 鈥淔or me 鈥� together with my colleagues in the Institute of Sociology, the Faculty of Humanities and the natural sciences and engineering faculties 鈥� it provides opportune linkages for giving the societally relevant topic of interdisciplinary studies of science in the Anthropocene age a broad interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary footing,鈥� said Bogusz.
Bogusz trained as an industrial mechanic and studied sociology, romance studies and journalism in Hamburg, Paris and Berlin, completing her doctorate in the latter. Following stops in Jena, Berlin, Paris and New York, she completed her habilitation in Jena. She has held visiting professorships in Paris, Kassel and Kiel. Since 2022 she has worked at the University of Hamburg. Following numerous scientific ethnographies in cooperation with the Museum of Natural History in Paris, a marine species was named after her in 2018: Joculator boguszae. In Hannover she will consolidate her diverse research and teaching activities. In today鈥檚 Anthropocence period, said Bogusz, the marine ecosystem is being significantly shaped by humans, which is why establishing a sociology of the ocean is overdue: 鈥淏asic research is necessary here 鈥� a massive task that I can tackle with the help of the Heisenberg funding.鈥�
