Prof. em. Dr. Roland W. Scholz
Prof. em. Dr. Roland W. Scholz
Professor Emeritus at the Department of Environmental Systems Science
Additional information
Research area
Current Reseach Foci
Scholz focuses on the question how transdisciplinary processes can be utilized to develop sustainable human-environment systems (or relationships). This is based on thorough theoretical research and on different disciplinary projects. Since 2014, the focus is on Sustainable Digital Environments (www.donau-uni.ac.at/sde-tdlab) and continues his research on Sustainable Resources Management ( donau-uni.ac.at/smr-tdlab; starting in 1988) with specialemphasis on the nutrient phosphorus (starting in 2000). Many research projects, such as the vulnerability assessment of SME due to the digital transitioning, start from pressing practical problems.
Methodology and Practice of Vulnerability
Based on experiences in mathematical and psychological decision research, risk assessment and modelling, in vivo and in vitro research in negotiations, practical consulting experience and on theories of research in cognitive sceince and the philosophy of science, he also devised a method to integrate qualitative and quantitative knowledge in transdisciplinary processes on complex, societally relavant real world problems.
Scholz’s Chair of Natural and Social Science Interface at the Department of Environmental System Sciences specialised in environmental modelling and evaluation projects, natural waste resource management, sustainable financial services and applied basic research in various fields. For two decades (since 1993), Scholz headed transdisciplinary ETH-Zurich-NSSI case studies on sustainable urban, regional, organisational and technological development, and on the sustainable transformation of political decision-making processes at ETH Zurich. In the course of the Zurich 2000 conference in transdisciplinarity, Scholz labelled this interfacial unit between science and society transdisciplinarity laboratory. After his retirement in 2013, some projects such as the Global TraPs projectwere continued in the frame of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (http://www.globaltraps.ch) and/or the Danube University of Krems.
Scholz is promoting the vision of a discipline based interdisciplinarity in transdisciplinary discourses. Since 2002, he has been focussing on the development of a theory of inextricably linked human-environment systems and the issue of how disciplinary knowledge can be used effectively in trans-disciplinary processes for sustainability transformations (2011, Cambridge University Press; http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/life-sciences/natural-resource-management-agriculture-horticulture-and/environmental-literacy-science-and-society-knowledge-decisions?format=HB&isbn=9780521192712#bke7wGjsbCul2Utz.97).
Born in Halle/Saale, Germany, on 15 April 1950, Roland W. Scholz studied mathematics and psychology at the University of Marburg, Germany (Dipl. Math. 1976).
From 1976 to 1983 he was a scientist and project leader at SFB 24 Social and Economic Psychology of Decision-Making at the University of Mannheim, where he received a PhD psychology (Dr. phil. 1979) with a thesis in the field of experimental social psychology.
From 1978 to 1993 Scholz was a scientist and senior lecturer at the Institute for Didactics of Mathematics at the University of Bielefeld. From 1983 to 1985 he received a habilitation stipend from the German Research Foundation including a research stint at Decision Research (Eugene, USA). Scholz received the Venia legendi in psychology with a project on cognitive decision research at the University of Mannheim, Germany (Dr. phil. habil. 1987).
He was a Full Professor of Environmental Sciences, Natural and Social Science Interface at ETH Zurich from 1993 to 2012. At this time, he was simultaneously adjunct professor (Privatdozent) at the faculty of Psychology at University of Zurich, a position which is pursued.
After retirement (i.e., working as professor emeritus) on January 2013, Scholz continued his research on sustainable ressources management as senior advisor and project leader at Fraunhofer (Germany), e.g. at Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB), Stuttgart, Germany. He is active again as head of Scholz Technology Transition Management (STTM, Zurich).
He is Chief Senior Resrracher Sustanable Digital Environments (since September 2015) and Professor (since March 2016) at the Danube University of Krems, Faculty of Business and Globalization, Department of Sciene, Department of Knowledge and Information Management (https://www.donau-uni.ac.at/de/universitaet/whois/23170/index.php).
Additional information
In 2001 Scholz was elected as the fifth holder of the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship by the Swedish Academy of Sciences and was a guest professor and lecturer at many leading universities (e.g. Chalmers Technical University, University of Gothenborg (Sweden), MIT, Harvard School of Law, Carnegie Mellon University (USA), Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz, Universität für Bodenkultur in Wien (Austria), Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (Germany), University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil)).