
Prof. Dr. Dr. Rafaela Hillerbrand
- Deputy head of institute
- Research group “Philosophy of Engineering, Technology Assessment, and Science”
- office hours: nach Bedarf, bitte schreiben Sie eine E-Mail
- Room: 215
- Phone: +49 721 608-26450
- rafaela hillerbrandCkv3∂kit edu
Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS)
Postfach 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Current positions
- Professorship for Ethics of Technology and Philosophy of Science. Assessment of Complex Forms of Knowledge, ITAS
- Head of the KIT Academy for Responsible Research, Teaching, and Innovation (ARRTI)
- Head of the research group Philosophy of Engineering, Technology Assessment, and Science (PhilETAS)
Fields of work
- Philosophy of technology and science, philosophy of engineering sciences
- Ethics of technology and the environment, especially ethical aspects of energy supply and use (electricity, mobility, heat), sustainability
- Epistemic and ethical aspects of risks and uncertainties
- Computer simulations and AI
Prizes and awards (selection)
- Full member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) since 2020
- Delft Technology Fellowship, 2012-2015
- Member of the Young Academy at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2009-2014
- Natural Science Award 2008 of the Ingrid-zu-Solms-Stiftung
- PhD Scholarship of the University of Münster, 2006
- Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, 2002-2005
- Dr. Heinz-Dürr Scholarship, Zeiss Foundation & Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, 2005
- Lilli-Bechmann-Rahn Prize, 2005
Committees and memberships (selection)
- German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
- Think Tanks of the President of the Helmholtz Association
- Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Board of Trustees
- Heinz Nixdorf Society, Board of Trustees
- Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM), Board of Directors
- HEiKA (Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership), Board of Directors
- "PlastikBudget - Development of budget approach and LCA impact assessment methodology for the governance of plastics in the environment", Advisory Board
- Professional Associations:
- Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG)
- Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI)
- Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs, Royal Dutch Society for Engineers (KIVI NIRIA), until 2017.
- Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsphilosophie (GWP)
- Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie (GAP)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Philosophie (DGPhil)
- Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG)
Other functions
- 2015 - 2021 Ombudsperson for PhD students and KIT supervisors.
- Council for Research and Promotion of Young Scientists (CRYS), KIT, deputy member
- Structural Commission TUM, member since 2020
- Scientific advisory board in journals:
- Reviewer for, among others:
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique Brussels (F.R.S-FNRS)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- Reviewer for various journals, including:
- Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science
- Ethics and Technology
- Climatic Change
- Science and Engineering Ethics
- Knowledge Management Research & Practice
- International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
- Studia Philosophica Estonica
- GAIA
- Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science
- Program Committees (selection): SPT2017, fpet 2017, GWP 2016, EPSA 2013, Democracy, Legality and Policy, Tilburg 2012, Philosophy of Robotics, TUM 2011
- Selection committees: Lead Market Competition Energy & Environmental Economy.NRW 2017; Klima.Expo NRW, Review committe 2014-2018
Professional background
since 2015 | Professor at KIT for Philosophy of Science, Assessment of Complex Forms of Knowledge |
2015 - 2016 | Head of the Institute of Philosophy (today part of the ITZ), KIT |
2013 - 2015 | Member of the Management Team 4TU. Center Ethics for Technology |
2013 - 2014 | Member of the Section Board "Philosophy and Technology" of KIVI NIRIA (Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs, Royal Dutch Society for Engineers) |
2012 - 2015 | Professor at the TU Delft |
2010 - 2011 | Speaker and member of the board of directors of the Junge Akademie at the BBAW and the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina |
2010 | Substitute Professorship Philosophy of Technology, University of Stuttgart |
2009 - 2012 | Professor at RWTH Aachen University, head of the research group eet-ethics for energy technology at the Human Technology Centre (HumTec), a project of the Excellence Initiative |
2009 - 2012 | Member of the steering group HumTec, RWTH |
2007 | Dr. rer. nat., summa cum laude, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, theoretical physics |
2006 - 2008 | Senior Research Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford |
2005 - 2006 | Visiting Scientist at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice, France |
2003 / 2004 | University of Münster, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Research associate |
2003 | Dr. phil., Summa cum laude, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen, Philosophy |
until 2001 | Studies of Physics (Diplom) & Philosophy (Magister), University of Erlangen & University of Liverpool, Minors Diplom: Chemistry & Fluid Mechanics (Chemical Engineering), Minor Magister: Political Science |
Selected publications
Hillerbrand, R.; Roeser, S.
Towards a Third ‘Practice Turn’: An Inclusive and Empirically Informed Perspective on Risk. In: Franssen, M., Vermaas, P. Kroes, P., Meijers. A.: Philosophy of Technology after the Empirical Turn, Springer, 2016
Hillerbrand, R.; Roeser, S.; Peterson, M.; Sandin, P.
Handbook of Risk Theory. Epistemology, Decision Theory, Ethics and Social Implications of Risk. Springer, 2012
Abstract
Hillerbrand, R.; Roeser, S.; Peterson, M.; Sandin, P.
Essentials of risk theory. Springer, 2013
Abstract
Hillerbrand, R.; Reitinger, C.; Dumke, M.; Barosevcic, M.
A conceptual framework for impact assessment within SLCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 16(4), 380-388, 2011
Abstract
Hillerbrand, R.
Order out of Chaos? A Case Study in High Energy Physics. Studia Philosophica Estonica 5(2), 61-78, 2012
Hillerbrand, R.
On non-propositional aspects in modeling complex systems. Analyse & Kritik 32, 107-120, 2010
Publications
Energy and the Good Life : Capabilities as the Foundation of the Right to Access Energy Services.
2021. Journal of human development and capabilities. doi:10.1080/19452829.2021.1887109
Training responsible engineers. Phronesis and the role of virtues in teaching engineering ethics.
2021. Australasian journal of engineering education. doi:10.1080/22054952.2021.1889086
Using the Capability Approach as a normative perspective on energy justice: Insights from two case studies on digitalisation in the energy sector.
2021. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. doi:10.1080/19452829.2021.1901672
Scenarios as Tools of the Scientific Imagination: The Case of Climate Projections.
2021. Perspectives on science, 29 (1), 36–61. doi:10.1162/posc_a_00360
Designing for justice in electricity systems: A comparison of smart grid experiments in the Netherlands.
2020. Energy policy, 147, Art.-Nr.: 111720. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111720
Designing as playing games of make-believe.
2020. Design science, 6 (e10), 1–27. doi:10.1017/dsj.2020.8
Process models: plans, predictions, proclamations or prophecies?.
2020. Research in engineering design, 31, 83–102. doi:10.1007/s00163-019-00322-8
From Principles to Practice : An interdisciplinary framework to operationalise AI ethics.
2020. Bertelsmann Stiftung
Designers as truth makers.
2020. 13th SIG Design Theory Paris Workshop (2020), Paris, France, January 27–28, 2020
The Right to Energy Access and the Capabilities Approach.
2020. International Engager Workshop "Co-Creating the ’Right to Energy’ in Theory and Practice", Universität Groningen, Niederlande, 08.-09.01.2020 (2020), Groningen / Girona, January 8–9, 2020
Philosophische Betrachtungen der Energiewende: Chancen, Risiken und Unsicherheiten der Digitalisierung.
2020. Frühjahrsakademie Universität Ulm (2020), Ulm, Germany, March 26, 2020
The capability approach as a normative framework for technology assessment.
2019. TATuP: Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis, 28 (1), 52–57. doi:10.14512/tatup.28.1.52
Values in University–Industry Collaborations: The Case of Academics Working at Universities of Technology.
2019. Science and engineering ethics, 25 (6), 1633–1656. doi:10.1007/s11948-019-00144-w
Prof. Dr. Bauchgefühl. Wissenschaft zwischen Intelligenz und Intuition.
2019. Prof. Dr. Bauchgefühl, Geist Heidelberg, Im Dialog (2019), Heidelberg, Germany, December 8, 2019
Steht sich der IPCC selber im Wege? Von den Grenzen der Kommunikation wissenschaftlicher Unsicherheiten.
2019. Universität Mannheim (2019), Mannheim, Germany, October 8, 2019
Philosophische Perspektiven auf die Energiewende: Chancen, Unsicherheiten, und die Notwendigkeit von Energiespeichern.
2019. KIT Colloquium Fundamentale: Batterien der Zukunft (2019), Karlsruhe, Germany, October 17, 2019
The Role of Scientific Models as Mediators between Theory and Experiment.
2019. Interdisciplinary Symposium: Chemical concepts and Quantum Chemistry (2019), Heidelberg, Germany, November 18–20, 2019
Uncertainties and Games of Make-Believe.
2019. 12th SIG Design Theory Paris Workshop (2019), Paris, France, January 28–29, 2019
Shaping our Energy Furure: The irreducible entanglement of the ethical, social, and technical realms.
2018. Energy as a Sociotechnical Problem. An Interdiciplinary Perspectice on Control, Change and Action in Energy Transitions. Ed.: C. Büscher, 200–220, Routledge
Why Affordable Clean Energy Is Not Enough. A Capability Perspective on the Sustainable Development Goals.
2018. Sustainability, 10 (7), Article: 2485. doi:10.3390/su10072485
Energy Justice and Smart Grid Systems: Evidence from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
2018. Applied energy, 229, 1244–1259. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.08.053
Nachhaltigkeit: Was die Energiewende mit dem guten Leben zu tun hat.
2018. Studium Generale an der Hochschule Pforzheim (2018), Pforzheim, Germany, October 17, 2018
Do Computer Simulations Change the Way We Understand the World? On epistemological aspect of computer simulations.
2018. Kolloquium / Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft, Philosophie und Theologie, Universität Bielefeld (2018), Bielefeld, Germany, December 4, 2018
Alles fake. Unsicheres Wissen. Vortrag aus philosophischer Sichtweise.
2018. 7. BfR-Stakeholderkonferenz: "Alles Fake? Wissenschaft im Zeitalter der vielen Wahrheiten" (2018), Berlin, Germany, November 15, 2018
Freiheit und Objektivität der Forschung - Wissenschaft im postfaktischen Zeitalter.
2018, March 6. Vortragsreihe “Vom Reiz des Wissens - Wissenschaft und Erkenntnis” (2018), Nuremberg, Germany, March 6, 2018
Jet engines, design teams and the imagination: Designing as playing games of make-believe.
2018. Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET), College Park, MD, May 30 - June 1, 2018
Designing as playing games of make-believe.
2018. 11th SIG Design Theory Paris Workshop (2018), Paris, France, January 29–30, 2018
Wissen|schaf(f)t Wahrheit? - technik.kontrovers am 22.11.2017.
2018. doi:10.5445/DIVA/2018-585
Mensch und Technik. Wer beherrscht wen?.
2017. Die politische Meinung, 62 (546), 25–30
Energietechnik und ein gutes Leben: ein Plädoyer für einen neuen Energiediskurs.
2017. Technologischer Fortschritt und gutes Leben, Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut
Braucht es neue Kriterien für die Verlässlichkeit wissenschaftlicher Forschung? Wissenschaftstheorie in Zeiten unsicherer Prognosen und wertbeladener Forschung.
2017. Doktorandenkonvent KIT (2017), Karlsruhe, Germany, September 19, 2017
Towards a values sensitive design of energy transitions. Technology and human wellbeing.
2017. VTI (Values Technology Innovations) Research Day, Delft, NL, October 30, 2017
Who is the expert? Or how the IPPC is its own worst enemy.
2017. Workshop ’Group Decision Making in Scientific Expert Committees, Tilburg University, NL, April 13, 2017
Technikethik.
2016. Handbuch Handlungstheorie. Ed.: M. Kühler, 359–370, J.B. Metzler. doi:10.1007/978-3-476-05359-6_41
Von einer dritten empirischen Wende in der Technikethik. Ein Plädoyer für ein Mehr an Technikethik in der Ingenieurausbildung.
2016. Zur Zukunft der Bereichsethiken – Herausforderungen durch die Ökonomisierung der Welt. Hrsg.: M. Maring, 317–331, KIT Scientific Publishing
Towards a Third ‘Practice Turn’: An Inclusive and Empirically Informed Perspective on Risk.
2016. Philosophy of Technology after the Empirical Turn. Ed.: M. Franseen, 145–166, Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-33717-3_9
Simulierte Wissenschaft oder Erkenntniswerkzeug? Ein philosophischer Blick auf Computersimulationen.
2016. Kolloquium ’Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung’ der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal, 2.Mai 2016
Ethisch-filosofisch perspectief op duurzame energie.
2016. Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers, Utrecht, NL, June 8, 2016
Unscientific because it is uncertain? Scientific because it is uncertain! A philosophical perspective on climate models.
2016. Fronteirs of Science, Technology, and Philosophy, München, January 19, 2016
The role of nuclear energy in the future energy landscape energy scenarios, nuclear energy, and sustainability.
2015. Taebi, B. [Hrsg.] The Ethics of Nuclear Energy : Risk, Justice, and Democracy in the post-Fukushima Era Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015, 231–249
Explanation via micro-reduction: on the role of scale separation for quantitative modelling.
2015. Why more is different : Philosophical issues in condensed matter physics and complex systems. Hrsg.: B. Falkenburg, 69–87, Springer Verlag
Risk.
2015. Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Ed.: H. ten Have, ten Have, H. [Hrsg.] Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics Dordrecht : Springer Science and Business Media, 2015 e-ISBN 978-3-319-05544-2, Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_388-1
Energy research within the UNFCCC: a proposal to guard against ongoing climate-deadlock.
2015. Climate policy, 16 (6), 803–813. doi:10.1080/14693062.2015.1037820
Understanding values embedded in offshore wind energy systems: Toward a purposeful institutional and technological design.
2015. Environmental science & policy, 53, 118–129. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2015.06.013
Technologie und ihre gesellschaftliche Grundlage.
2015. Konferenz “Technologischer Fortschritt und gutes Leben” am Kulturwissenschaftlichen Institut (KWI) (2015), Essen, Germany, November 19–20, 2015
Risk theory: models and current developments.
2015. FRIAS Junior Researcher Conference “New philosophical perspectives on surveillancecontrol: Beyond the privacy versus security debate” (2015), Freiburg, Germany, November 5–6, 2015
Ethisch-filosofisch perspectief op duurzame energie.
2015. Vereniging voor Wijsbegeerte, Den Haag, NL,21.April 2015