Prof. em. Dr. Matthias Kaiser

Prof. Matthias Kaiser is Professor emeritus, and former Director of the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and Humanities (SVT) at the University of Bergen, having studied at the Universities of Munich, Oslo, Stanford and Frankfurt. His areas of expertise include: philosophy of science (Dr.phil.), ethics of science, and technology assessment. His areas of competence include social studies of science and technology, history of science, ethics, logic, and history of philosophy. His topics of interest include but are not restricted to: the science-policy interface, risk, the precautionary principle, uncertainty & complexity, aquaculture, food ethics, governance, value studies, integrity in science, energy, public participation, gm-organisms. In several capacities, Kaiser has been advising policy nationally and on EU-level. Kaiser is an internationally recognized specialist in fields relating to ethics of science, food ethics, and integrity of science; he is Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Food Ethics (Springer), and past President of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics (www.eursafe.org). Kaiser has published widely (>180 articles). In recent years, Kaiser’s research has focused on (social and personal) values as they influence both policy and public perception. He has coordinated a European project called The Landscape and Isobars of European Values in Relation to Science and New Technology (abbreviated as Value Isobars; 2009-11; project no.: 230557), and in a later project on Sustaining ethical aquaculture trade (abbreviated as SEAT; 2009-2011; project no.: 222889) he was partner and designed value mappings based on empirical research in 4 Asian countries. Kaiser’s skills are not only on the conceptual level (philosophy, ethics), but include empirical skills on surveys, focus groups, future scenarios, moderation of workshops etc. Kaiser’s current ambition in his value research is to harmonize the conceptual approach with empirical data. – Kaiser is Affiliate Fellow at the Koi Tū: Centre for Informed Futures, University of Auckland, and Cooperative Partner at the gGmbH DIALOGIK. He is also a member of Academia Europaea and the Norwegian academy Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab.