Six Decades of Risk Research

Juergen Weichselgartner has demonstrated outstanding expertise in initiating, coordinating, and implementing research and capacity-building activities across a broad spectrum of risk-related research and policy. He is heading the working group Civil Protection and Urban Resilience at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. His professional service includes editorial reviews for leading scientific journals (e.g., International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Natural Hazards), funding agencies (e.g., AvH, ESF), and international organisations and bodies (e.g., IPCC, BMZ), as well as consultancy work (e.g., IDB, GIZ). He has contributed to major global reports (e.g., UNDP's Reducing Disaster Risk), published several books, book chapters, and scientific articles in leading international journals, and has served as Secretary of the International Geographical Union Commission on "Hazards and Risks".

Lothar Schrott is heading the Geomorphology and Environmental Systems working group at the Department of Geography and is Director of the postgraduate Master's programme "Disaster management and Risk Governance (KaVoMa)" at the University of Bonn. Since 2025, he has been the Scientific Director of the Geoscientific Network in the Aachen-Bonn-Cologne-Jülich research region. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the "Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK)", and the Executive Board of the "German Committee for Disaster Reduction e.V.". He is a reviewer for numerous scientific journals and international scientific organisations (e.g. NSF, DFG, SNF). He was actively involved in developing the new European Master's programme "EUMA - International Disaster Management and Civil Protection". He has co-edited several special issues and textbooks and has published a large number of scientific papers and book chapters in leading international journals. He is continuously involved in research projects related to natural hazards, risks and geomorphic processes.

Thomas Glade is heading the working group ENGAGE - Geomorphic Systems and Risk Research at the University of Vienna for more than 20 years. Herein, his research focuses on understanding the earth surface materials, forms and process and their dynamics - specifically in relation to natural hazards and risk. Therefore, he is also working on topics such as risk governance, disaster risk management, newly emerging risks and early warning systems. He serves as Editor-in-Chief for the journal Natural Hazards, as a member of other editorial boards, and he is director of the postgraduate master programme "OeRISK - Risk Prevention and Disaster Management" and led the development of the new programme "EUMA - International Risk Management and Civil Protection", which started in October 2026. He published more than 300 contributions mostly in peer-reviewed journals, but also as book chapters, and he edited two major textbooks. Furthermore, he is active in various roles (Coordinator, Principal Investigator) in national and international research projects and is appointed to different Scientific Advisory Boards.