Florentine Koppenborg

Florentine Koppenborg is a political scientist focusing on contemporary Japan, affiliated with the TUM School of Governance at Technische Universität München. Her research centers on nuclear safety administration, regulatory reform, and climate policy in Japan, with a particular emphasis on post-Fukushima regulatory changes.

• Education: PhD in Political Science (May 2017), Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Freie Universität Berlin

Her research explores critical junctures in regulatory practices, institutional path dependencies, and the dynamics of the 'nuclear village' in Japan. She applies historical institutionalism and regulatory agency frameworks to analyze how crises can reshape governance structures.

Her peer-reviewed publications examine nuclear regulation reforms, climate aid sustainability, and the political contradictions of Japan's nuclear policy under Prime Minister Abe. She has also contributed to online discourse through blog articles on coal energy and nuclear policy challenges in Japan.

• Scientific Awards: GEAS Award Postdoc 2016-17

Koppenborg's work provides significant insights into how institutional power constellations and problem-framing influence regulatory outcomes, particularly in the context of post-disaster policy shifts and long-term energy trajectories.