Paulina Dobroć

Dr. Paulina Dobroć is a Researcher at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where she serves as a Scientific Associate in the Research Group "Sociotechnical Futures and Policies". She has taught courses on discourse analysis and linguistics at KIT's Institute for Technology Futures and Department of Science Communication.

Her educational background includes a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (specializing in post-structuralism, semiotics, and literary theory), a Bachelor of Arts in German from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (specializing in literary theory), and a Licentiate degree in Polish Philology from Angelus Silesius University of Applied Sciences in Poland (majoring in literary theory and pedagogy).

Dr. Dobroć's research focuses on the intersection of cultural semiotics, technology assessment, and sociotechnical futures. She examines how visions and narratives shape technological development and societal transformation, with particular attention to sustainability assessment, digitalization (especially open source and blockchain technologies), and vision assessment methodologies. Her work applies cultural semiotic analysis to understand the social consequences of technological concepts like "openness" in open source movements.

Her publications reveal consistent engagement with transformative vision assessment, exploring how cultural semiotics can improve the assessment of sociotechnical futures. She has made significant contributions to analyzing 3D printing technologies, open government initiatives, and sustainability transitions, often examining how narratives influence technological futures across multiple disciplines including semiotics, science and technology studies, and sustainability research.

Dr. Dobroć has received a doctoral scholarship from the Hans Böckler Foundation (2017-2020) and completed her dissertation titled "Open Source, Open Government, Blockchain: A cultural semiotic study of the Openness vision" in 2023. She maintains professional connections through ORCID, ResearchGate, and LinkedIn, and actively participates in international conferences on technology assessment and future studies.