Pia Niessen

Pia Niessen is a Researcher currently affiliated with the Department of Sustainability and Infrastructure Systems. She holds a doctorate from Technische Universität Darmstadt (2020) and has held roles including Research Fellow at the Rotterdam School of Management and Lectureship at RFH Cologne. Her research focuses on organizational resilience, sustainability, social innovations, environmental behavior, and social inequality. She has contributed to projects evaluating federal sustainability programs, bioeconomy innovations, and e-waste recycling initiatives in Baden-Württemberg.

Education: Completed psychology and political science studies at Universities of Vienna, Münster, and Frankfurt (2010–2015), with a master’s thesis on digitalization in banking. Doctoral work examined resilience in small/medium manufacturing firms.

Key research trends in publications include:

• Climate change impacts on mental health and societal resilience
• Innovations in circular economy and bioeconomy sectors
• Policy analysis for sustainable mobility and waste management

Active in collaborative projects such as the MobileCityGame and contributions to systemic resilience frameworks. No awards explicitly listed, but her work reflects significant engagement in applied sustainability research.