Sarah Hartmann

Dr. Sarah Hartmann is a Postdoc in Critical Sustainability Studies at the Department of Geography, Institute of Geography, University of Bern. She has been working on her current project since 2022, which examines work, transnational mobilities, and future transformations in healthcare from a critical sustainability perspective. Prior to this position, she worked as a Postdoc at the University of Zurich from 2021-2023 on platform-mediated care and domestic work in Delhi, and as a Postdoctoral teaching and research associate from 2020-2021.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Geography from The Open University (2016-2020) focusing on medical travel facilitation between Oman and India, a Teaching Diploma in Geography from the University of Zurich (2015-2016), and a Master of Science in Economic and Human Geography from the University of Zurich (2013-2015).

Hartmann's research centers on transnational healthcare systems, medical travel facilitation, and the intersection of work, mobility, and sustainability. Her work employs Science and Technology Studies (STS) frameworks to analyze care ethics, smoothness in healthcare provision, and the spatial dimensions of medical travel. She examines how transnational healthcare markets operate, particularly focusing on the movement of patients, healthcare workers, and knowledge across borders, with fieldwork conducted in Switzerland, India, Oman, and Eastern Europe.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on transnational healthcare systems, with particular attention to medical travel facilitation, care ethics, and the spatial dimensions of healthcare provision. The research shows a progression from examining medical travel between Oman and India to broader questions about platform-mediated care work and sustainable work in healthcare systems globally.

Hartmann actively supervises BSc and MSc theses at the University of Bern, with recent supervisees including Pulver, Georg (researching career aspirations of medical students) and Dörfler, Madeleine (comparative analysis of cosmetic surgery websites across Switzerland, Brazil, and Taiwan). Her teaching includes Group Laboratory Geographies of Sustainability Studies, Colloquium Geographies of Sustainability Studies, and Excursion in Regional Geography.

She participates in numerous academic workshops and conferences, with recent engagements including the International Migration and Mobility Conference in Aberystwyth (2025), Science Filmmaking Marathons, and workshops on creative methods in health geographies in collaboration with the University of Oxford.