Tanja Schneider

Tanja Schneider is Associate Professor and Head of the Human-Centred Innovation Section at the Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark (DTU). She is also a Research Affiliate at the Institute for Science, Innovation & Society (InSIS), School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford. Previously, she held academic positions at the University of St. Gallen and the University of Passau, and was a Research Fellow at Oxford and Green Templeton College.

Research Interests: Tanja’s work lies at the intersection of Science and Technology Studies (STS), economic sociology, and market studies. She investigates how agency, accountability, and autonomy are reconfigured in digital societies. Her research spans digital health, food activism, valuation practices, financialisation of innovation, sustainable consumption, and the neuro-turn in the social sciences. She is particularly interested in the interplay between scientific knowledge, technology, and consumer culture.

Recent Research Trends: Her recent publications reflect a deep engagement with digital food systems, automated health technologies, and infrastructural participation in digital societies. Articles explore how digital platforms shape eating behaviors, how dietary expertise is automated, and how food innovations are valued in financialized contexts. A unifying theme is the critical examination of how data, algorithms, and digital infrastructures reshape expertise, governance, and individual agency.

• Scientific Affiliations:
• Research Affiliate, Institute for Science, Innovation & Society (InSIS), University of Oxford
• Member, Public Data Lab
• Member, STS Lab, University of Lausanne

Advising and Grants: Tanja supervises PhD students, including Rasmus N. Thomsen on the project 'The Expertise of Expectations – and the case of Power-to-X'. She was Principal Investigator of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded 'FoodCoach' project (2020–2024), an interdisciplinary study on dietary monitoring and intervention involving ETH Zürich and the University of St. Gallen. She is currently working on her book project 'Venture Food', analyzing the valuation of FoodTech innovations.

Labs and Research Networks: She is an active member of the Public Data Lab and the STS Lab at the University of Lausanne, contributing to collaborative research on data practices, digital citizenship, and science-society relations. These affiliations support her interdisciplinary approach and global scholarly engagement.