Viktoria Spaiser

Professor Viktoria Spaiser is a Professor of Climate Politics and Computational Social Science at the University of Leeds' School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), holding this position since March 2025. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor (2020–2025) and a University Academic Fellow (2015–2020). She is affiliated with the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures and the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA). Her research focuses on societal transitions to sustainability, climate governance, and computational social science methods.

Education: PhD in Sociology (Bielefeld University, 2012), MA in Conflict, Security and Development (King’s College London, 2008), German Diploma in Computer Science (University of Applied Sciences Trier, 2013). Postdoctoral research included roles at ETH Zurich, the Institute for Futures Studies Stockholm, and Uppsala University.

Research interests emphasize rapid, fair transitions to zero-emissions societies, leveraging mathematical and computational tools. Current projects include a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship on 'Understanding normative change to address the climate emergency.' She explores topics like climate narratives, behavioral change, tipping points governance, and AI applications in social science. Methodological expertise spans agent-based modeling, big data analysis, and Bayesian statistics.

Teaching focuses on quantitative and computational methods, including modules on programming for social science, statistical analysis, and climate justice. She supervises PhD students in climate politics, AI ethics, and advanced quantitative methods.

Her work bridges academia and policy, addressing global challenges such as disinformation, democratic engagement, and socio-ecological system dynamics. Recent projects include studies on climate protests' impact on policy, smartphone-based behavioral interventions, and EU governance of tipping points.