Uncertainty

We live in a time of global uncertainty. As individuals, groups, and societies, we are increasingly confronted with turbulent events and developments that leave us with an unpredictable future and insufficient grounds on which to base our actions.

In response to these contemporary challenges, the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS has established the international scholarship program "Uncertainty." This initiative brings together diverse perspectives from the humanities, social sciences, economics, and law to shed light on this complex global issue.

The program fosters innovative ideas, interdisciplinary exchange, and mutual learning through dedicated workshops and annual conferences. In support of the researchers catalyzing these vital conversations, we offer scholarships for different stages of Ph.D. research, creating a vibrant network for academic growth.

Applications

We invite applications from Ph.D. students worldwide from the disciplines of the humanities, the social sciences, economics and the law who are studying various facets of uncertainty. Both empirical research based on extensive fieldwork as well as projects centered on historical and theoretical reflection are eligible for support. Innovative and challenging research questions as well as comparative approaches are highly welcome. Projects can be interdisciplinary or rooted in a specific discipline. As an international program premised on scholarly exchange and collaboration, English will be the language used throughout the course of the fellowship program. Application documents can be submitted in English or German.

The deadline is 20 July 2026.

Ph.D. projects may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Decision-making rules and a scenario-based understanding and supervision of processes considered unpredictable
• Modeling and measuring uncertainty
• Chaos as a fundamental metric of our era
• The contrast between the pursuit of certainty and experiences of disintegration
• Increasing informality in work conditions and platform economies
• The domination of supply chains designed to weather uncertainties
• Democratic-theoretical perspectives on political reactions to a social need for determinacy
• Legal regulations and methods for dealing with an unknown future, e.g. technologies characterized by a global reach and unforeseeable development
• The openness and resilience of legal and political institutions regarding increasingly uncertain democratic values
• Moral indeterminacy and legal norms for dealing with morally undetermined matters
• The interdependency of uncertainty, economic growth, and economic stability
• The impact of climate and epidemiological events on our notion of uncertainty
• The temporality of uncertainty, e.g. as part of a historiography of temporal concepts
• Uncertainty and social inequality, e.g. the North-South divide and the organization of societies described by contrasting narratives of stability and inequality
• The relation of diversity (e.g. race, class, gender, sexual identity, ancestry) to experiences of uncertainty and to juridical or economic realms
• Uncertainty related to experiences of migration
• Shared uncertainty in communities and collectives; uncertainty and legal pluralism
• The organization of societies described by contrasting narratives of stability and inequality
• Uncertainty in scientific knowledge production and its ethical and political implications, e.g. with regard to scholars at risk
• Ethics in science communication (communication of uncertainty)

Contact:
Dr. Anna Hofmann, Director/Head of Research and Scholarship, hofmann@zeit-stiftung.de 

Terms of Reference

FAQ

Dissertation Proposal Development Workshop in Jena

How do we research uncertainty while coping with its rise within academia? A workshop at the Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena held from 15 to 17 April 2026 tackled this challenge, bringing together “Uncertainty” fellows and Ph.D. students from the Invisible University for Ukraine at Central European University, Vienna. The primary goal of this joint initiative was an intensive advancement and development of the participants’ dissertation proposals under expert guidance.

The collaborative environment highlighted that conducting research during war and crisis demands entirely new forms of academic resilience. The core discussions focused on re-imagining academic work in times of crisis, supporting researchers under extreme stress, and building global networks to sustain the academic community across borders.

First Students’ Conference in Hamburg

The first on-site colloquium involving “Uncertainty” fellows took place from 22 to 24 September 2025. Under the guiding theme "Examining Uncertainty," twelve international doctoral students from nine countries gathered at Bucerius Law School for their first joint conference. Together, they explored the facets and functions of global uncertainties on both societal and individual levels. The diverse program featured historical analyses, research on geographical border zones, and case studies addressing uncertainty in the context of climate change and migration. Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick (Bielefeld University, “Uncertainty” Advisory Board Member) opened the event with a keynote titled “Looking Beyond the Unknown”. He examined the social functions of uncertainty and methods for studying such functions. The conference concluded with a networking event that brought together the Ph.D. fellows and artists from the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS Performing Arts Program, thereby aiming to spark creative collaborations on new aesthetic expressions of uncertainty.

Opening Talk

The opening of the “Uncertainty” program took place on 26 November 2024 with the panel discussion “Uncertainty: On a current diagnosis and ways of coping with turbulent times”.  The event addressed the widespread erosion of traditional social, economic, and political certainties. Global challenges—ranging from climate change and armed conflict to the erosion of democracy and rapid technological shifts—have established uncertainty as a defining characteristic of the current era. The discussion highlighted a profound, systemic need for new frameworksacross individual, institutional, and societal levels. The session featured insights from a multidisciplinary panel of experts:

• Dr. Teresa Koloma Beck, Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
• Colin von Negenborn, University of Hamburg
• Dr. Shalini Randeria, Central European University, Vienna

 You can watch the conference here: here.