Scholz, Roland W

Biography

Born in Halle/Saale, Germany, on 15 April 1950, Roland W. Scholz studied mathematics and psychology at the University of Marburg (Dipl. Math. 1976). From 1976 to 1983 he was a scientist and project leader at SFB 24 Social and Economic Psychology of Decision-Making at the University of Mannheim, where he received a PhD psychology (Dr. phil. 1979) in the field of experimental social psychology. From 1978 to 1993 Scholz was a scientist and senior lecturer at the Institute for Didactics of Mathematics at the University of Bielefeld. From 1983 to 1985 he received a habilitation stipend from the German Research Foundation including a research stint at Decision Research (Eugene, USA). Scholz received the Venia legendi in psychology with a project on cognitive decision research at the University of Mannheim (Dr. phil. habil. 1987). He was a Full Professor of Environmental Sciences, Natural and Social Science Interface at ETH Zurich from 1993 to 2012 and simultaneously adjunct professor (Privatdozent) at the faculty of Psychology at University of Zurich. As emeritus ,Scholz has been active in the expert council of the Fraunhofer Project Group for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategy (IWKS) responsible for Transdisciplinary Technology Innovation Management & co-leadership of the Global TraPs project. He is also the scientific coordinator of the Global TraPs project, a private lecturer in psychology at the University of Zurich, an associate professor of management and planning at the University of Stellenbosch, and head of Scholz Technology Transition Management (STTM, Zurich). He is professor at the Department of Knowledge and Information Management, faculty of Business and Globalization, Danube University of Krems and Senior Advisor at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interface Engineering and Biotechnology.

Research Interest

In his research, Scholz focused on trans-disciplinary processes for the design of sustainable human-environment relationships. Current topics are sustainable global biochemical processes (studied using the example of the phosphorous cycle) and the activation of the immune system for cancer defence. Based on experiences in mathematical and psychological decision research, risk assessment and modelling, in vivo and in vitro research in negotiations, practical consulting experience and research in philosophy of science, he also devised a method to integrate qualitative and quantitative knowledge in complex real case studies. Scholz’s chair specialised in environmental modelling and evaluation projects, natural waste resource management, sustainable financial services and applied basic research on environmental cognitions. For over two decades, Scholz headed trans-disciplinary ETH-Zurich-UNS case studies on sustainable urban, regional, organisational and technological development, and on the sustainable transformation of political decision-making processes at ETH Zurich. Since 2002 Scholz has been focussing on the development of a theory of inextricably linked human-environment systems and the issue of how disciplinary knowledge can be used effectively in trans-disciplinary processes for sustainability transformations. This theory is explained in the extensive work Environmental Literacy in Science and Society (Cambridge University Press).