Frank Biermann

Political science

Sustainable development requires more effective policies, from local governance to the United Nations. For over three decades, Frank Biermann has researched international politics with the aim to revise institutions to foster greater sustainability and global justice. One example of his work is his research group at Utrecht University, funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, that studied the policy impact of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals over a period of five years and proposed a range of reforms to enhance their implementation.

To further strengthen and consolidate international social science research on global sustainability challenges, Frank Biermann initiated the Earth System Governance Project in the 2000s. Today, this network is one of the largest and most influential research collaborations in the field of global environmental and sustainability policy. The network not only rigorously analyses political institutions and processes, but also works actively to develop innovative ideas and concepts for more effective and just global sustainability governance.

As a Humboldt Professor, Frank Biermann is invited to establish a new international research centre at the University of Münster which will seek to become an international hub for excellence and innovative thinking in global sustainability politics as well as an important voice in international political discourse and reform debates.

Brief bio

Frank Biermann received his doctorate in political science from FU Berlin in 1997, followed by postdoctoral appointments at Harvard Kennedy School, United States, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, amongst others. In 2003, he became a full professor and head of the Department of Environmental Policy Analysis at VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Four years later, he was appointed as director of the SENSE Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment. In 2015, he moved to Utrecht University to assume a research professorship in Global Sustainability Governance. Biermann has published 20 books and is editor of book series with MIT Press und Cambridge University Press. He has received numerous honours, including an ERC Advanced Grant and the International Studies Association’s Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies award. In October 2024, he became the first political scientist to receive the Volvo Environment Prize.

Frank Biermann has been selected for a Humboldt Professorship and is currently conducting appointment negotiations with the German university that nominated him for the award. If the negotiations end successfully, the award will be granted in 2025.