Young Academy Science Day: TIME

Interdisciplinary perspectives on time | Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna | 20 October 2026

As a member of the directorate of the Young Academy at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, I contributed to the development of the Young Academy Science Day TIME, bringing together scholars from different disciplines to explore how time is imagined, experienced, and studied.

Why "time"? Time frames our understanding of change, from seasonal and biological cycles to historical periods. Yet it is neither uniform nor universal. It is deeply intertwined with social, political, and economic structures: it can be understood as a resource, a source of scarcity, a vector of power, and an instrument of governance and control.

The Science Day created a space for interdisciplinary exchange around these different dimensions of time. Following panel presentations, scholars and moderators engaged in discussions that invited contributions from the audience, addressing both the challenges of studying time across disciplines and the new research possibilities that interdisciplinary approaches can open up.

The event formed part of the Young Academy’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary research and identifying innovative fields of inquiry.

Organising committee: Anaïs Angelo (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Christina Bierbaumer (Austrian Academy of Sciences), Maximilian Hartmuth (University of Vienna), Anne Sophie Meincke (University of Klagenfurt), and Alexandra Rodler (Austrian Academy of Sciences), 

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