Nicolas Neef

Vita

Nicolas Neef studied psychology at Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. During his studies, he volunteered with the German Red Cross. As a research intern at the University of Tübingen and the University of Trondheim, as well as a student research assistant at the University of Magdeburg, he was able to gain empirical research experience already during his studies. With his master’s thesis on cognitive dissonance in sustainable decision-making, he laid the foundation for a doctoral project in the field of sustainability. 

Since September 2022, he has been working at the University of Hohenheim with Prof. Dr. Siegmar Otto (Chair of Sustainable Development and Change). His research focuses, on the one hand, on the psychological determinants of individuals’ ecological footprints in collaboration with researchers from the University of Stuttgart, the University of Freiburg, and the Fraunhofer Institute Stuttgart, and, on the other hand, on the relationship between sustainable and social motivation (in cooperation with researchers from Claremont Graduate University, the University of Stavanger, and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria). In addition, he works with researchers from the Universities of Twente and Paderborn on the influence of artificial intelligence on team interactions, with a particular focus on perceived social sustainability. 

Since May 2025, he has been funded by a scholarship within the Doctoral College on Good Administration and is researching the interplay between social sustainability and digitalization in public administration. The project is supported by a mentoring team consisting of Prof. Dr. Siegmar Otto (University of Hohenheim), Prof. Dr. Birgit Schenk (HVF Ludwigsburg), and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Boockmann (University of Tübingen).