Alexandra Hofmänner conducts research and teaches in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).

Her work focuses on pressing questions of our time: How do science and technology function in practice, and how are they shaped by and shape the world around them? Who determines which knowledge is created and acknowledged? How does knowledge circulate – and under what conditions does it become socially and politically effective? These questions underscore the sociopolitical shaping of science and technology in periods of change, when the availability of reliable knowledge is crucial for democratic participation and addressing collective challenges.

After completing a degree in the natural sciences and earning her PhD at ETH Zurich, Alexandra Hofmänner spent several years conducting research and implementing projects in South Africa. She has carried out studies for Swiss scientific institutions, federal offices, and foundations, and has contributed to various commissions. Examples include the study on “The Role of Science in the Swiss Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” (published by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences) and the book publication on the relationship between science and the state in Switzerland.

From 2023 to 2025, she served as a Visiting Professor at RWTH Aachen University and from 2022 to 2025 as Co-President of the Swiss Association for Science and Technology Studies (STS-CH).

Outside the university, she heads the Basel-based initiative “Wissenschaft Mittendrin”, which promotes constructive exchange between science, business, policy, and the public.