Anita Thaler is a senior researcher at the IFZ and heads the Gender, Science and Technology research area and the Queer STS working group. She studied psychology (certified work- and organisational psychologist), educational science and women's and gender studies at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz and the Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt. She was awarded the Gabriele-Possanner-Förderungspreis 2007 by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research for her dissertation “Berufsziel Technikerin?”. In 2021, she received the Käthe Leichter Award for Women's Studies, Gender Studies and Equality in the World of Work, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research.
Thaler teaches at the Karl-Franzens-University Graz and the Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt, among others, and regularly gives lectures in Austria and abroad.
In her national and international research, she examines interactions between technology, nature and society, taking into account intersectionality and social justice perspectives. Thaler is currently conducting research in the fields of biodiversity, medical technology and artificial intelligence, including an approach to diversity-sensitive, human-centered technology development.
- Queer-feminist science and technology studies
- Emancipatory potential of information and communication technologies (coding, social media, etc.)
- Social gender justice in academia and research
- Transdisciplinary and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
- Socio-scientific research of innovation projects in the area of energy and food systems
- Process and impact evaluation of educational measures, research projects and programmes
- Science communication
