Academic Career and Research Areas

Professor Müller’s (b. 1981) research focus lies in the interdisciplinary field of Science & Technology Studies (STS). Her research explores the interaction between research policy, institutional values and academic knowledge cultures; the norms and practices of academic career development; the sociology and epistemology of life sciences; and questions of gender and diversity in the knowledge and work cultures of the natural and engineering sciences.

Prof. Müller studied molecular biology at the University of Vienna (2000-2007). In order to pursue her growing interest in the interactions between science, technology and society, she joined Vienna University's Department of Science and Technology Studies in 2005, for her M.Sc. (2007) and PhD research (2012). She has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (2012-2013) and in the Research Policy Group, Lund University (2013-2015) as well as a visiting researcher at the Science & Justice Research Center, University of California, Santa Cruz (2010, 2011 & 2014). Since February 2015 she has been tenure track professor of science and technology policy at TUM's Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS).

    Awards

    • Marie Curie Co-Fund Fellowship (2014)
    • Doc.Award - Vienna University's Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (2012)

    Müller R, de Rijcke S: "Thinking with Indicators. Exploring the Epistemic Impacts of Academic Performance Indicators in the Life Sciences". Research Evaluation. 2017; 26(3): 157-168.

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    Kenney M, Müller R: "Of Rats and Women: Narratives of Motherhood in Environmental Epigenetics". BioSocieties. 2017; 12(1): 23-46.

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    Müller R: "Postdoctoral Life Scientists and Supervision Work in the Corporate University: A Case Study of Changes in the Cultural Norms of Science". Minerva. 2014; 52(3): 329-349.

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    Müller R: "Racing for What? Anticipation and Acceleration in the Work and Career Practices of Academic Life Science Postdocs". Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 2014; 15(3).

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    Pickersgill M, Niewöhner J, Martin P, Müller R, Cunningham-Burley S: "Mapping the New Molecular Landscape: Social and Ethical Aspects of Epigenetics". New Genetics & Society. 2013; 32(4): 429-447.

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