Prof. Dr. Herwig Grimm

Phone +43 1 25077-2650             E-Mail

Since 2011, I have been a professor at the Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine, the Medical University and the University of Vienna, as well as head of the Department of Ethics of Human-Animal Relations. I teach and conduct research on applied animal ethics, ethics in farm animal husbandry, and veterinary ethics. I am interested in pragmatism in applied ethics as well as methodological issues in problem- and application-oriented moral philosophy. More about me

Dr. Judith Benz-Schwarzburg

Phone +43 1 25077-2654             E-Mail

I have been a university assistant at the Messerli Research Institute since 2011 and lead an FWF-funded research group on moral capacity in animals. I studied German and Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Tübingen from 1999-2005. My dissertation is entitled `Socio-cognitive abilities in animals and their relevance for animal ethics and animal welfare'. The work was awarded the German Study Prize 2013 and the PhD Prize 2012 of the University of Tübingen. More about me

Dr. Christian Dürnberger

Phone +43 664 60257-2657             E-Mail

I am a university assistant focusing on "(Digital) Teaching of Veterinary Ethics" at the Messerli Research Institute. I studied philosophy and communication sciences at the University of Vienna. I received my PhD from the Munich School of Philosophy with the thesis "Widerspruch Natur. Conceptions of the Human-Nature Relationship in the Controversy about Green Genetic Engineering. Contribution of a descriptive-hermeneutic ethics to the clarification of a social controversy." More about me

Dr. med. vet. Svenja Springer, PhD

Phone +43 1 25077-2687             E-Mail

I finished my diploma studies in veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in 2014. After graduation, I did my PhD on "Euthanasia as a topic of veterinary ethics: an empirically informed analysis of moral challenges in small animal medicine" from 2014 to 2018. Currently, I am working on an international project about the expectations of animal owner:s towards modern small animal practice. More about me

Konstantin Deininger, MA

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I have been researching the concept of co-creature since 2018 and am critically examining it from an animal ethics and moral philosophy perspective as part of my dissertation. I studied Human Resource Education and Management (B.Sc.) at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and Ethics (M.A.) at the Hochschule für Philosophie SJ in Munich. Since 2019, I am a doctoral fellow of the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation. More about me

Ruadhán J. Flynn, MRes

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I am currently a visiting researcher in the Department of Ethics of Human-Animal Relationships at the Messerli Research Institute, a PhD student at the University of Vienna, and a Prae-Doc in the research group The Limits of Imagination: Animals, Ethics, Anthropomorphism (University of Innsbruck). My dissertation project, "Whose Standpoint Matters? Cognitive Disability, Knowledge, and Community," is supervised by Prof. Martin Kusch and Prof. Robert A. Wilson. More about me

Johanna Karg, Mag.med.vet.

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I am a PhD student in the project "Stigmatisation of a profession? An Empirically Informed Ethical Analysis of Veterinary Work in Slaughterhouses". I studied veterinary medicine focusing on veterinary public health and large animal medicine. In my diploma thesis at the Messerli Research Institute, I applied aspects of feminist ethics to an ethical case study in cattle medicine. More about me

Erich Linder, MA

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I am currently doing my PhD at the University of Vienna, a DOC-fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and a prae-doc at the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine. My research focuses on descriptive approaches to moral philosophy. I am in particular interested in applying ideas from the Wittgensteinian and the constitutivist tradition to practical problems in animal ethics. More about me

Mariessa Long, MSc MSc

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I studied Interdisciplinary Master in Human-Animal Interactions (IMHAI) at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna until 2020. My science background also includes a Bachelor's degree in Molecular Life Science and a Master's degree in Infection Biology. Since 2020, I am part of the Messerli Research Institute and my interdisciplinary PhD project focuses on criteria and models of decision making in the therapy of old and/or chronically ill horses. More about me

Mag. Eva Schwarzinger

E-Mail             T +43 1 25077-2651

I have been working at the Messerli Research Institute as an assistant for the Ethics of Human-Animal Relationship department since June 2015. After graduating from the University of Vienna with a degree in Geography, majoring in Spatial Research and Planning, I worked for a marketing consulting agency and was then responsible for marketing professional seminars and conferences at a continuing education institute.

Daniel Springinklee, BEd

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Since January 2023, I am a student employee at the Messerli Research Institute. There I support the organization of teaching at the University of Vienna. I successfully completed a BEd in Psychology, Philosophy and History at the University of Vienna. Currently, I am studying in the interdisciplinary master's program in ethics as well as in the diploma program in law.

Julia Staud, BA

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I am in the final semesters of my veterinary medicine studies at the Vetmeduni Vienna. Since November 2023 I have been working at the Messerli Institute as a student assistant as part of the project “Farewell Life. Hospice and palliative care in small animal medicine.” Before studying Veterinary medicine, I completed my Social work studies in Graz in 2017. Afterwards I worked as a social worker with people affected by homelessness.