Research staff
Sabrina Engert
PhD
Position Description
Website at the department of History of Science and Technology
Biography
2017–2021: Combined Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and History at the University of Wuppertal, thesis topic: Per aspera ad astra — the Barmen Planetarium between the World Wars
2021–2024: Master of Education for teaching at Gymnasien and Gesamtschulen in Philosophy and History at the University of Wuppertal
2022–2024: Master of Arts in Humanities and Cultural Studies in the fields of History of Science and Technology and Methods of Historical Research, thesis topic: Vesalius' Legacy — A Study on the Visual Reception of the Fabrica in the Scientific Revolution
Since December 2024: Research Associate in the History of Science and Technology and doctoral candidate supervised by Prof. Dr. Volker Remmert, University of Wuppertal
Since June 2025: Santorio Fellow
Research Interests:
- Transformations of authorities and the significance and function of traditions and strategies of legitimation in the so-called Scientific Revolution
- The development of celestial representations and planetariums, in particular the development of optical planetariums during the Weimar Republic
- The popularisation and communication of science in astronomy
Dissertation Project:
Cosmos, Body, Canon – Epistemic Authorities between Dissection and Reordering (c. 1500-1700)
The dissertation project examines the transformation and significance of (epistemic) authorities during the so-called Scientific Revolution. The turn towards empiricism and an ostensibly objective practice, alongside the simultaneous — albeit gradual — departure from traditions and authorities, was still a novelty in 1543 and is, from today's perspective, a defining characteristic of the Scientific Revolution. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a profound transformation, ignited by the extensive reception of ancient texts in Latin Europe during the age of Humanism. This transformation, however, did not manifest solely through new discoveries at the epistemic level within individual fields of knowledge. Alongside new theories and models, one of the most consequential outcomes of these processes was the shift in scholars' self-understanding and, with it, in their conception of their respective fields. The gradual departure from and transformation of authorities is therefore just as groundbreaking and epoch-defining as the scientific discoveries themselves. Drawing on examples from astronomy and anatomy, the project examines whether, when, and in what ways structures of authority changed. It further seeks to illuminate the significance of authorities, traditions, and legitimation within the context of the Scientific Revolution. These fields of knowledge — whose categorisation is understood here in anachronistic terms — represent the macro- and microcosm of scholarly interest at the outset of the so-called Scientific Revolution. While anatomy unlocked "God's creation" on a small scale (microcosm), astronomy devoted itself to the greatest of "God's creations": the universe (macrocosm).
Former scientific employees
Dr Florian Boge
Position title
Research Assistant / Professorship Representative Philosophy of Science
Staff member at the IZWT
1/2017-3/2023
Dr Julia Ellinghaus
Position title
Research assistant in the history of science and technology / research project"Iconography on scientific instruments of the early modern period"
Employee at the IZWT
4/2018-1/2024
Dr Enno Fischer
Position title
Research Associate Philosophy of Science / Research Project"The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)"
Staff member at the IZWT
10/2020-3/2022
Dr Sören Flachowsky
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-12/2024
Dr James Fraser
Position title
Research Associate Philosophy of Science / Research Project"The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)"
Staff member at the IZWT
7/2022-6/2023
Ron-David Heinen
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "UMPOBERE"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-6/2023
Dr Björn Hofmeister
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-9/2024
Elisabeth Kölmel
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-9/2024
Dr Fabian Link
Position title
Research Assistant / Professorship Representative History of Science and Technology
Employee at the IZWT
10/2019-3/2023
and 10/2023-3/2024
Tobias Nolteklocke
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "Steel (composite) prefabricated houses in the innovation system of the steel industry (1920s-1970s)"
Employee at the IZWT
6/2021-5/2024
Antina Scholz
Position title
Research assistant in the history of science and technology
Employee at the IZWT
2/2016-12/2021
Maria Sojka
Position title
Research Associate Philosophy of Science
Employee at the IZWT
11/2021-5/2023
Malte Stöcken
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-9/2024
Dr Jens Thiel
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-9/2024
Bianka Trötschel-Daniels
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "UMPOBERE"
Employee at the IZWT
10/2020-6/2022
Dr Marij van Strien
Position title
Research Associate Philosophy of Science / Research Project "The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)"
Staff member at the IZWT
10/2015-3/2023
Vivian Yurdakul
Position title
Research assistant in the research project "History of the authorities subordinate to the BMWi (BGR, BAM and PTB) during the Nazi era and the post-war period"
Employee at the IZWT
11/2020-9/2024
