Systematically linking technology and society

10/2/2025
Reading time 1 min.

In our "EXplained" video series, we introduce the seven Clusters of Excellence at our university. This time, we take a look at the third newly funded cluster, TransforM, whose spokesperson is Prof. Sebastian Pfotenhauer from the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology.

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Technologies are shaping our everyday lives not just selectively, but in profound ways – they change how we work, communicate and organize ourselves and permeate almost all areas of society. The new TransforM Cluster of Excellence aims to provide more than just a social science perspective on the development of such technologies. TransforM's research focuses on the social and institutional conditions under which innovations arise and how technological upheavals can be responsibly shaped.

Particular attention is given to socio-technical disruptions and shocks — situations in which innovations encounter social, political, or regulatory structures. TransforM investigates how such dynamics can be recognized, accompanied and controlled at an early stage. Social and engineering sciences, political science and law, technology ethics, economics and other disciplines are working together to achieve this. The aim is to develop methods and infrastructures that embed innovations responsibly in social processes - for example in healthcare technology, mobility or the use of artificial intelligence.

We will systematically link major social issues with technological changes.

Prof. Sebastian Pfotenhauer

Starting in January 2026, the cluster will receive funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Participants include the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the TUM School of Public Policy, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, the ifo Institute, and the ZEW - Leibniz Center for European Economic Research.

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