Organizer

FONAS stands for “Forschungsverbund Naturwissenschaft, Abrüstung und internationale Sicherheit” (Research Association for Science, Disarmament and International Security). FONAS grew out of the collaborative work of interdisciplinary research groups which had been founded since 1988 at the Universities of Bochum, Darmstadt, Hamburg and Kiel.

 

Host

The research group “Science and Technology for Peace and Security” (PEASEC) at the Department of Computer Science at Technischen Universität Darmstadt was founded in 2017 and deals with the significance of IT for safety, security and peace. This includes both the resilience of IT infrastructures (e.g. as a target in cases of conflict) and the role of IT applications (e.g. interactive and collaborative technologies and social media) to prevent and manage conflicts, crises and disasters.

 

Co-Organizers

The goal of the Research Center CROSSING is to provide cryptography-based security solutions enabling trust in new and next generation computing environments. The solutions will meet the efficiency and security requirements of the new environments and will have sound implementations. They will be easy to use for developers, administrators, and end users of IT, even if they are not cryptography experts. Researchers from complementary areas will achieve this goal in a collaborative effort.

 

The Interdisciplinary Research Group Science, Technology and Security (IANUS) discusses questions at the nexus of science, engineering, and social science perspectives. IANUS was initiated by a group of students and researchers at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Alerted by the NATO Double-Track Decision in 1979, their initiative wanted to raise awareness for questions of responsibility in research and technology development. In 1993, IANUS was transformed into a permanent central institution at the TUD and received the received the “Göttinger Friedenspreis” in 2000 for its outstanding and continuous work within interdisciplinary peace research. After three decades of successful work, IANUS was integrated into the Forum for Interdisciplinary Research in 2018. The current task is to promote research projects at TUD.

 

FONAS – Affiliated Working Groups and Institutions

Physics and Disarmament

The research group Physics and Disarmament does applied-physics research for automatic sensor systems which could be used in the verification of disarmament and peace-keeping. More general aspects regarding science and disarmament are also being studied. Analyses deal mainly with prospective assessment and preventive limitation of new military technologies.

Contact Person: PD Dr. Jürgen Altmann (altmann@e3.physik.tu-dortmund.de)

Interdisziplinäre Forschungsgruppe Abrüstung, Rüstungskontrolle und Risikotechnologien (IFAR)

The Interdisciplinary Research Group on Disarmament, Arms Control and Risk Technologies (IFAR) addresses the complex interaction between the dynamics of armament, potential weapons deployment, debates on strategy as well as the potential of arms control and disarmament as security policy instruments. Its work methods involve a combination of natural- and social-science techniques and expertise.

Contact Person: Prof. Dr. Götz Neuneck (neuneck@ifsh.de)

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker-Centre for Science and Peace Research (ZNF)

The Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker-Centre for Science and Peace Research (ZNF) at the University of Hamburg is conducting innovative scientific and interdisciplinary research and teaching. Its goal is to combine its own primarily scientific research with the peace research of other faculties, and to provide a space for productive interdisciplinary work.

Contact Person: Prof. Dr. Gerald Kirchner (gerald.kirchner@uni-hamburg.de)

 

Nuclear Verification and Disarmament Laboratory

The Nuclear Verification and Disarmament Group conducts technical research to develop new verification approaches that address emerging challenges and will be essential to make progress on nuclear disarmament. The group explores the conditions that enable reductions in nuclear weapon arsenals and weapons-usable fissile materials. The research lies at the crossroads of experimental physics, computational nuclear engineering and social sciences.

Contact Person: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Malte Göttsche (goettsche@aices.rwth-aachen.de)

Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC) 

The research group “Science and Technology for Peace and Security” (PEASEC) at the Department of Computer Science at Technischen Universität Darmstadt was founded in 2017 and deals with the significance of IT for safety, security and peace. This includes both the resilience of IT infrastructures (e.g. as a target in cases of conflict) and the role of IT applications (e.g. interactive and collaborative technologies and social media) to prevent and manage conflicts, crises and disasters.

Contact Person: Prof. Dr. Christian Reuter (reuter@peasec.tu-darmstadt.de)