Photo: Die Hoffotografen GmbH

Group leader (on leave)

Sophia Becker has held the role of Vice President for Sustainability, Internal Communication, Transfer, and Transdisciplinarity at TU Berlin since 1 April 2022. She is also Professor for Sustainable Mobility and Transdisciplinary Research Methods at TU Berlin and leads the research group Methods of Transformative Policy Advice at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS).

In 2018, she initiated the junior research group EXPERI, which she led from June 2019 to March 2022. Prior to that, she was a mobility researcher (PostDoc) at the RIFS in Potsdam (2017-2019). She studied psychology in Münster and Paris and earned her doctorate under Prof. Dr Ortwin Renn, Chair of Sociology of Technology and Environment at the University of Stuttgart (2013-2017). Her dissertation on rebound behaviour in car-based mobility was published by Springer VS Verlag in the series Studien zur Mobilitäts- und Verkehrsforschung. During her PhD studies she worked as a visiting scholar on carsharing and individual quality of life at the department for Innovative Mobility at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center, University of California Berkeley (2015).

Sophia Becker has lectured on environmental psychology at Leuphana University, Faculty of Sustainability (2012-2014). She has been a member of the scientific advisory board and association of the journal GAIA, Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society since 2018. Sophia Becker's research interests include socio-technical transformation processes, sustainable mobility, individual behaviour change, mobility innovations (cargo bike sharing), and transdisciplinary research methods.

Publications

2021

Becker, S. (2021). Das Potenzial digitaler Innovationen für die sozial-ökologische Verkehrswende. BMWi-Studie: Smarte Mobilität, smarte Logistik - Einsatz von digitalen Services für innovative Mobilitäts- und Logistikanwendungen, 14-21.

https://www.experi-forschung.de/das-potenzial-digitaler-innovationen-fuer-die-sozial-oekologische-verkehrswende

Jarass, J., Nähring, A., Merzoug, S., Becker, S., Götting, K., Kläver, A., Czeh, A. (2021). Platz statt Kreuzung – Straßenraum neu denken: Mehr Aufenthaltsqualität im öffentlichen Raum als Treiber für die Verkehrswende. Internationales Verkehrswesen 4|2021, 18-22.

https://www.experi-forschung.de/platz-statt-kreuzung-strassenraum-neu-denken-mehr-aufenthaltsqualitaet-im-oeffentlichen-raum-als-treiber-fuer-die-verkehrswende

Becker, S., Sterz, A. (2021). Drei Jahre Berliner Mobilitätsgesetz: Wie der institutionelle Umbau die Berliner Verwaltung handlungsfähig für die Umsetzung macht. Internationales Verkehrswesen 3|2021, 10-16.

https://www.experi-forschung.de/drei-jahre-berliner-mobilitaetsgesetz-wie-der-institutionelle-umbau-die-berliner-verwaltung-handlungsfaehig-fuer-die-umsetzung-macht
https://www.internationales-verkehrswesen.de/internationales-verkehrswesen-ausgabe-3-2021

Becker, S., Götting, K. (2021). Wege zu einem klimafreundlichen Mobilitätsverhalten, in Nanz, P., Lawrence, M. G., Renn, O., & Meyer, J. (Eds.). (2021). Klimaschutz: Wissen und Handeln. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 61-75.

https://www.experi-forschung.de/wege-zu-einem-klimafreundlichen-mobilitaetsverhalten-in-klimaschutz-wissen-und-handeln

Müller, S. A.; Charlton, W.; Conrad, N. D.; Ewert, R.; Rakow, C.; Wulkow, H.; Becker, S.; Conrad, Tim; Nagel, K.; Schütte, C. (2021). MODUS-COVID Bericht vom 05.02.2021.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-11376
https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/12561

Becker, S., Bögel, P. & Upham, P. (2021). The role of social identity in institutional work for sociotechnical transitions: The case of transport infrastructure in Berlin. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 162, 120385. 2021.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120385 (open access)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162520312117

 

2020

Götting, K., Becker, S. (2020). Reaktionen auf die Pop-Up-Radwege in Berlin. Ergebnisse einer explorativen Umfrage zur temporären Radinfrastruktur im Kontext der Covid-19 Pandemie. IASS Study.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2312/iass.2020.019
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/pubman/faces/ViewItemOverviewPage.jsp?itemId=item_6000142

2019

Weiand, L., Schmitz, S., Becker, S., Niehoff, N., Schwartzbach, F., & von Schneidemesser, E. (2020). Erratum: Climate change and air pollution: the connection between traffic intervention policies and public acceptance in a local context 2019 Environ. Res. Lett. 14 085008 Environmental Research Letters, 14(11): 119601.doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab3d81.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab299b
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_6000049_2/component/file_6000050/content

Becker, S., & Renn, O. (2019). Akzeptanzbedingungen politischer Maßnahmen für die Verkehrswende. Das Fallbeispiel Berliner Mobilitätsgesetz. In C. Fraune, M. Knodt, S. Gölz, & K. Langer (Eds.), Akzeptanz und politische Partizipation in der Energietransformation (pp. 109-130). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24760-7 
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783658247591?utm_campaign=sl-buybox_chapterPage_print&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=springerlink#    

Verfuerth, C., Henn, L., & Becker, S. (2019). Is it up to them? Individual leverages for sufficiency. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 28(4), 374-380. doi:10.14512/gaia.28.4.9.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.28.4.9
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4950894_2/component/file_4950895/content    

Schmitz, S., Becker, S., Weiand, L., Niehoff, N., Schwartzbach, F., & von Schneidemesser, E. (2019). Determinants of Public Acceptance for Traffic-Reducing Policies to Improve Urban Air Quality. Sustainability, 11(14): 3991. doi:10.3390/su11143991.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143991
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4522895_3/component/file_4522896/content    

Leventon, J., Becker, S., Zimmermann, H., & von Wehrden, H. (2019). Leverage Points 2019. A transdisciplinary conference, inspiring change. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 28(1), 55-57. doi:10.14512/gaia.28.1.13. 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.28.1.13
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4128903_8/component/file_4128905/content     

Renn, O., Becker, S., Gaschnig, H., Götting, K., Lilliestam, J., Schäuble, D., & Setton, D. (2019). Carbon Pricing for a Socially Just Energy Transition. IASS Policy Brief, 2019(10).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2312/iass.2019.058
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4942894_4/component/file_4942895/content   

Renn, O., Becker, S., Gaschnig, H., Götting, K., Lilliestam, J., Schäuble, D., & Setton, D. (2019). CO2-Bepreisung für eine sozial gerechte Energiewende. IASS Policy Brief, 2019(6).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2312/iass.2019.028
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4604899_6/component/file_4621891/content    

Becker, S., Herberg, J., & Staemmler, J. (2019). Strukturwandel und Mobilität: Zwei Herausforderungen für Brandenburg. IASS Policy Brief, 2019(4).     

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2312/iass.2019.016
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4305890_4/component/file_4305891/content    

Bauknecht, D., Bracker, J., Heinemann, C., Hesse, T., Kasten, P., Kühnel, S., Mottschall, M., Vogel, M., Becker, S., Kutzner, R., Müller, I., & Thielges, S.(2019). Pfadentscheidungen der Energiewende. Freiburg: Öko-Institut e.V

https://www.oeko.de/fileadmin/oekodoc/Pfadentscheidungen-Energiewende.pdf 

Publications before the project period

2018

Schmitz, S., Weiand, L., Becker, S., Niehoff, N., Schwartzbach, F., & von Schneidemesser, E. (2018). An assessment of perceptions of air quality surrounding the implementation of a traffic-reduction measure in a local urban environment. Sustainable cities and society: SCC, 41, 525-537. doi:10.1016/j.scs.2018.06.011. #

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.06.011 
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_3302905_10/component/file_3302906/content

Becker, S., & Rudolf, C. (2018). Exploring the Potential of Free Cargo-Bikesharing for Sustainable Mobility. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 27(1), 156-164(9). doi:10.14512/gaia.27.1.11.    

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.27.1.11 
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_3369899_3/component/file_3369900/content    

Stelzer, F., Becker, S., Timm, J., Adomßent, M., Simon, K.-H., Schneidewind, U., Renn, O., Lang, D., & Ernst, A. (2018). Ziele, Strukturen, Wirkungen transformativer Forschung. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 27(4), 405-408. doi:10.14512/gaia.27.4.19. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.27.4.19 
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_4296910_2/component/file_4296911/content     

Becker, S., & Rudolf, C. (2018). The Status Quo of cargo-bikesharing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Framing the Third Cycling Century: Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice (pp. 168-180). Dessau-Roßlau: German Environment Agency.     

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/framing-the-third-cycling-century     

Becker, S. (2018). Individuelles Rebound-Verhalten in der Pkw-Mobilität: Das Wechselspiel von Effizienzverbesserung und Nachfragesteigerung (1. Auflage). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20679-6

Butler, T. M., von Schneidemesser, E., & Becker, S. (2018). Bekämpfung der städtischen Luftverschmutzung: Stickoxide und Dieselemissionen. IASS Policy Brief, 2018(3). 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2312/iass.2018.023 
https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_3692894_4/component/file_3692895/content     

 

2016

Stocker, A., Lazarus, J., Becker, S. & Shaheen, S. (2016). North American College/University Market Carsharing Impacts: Results from Zipcar's College Travel Study 2015. Effects on Vehicle Use and Ownership, Travel Behavior, Quality of Life, and Environmental Impacts. TSRC Working Paper, UC Berkeley, CA.     

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31014.22085 
http://innovativemobility.org/wp-content/uploads/Zipcar-College-Market-Study-2015.pdf    

Becker, S., Schober, D. & Wassermann, S. (2016). How to approach consumers' nonmonetary evaluation of electricity supply security? The case of Germany from a multidisciplinary perspective. Utilities Policy, 42, 74-84.     

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2016.06.012  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0957178716301618    

2015

Becker, S. (2015). Rebound-Effekte bei privater Pkw-Nutzung. Versuch einer empirischen Annäherung. GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 24 (2), 132-133.    

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.24.2.13 
https://www.energy-trans.de/downloads/GAIA-Rebound-2-2015.pdf 

Category Publication
How can cities solve the pressing environmental problems caused by the excessive use of private cars? By creating Free Cargo-Bikesharing systems, citizens are taking forward the transition to sustainable transportation systems.
Category Publication
Consumers’ preferences regarding the security of supply (SoS) of electricity are generally assessed through economic estimates of the value of lost load. However, this monodisciplinary approach typically builds on homo oeconomicus assumptions and neglects consumers’ nonmonetary evaluations of SoS.
Category Publication
Researchers at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), UC Berkeley in partnership with Zipcar conducted a survey to better understand the impact that carsharing has on college member travel behavior, vehicle holdings and driving, quality of life, and transportation expense savings.
Category Publication
Cars with low fuel consumption promise more environmentally friendly mobility. Nevertheless, efficiency gains are in danger of being offset if people use cars more often or travel longer distances.
Category Media
The government wants to relieve the burden on citizens with a 9-euro monthly ticket for buses and trains. However, free public transport would be easier to implement and more affordable.
Category Media
A commentary from the perspective of sustainability research on the dispute over the expansion of Berlin's A100 motorway by Sophia Becker in the "Studio 9 Interview" on Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
Category Media
Should public transport be free of charge? Experience shows: Just because the bus costs nothing, far from all people stop using their cars.
Category Media
Drivers have been annoyed by high fuel prices for weeks. The German government wants to take countermeasures. But it also wants to make "good old" public transport more attractive through price incentives. Is that enough to keep Germany mobile?
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