Funding New Emmy Noether Junior Research Group in Political Science
Press Release No. 16/2025
21 February 2025
German Research Foundation provides Heidelberg climate policy project with approx. 1.8 million euros in funding
A new Emmy Noether junior research group at Heidelberg University is examining how climate change has evolved from a widely accepted topic into a controversial political issue. Led by Junior Professor Dr Endre Borbáth, the team is analyzing how a line of conflict emerged between a right-wing camp and an increasingly fragmented green-ecological camp. At the same time, the political scientist is interrogating the effects of this polarization. Titled “The New Climate Divide” (ClimateDivide), the project is based at the Institute for Political Science at Heidelberg University. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the junior research group with around 1.8 million euros over a period of six years.
“Climate change is entering a critical phase. With that in mind, we want to understand how existing political lines of conflict are currently being restructured. This development has both electoral and civic implications, as parties and social movements mobilize society on climate-related issues in different ways,” explains Prof. Borbáth. According to the political scientist, polarization not only influences who participates in climate policy, but also the form this participation takes.
The researcher notes that established parties’ stance on climate change is increasingly shaped by socio-economic conflicts, which has turned the issue into a political debate over distribution and redistribution. In his view, this is one of the factors jeopardizing the implementation of necessary reforms to achieve climate neutrality. In his research project “ClimateDivide”, Prof. Borbáth combines computer-assisted social research with focus group surveys, including participants in climate protests. The observation period ranges from 2010 to 2030 and covers seven countries across different parts of Europe.
Endre Borbáth is a Junior Professor of Empirical-Analytical Participation Research at the Institute for Political Science at Heidelberg University and a visiting researcher at the Center for Civil Society Research at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB). His research focuses on mass mobilization and shifting conflict structures in European politics, particularly concerning climate change, migration, and European integration. Previously, he was a postdoc at Freie Universität Berlin and the WZB. He earned his doctoral degree in 2018 from the European University Institute. He studied political science at the Central European University in Budapest (Hungary) and political science and philosophy at Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.
The DFG’s Emmy Noether Programme provides outstanding early-career researchers with the opportunity to qualify for a professorship by independently leading a junior research group for a period of six years.