The regional research consortium VeSPoTec – Verification in a complex and unpredictable world: social, political and technical processes is a cooperation between the RWTH Aachen University, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Associated partners include the University of Vienna and the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP).
VeSPoTec is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
What is Verification?
Verification is the process of gathering and analysing information to assess whether other parties comply with their commitments. This way, it allows to build confidence and ensures an effective implementation of international agreements.
Our Mission
VeSPoTec’s mission is to build bridges between the natural and social sciences to strengthen and advance the knowledge on verification in the context of peace and conflict research.
Why an interdisciplinary approach?
Given the complexity and dynamics of the challenge of nuclear verification, the interaction of different disciplinary perspectives is indispensable for understanding the phenomenon and for developing sustainable and applicable solutions.
The specificity of the project therefore lies in the synergy of inter- and transdisciplinary work among the partners with their complementary foci on natural, social, political and cultural sciences as well as practice.
Blog
By Linda Ostermann. VeSPoTec could not miss this year’s “AFK-Kolloquium” – a scientific conference – of the German Association of Peace and Conflict Studies: under the theme of “Disci-plines of peace and conflict research in dialog: Synergies, similarities and differ-ences with scientific-technical peace research”, five members of the VeSPoTec consortium gave input on our daily lived interdisciplinary experiences and chal-lenges, and presented on their current research interests and results.
By Sophie Kretzschmar. There is a strange concurrence of fundamentally different developments in the world today regarding nuclear disarmament: On the one hand, nuclear disarmament seems to have taken several steps backwards – nuclear weapon states are increasing and modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and debates about new nuclear arrangements, however unreasonable these discussions are, have entered the discourse. On the other hand, nuclear disarmament seems to have taken a step forward – a treaty banning nuclear weapons, supported by 139 of the
By Andreas Dürholt and Lukas Rademacher. On December 13 and 14, the VeSPoTec-Team welcomed nine technical experts from six different countries for a tabletop exercise on nuclear safeguards in Aachen. The exercise focused on the role that different types of safeguards-relevant information play for evaluating a State in the context of their safeguards obligations through a series of role-played
Team
Principal Investigators
Prof. Dr. Malte Göttsche
Coordinator
Nuclear Verification and Disarmament
RWTH Aachen
goettsche@nvd.rwth-aachen.de
Prof. Dr. Stefan Böschen
Human Technology Center
RWTH Aachen
stefan.boeschen@humtec.rwth-aachen.de
Dr. Irmgard Niemeyer
Nuclear Waste Management (IEK-6)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
i.niemeyer@fz-juelich.de
Prof. Dr. Ralph Rotte
International Relations
RWTH Aachen
rotte@ipw.rwth-aachen.de
Dr. Carmen Wunderlich
Institute of Political Science
University Duisburg-Essen
carmen.wunderlich@uni-due.de
Managing Director
Administrative Assistant
Dr. Ana de la Varga
Nuclear Verification and Disarmament
RWTH Aachen
delavarga@nvd.rwth-aachen.de
Melanie Baumann
Human Technology Center
RWTH Aachen
melanie.baumann@humtec.rwth-aachen.de
Scientific Staff
Dr. Ing. Neslihan Yanikömer
Nuclear Waste Management (IEK-6)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
n.yanikoemer@fz.juelich.de
Student Assistants
Further Partners
Advisory Board
Dr. Hassan Elbahtimy
Centre for Science and Security Studies, King’s College
Dr. Angela Kane
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP)
Dr. Marco Marzo
Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC)
Dr. Pavel Podvig
UN Institute for Disarmament Research
Laura Rockwood
Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-proliferation (VCDNP)
Amy Woolf
Royal United Services Institute
Contact
Feel free to contact us at vespotec@rwth-aachen.de for questions and further information about the project.
Presentation at the 17th Early Career Conference on International Relations
Tutzingen, Germany
20.03.2024 – 22.03.2024
Andreas Dürholt gave a presentation at the 17th Early Career Conference on International Relations of the Early Career Group International Relations of the German Political Science Association.
The presentation, entitled A Game-Theoretic Analysis of the Wagner Mutiny and its Impact on the Putin Regime, was an analysis of regime stability after a failed “rebellion” in a nuclear weapons state.
Participation at the 55th AFK-Kolloquium
Darmstadt, Germany
13.03.2024 – 15.03.2024
VeSPoTec recently participated in the 55th “AFK-Kolloquium”, themed “Disciplines of peace and conflict research in dialog: Synergies, similarities and differences with scientific-technical peace research.” which was organized by the German Association of Peace and Conflict Studies.
VeSPoTec members presented research on topics such as nuclear archaeology, nuclear proliferation, and game theoretical approaches to understanding conflicts. The conference highlighted the importance of integrating security perspectives into STEM courses and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration in academia. VeSPoTec looks forward to future collaborations and sharing insights gained from the conference.
New article on the role of new reactor technologies for nonproliferation and verification
Aachen, Germany
10.02.2024
Prof. Ralph Rotte submitted a preprint of his new article on new reactors and verification to SocArXiv. The article discusses how the propagation of new reactor technologies, particularly small modular reactors (SMRs), amid international great power competition and subsequent global and economic conflicts, poses risks to the stability of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
Living with the Bomb: Nuclear Order in Crisis - Panel Discussion
Duisburg/Essen, Germany
18.01.2024
The global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime has long been in crisis. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has dealt a fatal blow to many of its fundamental norms. The lecture series concludes with a panel discussion on the future of the nuclear order, featuring both pessimistic and optimistic voices from academia, politics and civil society.
First VeSPotec Table Top Exercise
Aachen, Germany
13.12.2023. – 14.12.2023
On December 13 and 14, the VeSPoTec-Team welcomed nine technical experts from six different countries for a tabletop exercise on nuclear safeguards in Aachen. The exercise focused on the role that different types of safeguards-relevant information play for evaluating a State in the context of their safeguards obligations through a series of role-played discussions.
For previous news, please click here.