Call for Papers
Nuclear Verification in an Unstable World
VeSPoTec is a project by:
The 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, the TU Darmstadt 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 Leonardo Bandarra. The first Nuclear Verification Winter School took place at the University of Duisburg-Essen from February 10 to 14, 2025. This four-day event was organized as part of VeSPoTec ("Verification in a Complex and Unpredictable World: Social, Political, and Technical Processes"), a research consortium funded by the
By Julian Schäfer. Over the past year, the VeSPoTec project has been actively involved in various events and initiatives. These activities have allowed us to share our research, collaborate with experts, and contribute to discussions on nuclear disarmament and nuclear verification. This recap provides an overview of the key events
By René Geiser. China’s nuclear expansion and global nuclear order The expansion of China's nuclear arsenal has increased significantly in recent years. Forecasts by the US Department of Defence assume that China could have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030. This represents a significant expansion compared to the
For previous Blog posts, please click here.
Team
Principal Investigators
Prof. Dr. Malte Göttsche
Coordinator
Science for Nuclear Diplomacy
Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
goettsche@prif.org
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
Dr. Ana de la Varga
Nuclear Verification and Disarmament
RWTH Aachen
delavarga@nvd.rwth-aachen.de
Administrative Assistant
Melanie Baumann
Human Technology Center
RWTH Aachen
melanie.baumann@humtec.rwth-aachen.de
Scientific Staff
Dr. Laura Mertes
Science for Nuclear Policy
TU Darmstadt
Dr. Ing. Neslihan Yanikömer
Institute of Fusion Energy and Nuclear Waste Management (IFN)
Forschungszentrum Jülich Jülichn.yanikoemer@fz-juelich.de
Dr. Kim Westerich-Fellner
Institute of Fusion Energy and Nuclear Waste Management (IFN)
Forschungszentrum Jülich
k.westerich-fellner@fz-juelich.de
Student Assistants
Further Partners
See our former team members here.
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.
VeSPoTec participates at 68th IAEA General Conference in Vienna
Vienna, Austria
16.09.2024 – 20.09.2024
Members of the VeSPoTec research consortium attended the 68th IAEA General Conference in Vienna. In their capacity as German delegates, they participated in the Committee as a Whole and the Plenary Meetings, where they gained valuable insights. They were particularly impressed and are keen to continue their research, applying the insights gained to their ongoing work. They also took part in a side event, which was organized and moderated by VeSPoTec’s Irmgard Niemeyer and Neshlihan Yanikömer. Julian Schäfer presented at this event.
Inaugural lecture of Malte Göttsche at TU Darmstadt
Darmstadt, Germany
28.06.2024
Prof. Malte Göttsche held his inaugural lecture on June 28, 2024 at TU Darmstadt. Concepts of scientific peace reasearch and recent work of Prof. Göttsche and his group was introduced to a broad audience of students, professors and interested citizens. The lecture was completed by a discussion with Prof. Göttsche and the audience about questions of verification, compliance and responsibilities of scientists regarding the (mis)use of their research.
The lecture falls in line with Prof. Göttsche’s appointment as professor at TU Darmstadt and the assumption of the position as speaker of the CNTR project at PRIF, Frankfurt.
VeSpoTec participates at IPDNV's 10 Years of Progress celebration
Geneva, Switzerland
I had the pleasure to present a poster on @VeSPoTec at #IPNDV 10 year's celebration in Geneva this week: https://t.co/Ep37pKEi0x.#VeSPoTec is an interdisciplinary research project on #nuclear #verification. The poster adressed, i.a., #irreversibility in nuclear #disarmament. pic.twitter.com/KISrgRcjmp
— Irmie Niemeyer (@nudive_X) June 28, 2024
26.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
Dr. Niemeyer presented a poster on VeSPoTec at IPDNV’s 10 Years of Progress celebration in Geneva.
Call for Applications: VeSPoTec Winter School
Duisburg, Germany
19.06.2024
We are pleased to announce the open call for participants for our VeSPoTec Winter School taking place from 10 to 14 February 2025 in Duisburg, Germany.
For further information please contact Lena Herholz or Dr. Leonardo Bandarra.
VeSpoTec participates at AMC Annual Conference
Uppsala, Sweden
18.06.2024 – 19.06.2024
Members of VeSPoTec participated in the annual conference of the Alva Myrdal Center in Uppsala, Sweden, which took place on June 18-19.
Dr. Kretzschmar presented different perspectives on nuclear archaeology, while Mr. Rademacher was part of the panel “Multidisciplinary approaches to disarmament and non-proliferation” and representative of the consortium. Furthermore, Dr. Bandarra presented the challenges and opportunities of irreversible nuclear disarmament at the IAEA, while Mr. Schäfer participated in the panel “Instrumentation for Treaty Verification” and presented his perspective on technology, knowledge and verification.
For previous news, please click here.