Graduate Programme Existential Risks to Humanity (Launch 2026)

English

Course Overview

In light of the growing importance of global risk assessment, Prof Weitzdörfer (Hagen profile / Cambridge profile/ Harvard profile) and Dr Beard have developed a concept for an interdisciplinary course on existential risk. The project builds on previous work at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), with which both remain affiliated.

The course will adopt a holistic and intersectional approach to existential and global catastrophic risk and associated extreme events, based on the understanding that we are living in a world in which environmental, technological and political risk drivers are increasingly interconnected. The course will also take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and mitigating risk, drawing on key insights from Philosophy, Law, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Disaster Studies and Existential Risk Studies.

In addition to gaining theoretical knowledge, students will have the opportunity to participate in two interactive simulation exercises: Intelligence Rising and ParEvo. This English-language, credited university course – covering the full spectrum of extinction-level threats to the human species and their mitigation – will be the first of its kind to be taught fully online, in Germany and beyond.

The project to implement, launch, evaluate and further develop the course is set to commence in April 2026 and will run for two years. Three pre-doctoral/post-doctoral positions have been filled for this project.

Module Description

Global Catastrophic and Existential Risk to Humanity (PDF 188 KB)

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education for their generous support of € 361.549. We would also like to acknowledge helpful conversations with Leon Ritter, Nathaniel Cooke, Shahar Avin and Rick Davies during preparation for the grant proposal.

Logo STILLogo: STIL
Logo HagenFoto: Fernuniversität in Hagen
 

Literature

more information

S. Avin, B.C. Wintle, J. Weitzdörfer, Seán S. Ó hÉigeartaigh et al. (2018): Classifying Global Catastrophic Risks, in: Futures 102 (September 2018), p. 20-26.

S.J. Beard, M. Rees, C. Richards, C.R. Rojas (Ed.) (2023), The Era of Global Risk. An Introduction to Existential Risk Studies, Open Book Publishers.

S.J. Beard, T. Hobson (Ed.) (2024), An Anthology of Global Risks, Open Book Publishers.

S.J. Beard, N. Cooke, S. Dryhurst, J. Weitzdörfer et al. (2025), Exploring Futures for the Science of Global Risk, in: Futures 168 (April 2025).

N. Bostrom, M.M. Cirkovic (Ed.) (2011), Global Catastrophic Risks, Oxford University Press.

R. Davies, T. Hobson, L. Mani, S.J. Beard (2023): ParEvo. A Methodology for the Exploration and Evaluation of Alternative Futures, Evaluation 30 (1), p. 27-49.

R. Gruetzemacher, S. Avin, J. Fox, A.K. Saeri (2025): Strategic Insights from Simulation Gaming of AI Race Dynamics, Futures 167 (March 2025).

L. Kemp, H. Belfield, S.J. Beard, J. Weitzdörfer et al. (2024): Financing Our Final Hour, in: S.J. Beard, T. Hobson (Ed.), An Anthology of Global Risks, Open Book Publishers, p. 641-694.

D. Needham, J. Weitzdörfer (Ed.) (2019), Extremes, Cambridge University Press.

G.E. Shackelford, L. Kemp, S.J. Beard, J. Weitzdörfer et al. (2020): Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography About Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk, in: Futures 116 (February 2020).

J. Weitzdörfer (2020), Assessing Existential Risks, in: L. Diekmann, J. Fritsch, Crossing Boundaries in Science. The Mystery of Risks – How Can Science Help Reconcile Perception and Assessment?, Leopoldina / DFG, p. 116-117.

Pia Pape | 11.06.2026