The Zennström professors, Frank Biermann and Aarti Gupta conclude their time at Uppsala University

Politics, Emerging Technologies, and Cross-Border Collaboration in Focus for the Visiting Professors

Promoting shared interests in global climate policy and governance, including issues of accountability and climate justice, is the focus of Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann, visiting professors in climate leadership at Uppsala University. Their work emphasizes that researchers need to engage more actively in public debate and that political systems must change if we are to effectively address and manage the major climate challenges we face.

Uppsala University invites a professor to a visiting professorship in climate leadership every one or two years. The ten-year visiting professorship is funded by a previous donation to the university from the entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and his wife Catherine Zennström. This year was the first time that two professors shared the visiting professorship: Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann. They began their appointments on March 1, 2025, and their tenure concludes this July.

Aarti Gupta is a Professor of Global Environmental Governance at Wageningen University. Her goal during the visiting professorship has been to engage in research, teaching, and external collaboration at Uppsala University, as well as to connect with researchers at other universities in Sweden. Her focus is to promote common interests within global climate policy and governance, including issues related to responsibility and climate justice.

The visiting professorship at Uppsala University is hosted by the Climate Leadership research group at the Department of Earth Sciences, in collaboration with CCL, Climate Change Leadership. Now that her six-month tenure is coming to an end, Aarti is very satisfied.

“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I arrived here, but my time has exceeded all expectations! It has been very rewarding, from our collaboration with CCL to meetings with other researchers and external partners,” says Aarti Gupta.

Read the article here: https://www.uu.se/en/research/uunicorn/news/archive/2025-07-21-politics-emerging-technologies-and-cross-border-collaboration-in-focus-for-visiting-professors-aarti-gupta-and-frank-biermann

Frank Biermann and Aarti Gupta new Zennström Professors of Climate Change Leadership: https://www.uu.se/en/news/2025/2025-01-22-frank-biermann-and-aarti-gupta-new-zennstrom-professors-of-climate-change-leadership

Inaugural lecture with Zennström visiting professors; Aarti Gupta and Frank Biermann: https://www.uu.se/en/department/earth-sciences/news/2025/2025-04-08-inaugural-lecture-with-zennstrom-visiting-professors-aarti-gupta-and-frank-biermann