Prof. Dr. theol. lic. phil. Peter G. Kirchschläger

[Translate to Englisch:] Foto Peter Kirchschlaeger

Full Professor of Theological Ethics, Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE

T +41 41 229 52 61 • Room 3.B53 • peter.kirchschlaeger@unilu.ch

 
 

CV

Since 2017 Full Professor of Theological Ethics and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Lucerne, since 2014 Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein (South Africa), since 2023 Visiting Professor at the Chair for Neuronal Learning and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich as well as at the ETH AI Center – one of the world's largest hubs for research in the field of so-called "Artificial Intelligence" – and since 2024 Visiting Fellow at the Global Ethic Institute at the University of Tuebingen (Germany). Prior, he was 2015-2017 Visiting Fellow at Yale University (USA).

Born 1977 in Vienna (A). Married and father of two daughters. Studies of Theology and Judaism in Lucerne, in Rome (Gregoriana), and Jerusalem (2001: MA at the University of Lucerne) and studies of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Political Science at the University of Zurich (2003: MA at the University of Zurich). 2000-2008: Member of the Swiss Study Foundation. 2002: Intensive Course in Entrepreneurship at the Babson College (Wellesley, MA) thanks to the NETS (New Enterpreneurship)-Award of Gebert Ruef Foundation. 2004-2008: PhD at the University of Zurich with a research-project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). September 2005-August 2006: Research Stay at the University of Chicago Divinity School (USA) with a scholarship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Swiss Study Foundation, and the Otto-Herz-Study-Foundation. 2008: PhD at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Zurich. 2012: Habilitation in Theological Ethics with focus on Social Ethics at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Fribourg and appointment as Private Lecturer. 2013-2017 Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund University (Sweden). 2013 Visiting Scholar at the University of Technology Sydney (Australia). 2013-2014 Guest-Professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). 2015-2019 Guest-Lecturer at the Leuphana University Lueneburg (Germany).

Since 2017 Founder and Director of the "Lucerne Summer University: Ethics in a Global Context LSUE" under the patronage of UNESCO, since 2018 Founder and Director of the "Lucerne Graduate School in Ethics LGSE" and since 2023 Founder and Study-Director of the Master Degree Program "Ethics" of the University of Lucerne.

Consultative expert in Ethics of national and international organizations and institutions (e.g., UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, G20, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], European Union [EU], Council of Europe, Companies and NGOs). President of the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology ECNH and of the "Ethics-Advisory Board Smart Lucerne" of the City of Lucerne. Member of the Ausschuss "Wirtschaftswissenschaften und Ethik" of the Verein fuer Sozialpolitik, the International Advisory Board of ET-Studies: open-acces journal of the European Association for Catholic Theology and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Humboldt Science Centre for Child Development (HumanKind) at the University of Leipzig. Associate Editor of the Journal "AI Perspectives" and a member of the editorial board of "Asian Horizons". Reviewer, among others, of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), for the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), for the Irish Research Council (IRC), for the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), of the Business and Human Rights Journal, the Journal "AI and Ethics", of the NEJM AI, the Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik zfwu, the Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie (ZfPP), and De Ethica – A Journal of Philosophical, Theological, and Applied Ethics. Member of the Commission Justitia et Pax of the Swiss Bishop’s Conference and member of a working-group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on a standard on ethics in IT design (2017-2020). Member of the working-group Mobility 4.0 of the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). Human Rights Adviser of the Non-Profit Organization "Musicians for Human Rights", Member of the Advisory-Board of the Non-Profit-Organizations "Water for Water" and "Play for Rights". Member of the Advisory-Board of the Think Tank for Decentralization "Dezentrum". Member of the Board of Trustees of Switzerland Foundation of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2020-2022). Corresponding Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Forum Alpbach.

2003-2015 Co-Founder and Co-Director of the International Human Rights Forum Lucerne (IHRF). 2007-2015 Lecturer, Co-Founder, and Co-Director of the Centre of Human Rights Education (ZMRB) at the University of Teacher Education Lucerne. Since 2004 guest-lectures at universities in Switzerland and abroad (among others, Harvard University, Columbia University, …). 2011-2015 Chair ad interim at the Chur University of Theology and 2013-2015 Dean of Research at the Chur University of Theology. 2011-2015 Member of the Board of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Human Rights. 2011-2017 Member of the Expert-Jury of the Swiss Ethics Award.

Peter G. Kirchschlaeger was guest in TV programs like, among others, BBC News, ZDF (national German TV), ORF (national Austrian TV), SRF (national Swiss TV), and RSI (TV of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland), radio stations like, among others, Ö1 (national Austrian Radio), SRF 1, SRF 2, SRF 3 (national Swiss radio stations) as well as covered or interviewed by newspapers like, among others, "New York Times", "Project Syndicate", the German Newspaper "Tagesspiegel", the Austrian Newspaper "Der Standard", the Austrian Newspaper "Die Presse", the Austrian Weekly Newspaper "Die Furche", the Swiss Newspaper "Tagesanzeiger" and the Swiss Newspaper "Neue Zürcher Zeitung".