Prof. Dr. Mischa Hansel has been Professor of Social Sciences with a focus on cyber and information security at the HWR since 2023 and Deputy Director of FÖPS Berlin since 2025. Previously, he worked at political science institutes in Cologne, Gießen and Aachen and most recently headed the International Cyber Security research focus at IFSH in Hamburg, which is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. His research focuses on cyber security architectures – from the local to the global level, the role of private actors in cyber security policy and the use of new technologies in geopolitical conflicts.