Principal Investigator

T: +43-1-4277-40809

sebastian.felten@univie.ac.at  

Sebastian Felten (PhD, King’s College London) is a historian of science, finance, and bureaucracy in early modern Europe. He is Tenure Track Professor of Early Modern History of Science at the Department of History at the University of Vienna and was a fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Berlin (MPIWG) between 2015 and 2018. He is the PI of the ERC Project SCARCE. 

His current research explores knowledge about nature through a focus on mineral resources as they featured in metallurgy, mineralogy, economics, and ergonomics. He has studied commerce and bureaucracy using the tools of historical epistemology to build bridges between the history of science and social, cultural and economic history. His objective for the next years is to apply this integrated approach to understand the peculiar rationality of early modern resource extraction in Central Europe, which was often highly contradictory. 

Postdoctoral Researcher

claire.sabel@univie.ac.at

Claire Conklin Sabel is a historian of early modern earth sciences, extractive industries, and empire, with expertise in Dutch and British empires in Southeast Asia. Her research explores how knowledge about the earth and environment were shaped by the growth of European imperialism and overseas trade in the Indian Ocean. She received her PhD in History of Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher with ERC project SCARCE. She is also affiliated with the Key Research Area in History of Science. 

With SCARCE, Claire working on her first book, Rare Earth: Gemstones, Geohistory, and Commercial Geography c. 1600-1750 and researching a second project on gendered expertise in early modern mining, “Expanded Horizons: Women and the Making of Natural Resources in the Early Modern World.” Claire also coordinates the SCARCE Colloquium and workshops, and is enjoying getting to know Vienna on foot by training for the Vienna City Marathon. 

PhD Student

sarah.seinitzer@univie.ac.at 

Research Assistant

dolores.surlina@univie.ac.at