Mass testing for Covid-19 / SARS-CoV-2 infection concept: Several rapid antigen test kits. One kit in the middle showing a positive result (two lines visible)

News

New Open Access Publication: A Bio-moralities Approach to Emerging Reproductive Genetic Technologies

We’re delighted to share the news that our chapter, “Following technologies, understanding governance: A bio-moralities approach to emerging reproductive genetic technologies,” has been published Open Access as part of the edited volume A Research Agenda for Biomedicine and Society, edited by Alex Faulkner. 


Read it here

Many thanks to Alex for the great collaboration and to Karl Landsteiner University for supporting the Open Access funding!

CfA EASST2026 Conference Krakow P050 - Toward Biomedical and Health Testing Studies

We would like to invite you to submit an abstract to our open panel “Toward Biomedical and Health Testing Studies: Reassembling Testing Practices and Health Futures” (P050) at the EASST2026 Conference in Krakow (Sep 8-11). The call for abstracts is open until March 9th, 2026. Submit your abstracts, and feel free to circulate the call!

Further information can be found here.

Abstract for Download

New Conference Presentation

Mara Köhler presented “Between biomedicine and public health: Tracing testing modes and their logics in Austria’s COVID-19 governance” at the international Crisis Testing Follow-up Workshop.

KRIS

New Research Talk

Ingrid Metzler and Mara Köhler talked about their academic careers, research interests and the ongoing “Testing (bio)governance“ research project at the 40th research KiK at the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences. 

New Conference Activity

As part of the Medical Anthropology Europe Conference in Vienna, Mara Köhler and Bernd-Christoph Völker (Wien Museum) led a field excursion to one of Austria’s largest former SARS-CoV-2 testing centers.

Research Exchange

Mara Köhler participated in the 4th ACM Europe Digital Humanism Summer School in Vienna.

Research Update

We are excited to share that we are currently conducting “helicopter interviews” (Hajer, 2004) to help us identify key actors, important issues, and dynamics in SARS-CoV-2 testing policies. We have also begun our first expert interviews. We want to thank all our interview partners for their time and insights; your contributions are greatly appreciated.

Hajer, Maarten. 2004. “Doing Discourse Analysis: Coalitions, Practices, Meaning.” In Words Matter in Policy and Planning: Discourse Theory and Methods in the Social Science, edited by Margo van den Brink and Tamara Metze. Knag/Nethur.

Ingrid Metzler presented "SARS-CoV-2 Testing Policies during the Pandemic in Austria" at the international conference " STS Conference Graz: Critical Issues in Science, Technology and Society Studies" in Graz.


 

Mara Köhler presented "Public Health in Private Hands? Taking on Responsibility in Austria’s COVID-19 Testing Infrastructures" at the international research workshop "Public Responsibility for Health: An Interdisciplinary Socio-Ethical Workshop" in Frankfurt.
 

New Conference Presentation

Ingrid Metzler presented "Testing Bio-Governance: The COVID Pandemic as an Epistemic Window of Opportunity for Comparative Research on the Bio-Moralities Shaping Uses of Testing Technologies" at the international research workshop "Testing Under Crisis / Testing the Crises" in Athens.

 

KRIS-Link