Vita [English-language version below]
Susanne Schmidt studierte an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in Cambridge (UK) und Paris. Promotion (Ph.D., 2018) am Department of History and Philosophy of Science der University of Cambridge. Anschließend Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Arbeitsbereich Globalgeschichte, Freie Universität Berlin (2018–20) und am Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2020–25). Seit 2025 Professur am Departement Geschichte der Universität Basel. Forschungsaufenthalte an der Harvard University, dem Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, dem Deutschen Historischen Institut, Washington, DC, der Columbia University, New York und der Stanford University.
Stipendien der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina, Max Weber Stiftung, des Arts & Humanities Research Council, Kurt Hahn Trust u.a. Seit 2025 SNF Starting Grant. Ausgezeichnet mit dem Förderpreis der Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Wissenschaften, der Medizin und der Technik (GWMT), Artikelpreis der N.T.M. Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin und Career Development Award der Berlin University Alliance. Einen Einblick in ihre aktuelle Forschung zur Geschichte des so genannten "Marshmallow-Tests" und der Selbstkontrolle geben dieses und dieses Interview.
CV
Susanne Schmidt is a historian of science and SNF Professor in the Department of History at the University of Basel. Her book Midlife Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2020) provides the first historical study of the controversial concept of midlife crisis, which gained traction as a feminist idea in the United States in the 1970s before it was redefined by psychologists and psychiatrists. Susanne received her Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge in 2018. She was a Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin in Global History at Freie University Berlin (2018–20) and in History of Science at the Humboldt University Berlin (2020–25), and has held fellowships at the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC, the Center for Science and Society at Columbia University, and the Department of History at Stanford University.
For her research, Susanne received the first-book and best-article awards of the German History of Science Society (GWMT). In 2021–22, she held a Career Development Award, awarded to young scholars from any discipline by the Humboldt, Freie, and Technical Universities and Charité Berlin. Her research has been supported by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Max Weber Foundation, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Kurt Hahn Trust, and others. She is currently the recipient of a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Starting Grant. You can learn more about her current research on the history of the marshmallow test and delayed gratification in this interview.