Helena Althoff is a PhD researcher in the interdisciplinary junior research group SACS, situated within the RISK and SPACE research centers at the Bundeswehr University Munich. Her research lies at the intersection of peace and conflict studies in outer space and applied mathematics, with a particular focus on strategic stability in space. She employs advanced quantitative methods—such as mathematical modeling, game theory, and decision processes—to explore which parameters in the space domain are likely to lead to conflict and which may foster peaceful coexistence.
Helena holds a B.Sc. (2021) and M.Sc. (2024) in mathematics with a minor in computer science from the University of Augsburg. Her academic interests include numerical analysis, mathematical modeling, optimisation, and artificial intelligence—all of which inform her current research in the modeling of space-based conflict dynamics.
Prior to starting her doctorate, Helena worked for over three years as a student researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology (IGCV), where she developed optimisation algorithms for multi-sine signal generation. She presented this work at international conferences and authored two scientific publications.
In April 2025, she completed a research internship at the Institute for Generational Research, which sparked her transition into the social and political sciences and laid the foundation for her interdisciplinary doctoral work. Since July 2025, she has been a doctoral researcher in the SACS group at the Bundeswehr University.
Email: helena.althoff@unibw.de
Research interests:
- Peace and conflict studies in the space domain
- Strategic stability in outer space
- Dual-use technologies and their influence on escalation risks
- Quantitative conflict modeling and systems analysis
- Mathematical modeling of conflict dynamics
- Interdisciplinary peace and conflict research
Methodology:
- Quantitative modeling and simulation
- Mathematical models of strategic interaction (e.g., differential equations, Markov decision processes, classical game theory)
- Interdisciplinary applications of mathematics in political science