About Us

Founded in 2021

Franziska Hofer and Angela Bearth founded HF Partners with the vision to develop it into an internationally recognized expert organization in the field of human-centered safety and security.

We are specialised in the following topics in human-centered security and safety:

  • Resilience of critical infrastructure and organizations to human-made or -related threats and unlawful acts (e.g. terrorism, cybersecurity)
  • Informed decision making and prevention of harm through hazardous chemicals (i.e., biocidal products, chemical waste)
  • Improved decision-making processes for authorities, police and judiciary (e.g. debiasing, risk perception, consulting on human-AI cooperation)
  • (Digital) service solutions to foster risk competence, evidence-based decisions and human-centered strategies to manage (new) risks 

Management Board

Dr. Franziska Hofer
Founder / CEO

Franziska has a degree in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Zurich and a PhD in human factors. During her PhD, she was the Research Group Leader of an interdisciplinary team of social scientists, software developers and data scientists, who developed human-centered training applications to increase aviation security. Between 2007 and 2021, she has initiated several interdisciplinary R&D projects at the intersection between law enforcement, aviation security, high-reliability-organisations and social science as senior scientist and principal investigator (PI).  2013 she co-founded brainability, a transdisciplinary organization for individual and system transformation.

Find her publications here.

Dr. Angela Bearth
Co-Founder / Partner

Angela has a degree in Social and Health Psychology from the University of Zurich and a PhD in risk research. After a short stint in Marketing, she returned to applied research at ETH Zurich. Over the years she has initiated several projects on chemical and technological risks, stakeholder engagement and risk communication. She is member of the Scientific Committee of the European Food Safety Authority, president-elect of the Society for Risk Analysis Europe, a scientific organisation that embodies her passion for interdisciplinary, applied research and exchange with non-academic institutions and organizations.


Find her publications here.

Team

Larissa Luchsinger
Senior Projectmanager

Larissa has a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Zurich. She has many years of in-depth experience in project management and scientific work. She worked for several years at the Bern University of Applied Sciences. Since February 2020, Larissa has been working in the Consumer Behaviour Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich).

Larissa will start working at HF Partners in January 2025.

Dr. Tuule Grolig
Senior Projectmanager

Tuule is a legal senior psychology researcher specializing in strategic and cognitive interviewing techniques, deception detection, and interviewees’ strategies during interviews. With a keen interest in the complex dynamics of human behaviour, her work centers on understanding the intricate nuances that impact information gathering and decision-making processes.

Find her publications here.

Scientific Advisor

Prof. Dr. Michael Siegrist
Scientific Advisor

Michael has been Professor of Consumer Behavior at ETH Zurich since April 2007. Due to his early interest in risk and uncertainty topics, he has over 30 years of experience in applied research regarding security and safety issues.

Regularly named on the list of Highly Cited Researchers, Michael has published more than 500 articles.

Find his publications here.