Blockchain: Meet the new professors
The Zug Institute for Blockchain Research (ZIBR) at the University of Lucerne is introducing its professors through a series of video profiles. In these short features, researchers explain how they are exploring blockchain technology from a range of perspectives – spanning law and sociology to energy markets and philosophical inquiry.
Launched in early 2026 as a joint initiative between the Canton of Zug and the University of Lucerne, the ZIBR is supported by cantonal funding of 25 million Swiss francs over five years. Its ambition is to become one of the world’s leading centres for interdisciplinary human sciences research into blockchain technology. Five of the nine planned chairs have now been filled (see previous announcement). Max Baumgart, Adam Hayes, Claude Humbel, Patrik Hummel and Markus Schreiber offer initial insights into their work in newly produced video portraits.
Opportunities for the energy transition
Max Baumgart, Associate Professor of Energy Law and Blockchain, is researching how blockchain can help coordinate an increasingly decentralised energy system. As the energy transition leads to more electricity being generated from solar and wind power, blockchain-based systems could enable surplus energy to be traded directly between neighbours. For such models to succeed, however, energy law would need to be adapted and new market roles created.
Blockchain as a social technology
Adam Hayes, Professor of Sociology and Blockchain, sees blockchain as more than a financial technology. He argues that it is also a social technology capable of conveying values, influencing behaviour and reshaping power structures. Of particular interest to Hayes is how blockchain enables new forms of social coordination: instead of blindly trusting unknown users, people can rely on the technology. At the same time, he warns that technological applications could exacerbate existing inequalities. Sociology, he notes, can help us understand both the societal benefits these applications bring and the risks they entail.
New issues in private and financial market law
Claude Humbel, Assistant Professor of Private Law and Blockchain, focuses on the private law foundations of the technology. Blockchain has the potential to challenge centralised structures in the financial system, for example by rendering intermediaries such as banks partially redundant. At the same time, it raises fundamental legal questions, including the ownership of digital assets and the transferability of cryptocurrencies under inheritance law. His work aims to support governments in developing robust legal frameworks while ensuring legal certainty and consumer protection without hindering innovation.
Trust in a technologised world
Patrik Hummel, Professor of Philosophy and Blockchain, explores fundamental philosophical questions, particularly the role of trust in an increasingly technologised world. Blockchain is often described as a ‘trustless’ technology because transactions can take place without centralised institutions. However, Hummel asks whether trust should truly be replaced by technology or whether social institutions must be strengthened alongside it. He also cautions against a ‘technology-first’ approach that seeks to solve complex societal problems solely through technical systems.
Government use and legal tensions
Markus Schreiber, Assistant Professor of Public Law and Blockchain, examines, among other topics, the role of the state. In countries devastated by war, for instance, land registers have often been destroyed. If such information were stored on a blockchain, ownership could be proven unequivocally and in a tamper-proof manner. At the same time, new legal tensions would arise - such as those between the immutability of blockchain data and the data protection ‘right to be forgotten’.
An interdisciplinary centre
For many, blockchain remains a ‘black box’. At the same time, researchers are increasingly recognising and investigating the profound changes this technology brings to society, democracy and the economy. With the ZIBR at the University of Lucerne, an interdisciplinary centre has been established to explore these developments and actively shape them. By fostering dialogue between research and practice, the institute aims to ensure that blockchain technology evolves in ways that benefit society.
A key consideration is that how blockchain functions ultimately depends on human decisions, as emphasised by Alexander Trechsel, Professor of Political Science specialising in Political Communication, and Bernhard Rütsche, Professor of Public Law and Philosophy of Law.
