Dr. Barbora Šedová (co-)leads the FutureLab on Security, Ethnic Conflicts and Migration at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Dr. Šedová is a climate economist whose work examines when and how climate variability and change influence migration and conflict dynamics, primarily using methods from econometrics. Her research aims to generate evidence that helps reduce risks to human security in a changing climate.

Dr. Šedová serves as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).

At PIK, she has (co-)led major research and policy initiatives, including the PREVIEW project and the Weathering Risk initiative.

Between 2023 and 2025, Dr. Šedová was a member of the Advisory Board to the German Federal Government on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding.

Dr. Šedová earned her PhD in Economics from the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) and the University of Potsdam. Her doctoral research focused on the empirical analysis of climate impacts on human migration and received the University of Potsdam’s award for an outstanding dissertation. She has conducted research stays at Columbia University and Yale University.