Univ.-Prof. Dr. Katharina Pyschny

Katharina Pyschny (b. 1984) is Professor of Old Testament Studies at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Graz. Since October 2024, she has served as Dean of the Faculty. Her main research interests include concepts of leadership in the Hebrew Bible, historical-critical exegesis (particularly of the Pentateuch, with a focus on the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy), biblical anthropology, the archaeology of the Southern Levant (especially during the Persian and early Hellenistic periods), and ancient Near Eastern iconography.

She began her academic journey studying Catholic Theology, Catholic Religious Education, and German Language and Literature in Cologne, Bonn, and Bochum. In 2015, she earned her Dr. theol. in Hebrew Bible Studies from Ruhr University Bochum. Her monograph, Verhandelte Führung. Eine Analyse von Num 16–17 im Kontext der neueren Pentateuchforschung (“Negotiated Leadership: An Analysis of Numbers 16–17 in the Context of Recent Pentateuchal Research”), reconstructs the complex literary development of the so-called “murmuring stories” in Numbers 16–17 and situates them within post-exilic discourses on political and cultic concepts of authority and leadership.

Before joining the University of Graz, she conducted research at Ruhr University Bochum, held research fellowships in Lausanne and Jerusalem, and taught in Wuppertal. From 2020 to 2022, she served as Junior Professor (tenure track) of Biblical Theology at Humboldt University of Berlin.

In 2021, together with Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò (University of Warsaw), she launched the research project “The Dawn of Monotheism? Judean Religion(s) in Persian and Early Hellenistic Times (5th–3rd cent. BCE) in Light of Iconographic, Epigraphic and Biblical Evidence.” In addition, she collaborates with Charlotte Fonrobert (Stanford University), Annette Weissenrieder (University of Halle-Wittenberg), and Mira Sievers (University of Hamburg) on the project “Sexuality and Gender in the Early Writings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”

Mag. theol. Matej Papić

Matej Papic (b. 1998 in Austria) is a pre-doctoral researcher in Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz. He holds an Mag. theol in Catholic Theology from the University of Graz. His thesis, supervised by Prof. Katharina Pyschny, examined the human-animal relation in Ecclesiastes 3:16–22 and its implications for the Old Testament understanding of being human. As part of this project, he investigates the notions of individuality and personhood in Old Testament texts.

Christina Schneidl

Christina Schneidl (b. 2003) has been studying for a bachelor's degree in Biology and Catholic Religious Education (teacher training) at the University of Graz since the winter semester of 2022. Alongside her studies, she has been employed as a student project assistant at the Institute of Old Testament Biblical Studies since September 2025.