New Framework Proposes ‘Risk Sciences’ as Interdisciplinary Field to Address Modern Uncertainties

A new article published in Risk Sciences proposes ‘risk sciences’ as an emerging interdisciplinary field focused on understanding and managing uncertainty across natural, social, economic, and technological domains. The study, authored by Runhuan Feng from Tsinghua University, outlines a three-dimensional framework to organize diverse risk research, aiming to strengthen societal resilience in an increasingly complex world.

The framework’s first dimension, identification and assessment, focuses on recognizing risks, evaluating their likelihood and impact, and modeling potential losses or consequences. This includes methods ranging from causal risk-factor models used in disaster research to statistical trend analysis common in finance and insurance. The second dimension, mechanism and strategy, examines how risks are addressed in practice through concrete tools like risk avoidance, mitigation, and transfer, as well as broader coordinated plans such as national catastrophe risk management systems.

The third dimension, behavior and decision, highlights how individuals, organizations, and institutions perceive risk and make decisions under uncertainty. Drawing on insights from economics, psychology, and behavioral science, this dimension explains why real-world decisions often deviate from purely rational models and how cognitive biases, information asymmetry, and institutional structures shape risk-related behavior. ‘Risk sciences is not a single discipline, but an ecosystem of interconnected research,’ Feng explains in the article published with DOI 10.1016/j.risk.2025.100029.

Using this framework, the article reviews major research areas shaping the field, including climate and catastrophe risks, digitalization and cybersecurity, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, and global societal challenges. It identifies emerging trends such as the growing use of network analysis, agent-based modeling, and closer links between academic research, industry applications, and public policy. The framework aims to integrate insights across disciplines to better understand complex risks and design more effective responses to modern uncertainties ranging from climate change and pandemics to financial instability and cybersecurity threats.

The article concludes by introducing Risk Sciences, a new open-access journal designed to foster interdisciplinary integration and innovation. Its central hypothesis is that synthesizing diverse approaches to risk can help build a shared knowledge base that supports better decision-making and enhances resilience in an era of escalating uncertainty. The original research is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.risk.2025.100029.

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