
Dr Joseph Voros
Doctor of Philosophy, Monash University, Australia; Bachelor of Science (Honours), Monash University, Australia
- Swinburne Business School
- Department of Management and Marketing
- No longer at the Hawthorn campus
- ORCID profile
Biography
Dr Joseph Voros holds a PhD in theoretical physics (on mathematical extensions to the General Theory of Relativity). He then spent several years in internet-related firms, including a stint at the legendary Silicon Valley company Netscape Communications in the latter 1990s, and has been a professional futurist for 25 years.
Dr Voros started at Swinburne in early 2000 as a consultant on a special project in the former Australian Foresight Institute. He was then appointed as a strategic foresight analyst in the top-level strategic planning unit at Swinburne, in which role he was involved in the building of an organisational strategic thinking capacity based on foresight concepts and methodologies. During this time, he formed very strong links with the strategic foresight teaching program, attending every subject and providing a practitioner's perspective in regular invited lectures.
In 2003, he joined the academic staff of the Master of Strategic Foresight program, researching and lecturing on the theory and practice of foresight in organisations and society. Three articles from his Generic Foresight Process framework series have won research excellence awards, including the 2010 Outstanding Paper Award for the best paper in the 2009 volume of the journal Foresight. He also re-designed, convened, and for several years taught, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) unit on Corporate Strategy, bringing a unique corporate-level foresight-enhanced perspective to it.
He has a strong belief in the need for both rigorous intellectual discipline as well as practical pragmatic utility in "real world" contexts, and this belief lies at the heart of his approach to Futures Studies and strategic foresight. For over two decades he has used the multidisciplinary frameworks of Cosmic Evolution, Astrobiology, and 'Big History' to frame wide-ranging questions about the longer-term futures of global civilisation and humankind, and to explore how these far-reaching perspectives can inform and broaden our present-day strategic and policy choices at individual, organisational, institutional, societal, and planetary scales.
In August 2020, after 20 years at Swinburne, he was one of the "COVID redundancies" resulting from the global pandemic's devastating effect on the university sector. He remains connected with Swinburne, however, as an Adjunct Professor, while he assists current PhD students to finish.
He is a member of the World Futures Studies Federation, the Big History Institute, and the Association of Professional Futurists, and was a Founding member and former Board member (2012-2017) of the International Big History Association. He serves on the editorial boards of the journal Foresight, the European Journal of Futures Research, the Journal of Big History, and the Journal of Futures Studies.
Research interests
Cosmic Evolution & Big History; Astrobiology and SETI; Foresight and Futures Studies; Theories and models of social change; Foresight Methodologies; Civilisational Foresight and the coming civilisational transition; Applied Foresight
PhD candidate and honours supervision
Higher degrees by research
Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.
PhD topics and outlines
No Longer taking on new supervisions: I am assisting current students to finish, but not taking on any more.
Fields of Research
- Other Human Society Not Elsewhere Classified - 449999
- Strategy, Management And Organisational Behaviour Not Elsewhere Classified - 350799
- Historical Studies Not Elsewhere Classified - 430399
Teaching areas
Cosmic Evolution / Big History;Futures Studies / Strategic Foresight
Awards
- 2010, International, Outstanding Paper Award, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence
- 2008, National, National Finalist, Unijobs Lecturer of the Year Awards
- 2008, International, Most Important Futures Works - Top 3, Association of Professional Futurists
- 2007, International, Highly Commended Award, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence
- 2004, International, Highly Commended Award, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence
Professional memberships
- 2003 - 2004: Board Member, On the Horizon (journal), United States
- 2007 (current): Board Member, Foresight (journal), United Kingdom
- 2013 (current): Board Member, European Journal of Futures Research, Europe
- 2016 (current): Board Member, Journal of Big History, International
- 2012 - 2017: Board Member, International Big History Association, International
- 2008 - 2013: Board Member, Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, United States
- 2021 (current): Board Member, Journal of Futures Studies, International
- 2017 (current): Member, Association of Professional Futurists , International
- 2002 (current): Member, World Futures Studies Federation, International
- 2008 - 2016: Member, World Future Society, International
- 2013 (current): Member, Big History Institute, Australia
- 2012 (current): Member, International Big History Association, International
Publications
Also published as: Voros, Joseph; Voros, J.; Voros, Joe
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.
Recent research grants awarded
- 2012: Leveraging research and development (R and D) for the Australian built environment *; ARC Linkage Projects Scheme
* Chief Investigator
Recent media
- 2021-09-18: Dr. Joseph Voros speaks about preposterous futures and civilization-level foresight - Exponetial Minds podcast
- 2021-09-01: The Re-Interviews - FuturePod (podcast series)
- 2019-12-06: Astronomers have identified a galaxy within a galaxy within a galaxy - Metro News
- 2019-05-03: What I'm Doing To Be More Private Online - Lifehacker Australia
- 2019-04-07: Big History and Civilisational Foresight - FuturePod (podcast series)
- 2018-06-21: Modeling the Future of Marketing - Part 1 Looking at marketing through the work futures lens. - Medium
- 2017-03-17: The Flare and Focus of Successful Futurists - Sloan Management Review
- 2017-01-18: Don't Sit Back And Let The Future Happen To You: Listen To The Signals - Forbes (online)
- 2016-04-05: Speculative design: A design niche or a new tool for government innovation? How can governments use design to help shape the future? - Nesta Org UK