Katrin Schaefer is Associate Professor at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, where she currently heads the Schaefer Lab (Face Research, Division of Human Behavior) and also the 3D Surface Scanner Lab.

She recieved her PhD in 1997 from the University of Vienna, and Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Urban Ethology, with greatest distinction. Her interests center around the evolutionary forces and constraints that shaped and continue to shape our minds, our behaviors, and our bodies.  Her current research focusses on biological causes and psychological effects of modern human facial shape variation using Geometric Morphometric methods in a cross-cultural context. She was also involved in paleoanthropological field research in Ethiopia, and non-human European primate research. 

She is Member of the Board of Trustees, Museum of National History, Vienna (2013-present), Associate Editor, "Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology," MIT Press (2015-present), Member, Editorial Board, "South European Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Research" (2013-present), External reviewer and Advisory Board Member for INA (Institut fuer Naturwissenschaftliche Archaeologie), Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Germany (2014).