Viadrina Institute for European Studies (IFES)
Members
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Prof Dr Timm Beichelt is the dean of Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences and professor of the Chair of European Studies. From April 2017 until May 2022, he was the director of the Viadrina Institute for European Studies (IFES). More about Timm Beichelt can be found on the website of his Chair for European Studies. |
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Dr Gautam Chakrabarti is an academic associate at the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Cultural Studies and researches and teaches at the intersections of literary, cultural, social and intellectual history. His research interests include world literature, world literary knowledge, "Maverick Cosmopolitanism/s" in the cultural Cold War and literary and cultural history of (post)colonialism, especially South Asia. Further information on Gautam Chakrabarti can be found on the website of the Faculty of Cultural Studies. |
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Prof Dr Theresa Gessler is a Junior Professor of Comparative Politics. She conducts research on democracy, populism, digitalization and gender issues in Europe. For more information about Theresa Gessler, please visit the website of the Junior Professorship for Comparative Politics. |
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Dr Stefan Hanisch has been working for the Kelso Professorship of Comparative Law, East European Business Law and European Legal Policy as a research associate since October 2010. More about Stefan Hanisch can be found on the website of the Kelso-Professorship. |
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Dr Anja Hennig deals with the comparative analysis of the relationship between religion and politics in contemporary Europe and with transnational resistance to gender equality as an example of illiberal responses to liberally understood policies. Her country focus is Poland. More about Anja Hennig can be found on the website of the Chair of Comparative Politics (in German). |
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Dr Amelie Kutter initiated the Periphery Group at IFES and contributes to the study of political legitimacy and EU-induced social change, with a particular focus on public discourse and the political economy of European integration. More information about Amelie Kutter can be found on her personal website. |
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Prof Dr Jens Lowitzsch is the Chair of the Kelso-Professorship since October 1st, 2010. He teaches Comparative Law, East European Economic Law and European Legal Policy at the European University Viadrina. More information on Jens Lowitzsch can be found here. |
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Prof Michael Minkenberg's research interests include the radical right in liberal democracies; immigration, nationalism and the politics of citizenship; and the relationship between religion and politics in Western societies. Further information on Michael Minkenberg can be found on the website of his Chair Comparative Politics. |
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Prof Dr Sascha Münnich is the director of the Viadrina Institute for European Studies (IFES). He works in the field of economic sociology and sociological theory. From a historical-comparative perspective, he focuses on financial and labor markets, the significance of critiques of capitalism, and social policy in European countries and North America. In addition to numerous academic publications, he is also present in the media as an expert of sociological perspectives on the economy, culture and politics of European societies. More about Sascha Münnich can be found on the website of his Chair of Sociology of the Economy (in German). |
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Prof Dr Jürgen Neyer is Professor of European and International Politics at the European University Viadrina and founding director of the European New School of Digital Studies (ENS). His recent projects focus on links between technological innovation and international conflicts as well as on the development of an AI-based search engine for arguments. |
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Dominik Paul-Diehl is an academic assistant at the Chair of Sociology of Economics. His research interests include sustainability and its social negotiation processes, in particular in the realm of economics. His doctoral project deals with the field structures of sustainability assessments and ratings of a green financial market. You can find more information about Domink Paul-Diehl on the website of the Chair of Sociology of the Economy (in German). |
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Dr rer pol Sonja Priebus is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of European Studies. Her current primary research interest focuses on the dismantling of democracy and of the rule of law in EU member states such as Hungary and Poland. In this context, she is primarily interested in the development and deployment of the EU's rule of law instruments. Moreover, she studies the political systems of the Visegrád states, in particular the political system of Hungary, as well as constitutional politics. Further informationen on Sonja Priebus can be found here (in German). |
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Jonas Rietschel is an academic associate at the Department of Sociology of the Economy. His research focuses on the study of populism, democracy and welfare states. As part of his PhD, he is working on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on European welfare models. For further information on Jonas Rietschel, please visit the website of the Chair of Sociology of the Economy (in German). |
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PD Dr Estela Schindel is the Academic coordinator of the Viadrina Institute for European Studies. Her research interests include the social dynamics of exception and exclusion, dictatorship and violence research as well as cultures of remembrance in a comparative perspective, spatial and urban research with a focus on Latin America as well as border regimes and border theories. More information about Estela Schindel can be found here. |
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Climate change becomes increasingly noticeable in our everyday life. Evermore extreme floods, heat waves and droughts affect businesses, public infrastructures and also the citizens of Germany and the European Union. This creates big challenges, in particular for insurance companies. Questions on how to comprehend and tackle such climate impacts are important topics for insurance economies and European environmental economy. The main research areas of Prof Dr Reimund Schwarze are: Sustainability Economics, insurance coverage of climate risks and management of natural hazards in Europe. More information can be found on the website of the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ). |
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Dr habil Elsa Tulmets' research topics include the sociology and policy analysis of the European Union, the foreign policy of the EU as well as that of the EU member states and policy transfers and norm circulation. Regional focuses are Germany, France and Central Eastern Europe. Further information on Elsa Tulmets can be found on the website of the Chair for European Studies (in German). |
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Zsuzsanna Végh is a research associate at the Chair of Comparative Politics and an associate researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her research interests include the radical right in the European Union, Hungarian EU and foreign policy, and regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information on Zsuzsanna Végh, please visit the website of the Chair of Comparative Politics (in German). |
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Prof Dr Claudia Weber is professor for European Contemporary History. Further information on Claudia Weber can be found on the website of her Chair. |
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Prof Dr Klaus Weber is professor for Economic and Social History. More information on Klaus Weber can be found on the website of his Chair (in German). |
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Dr Susann Worschech researches on protest, participation, democracy and political interaction in post-socialist Europe and introduces methodological impulses, especially for social network analysis. Further information on Susann Worschech can be found on the website of the Chair of European Studies. |
Associated Members
| Dr Clara Frysztacka was a research associate at the Chair of European Contemporary History. She researches historical time as a hegemonic category of self-location in European Modernism, which in the long 19th century articulated ambivalent and peripheral forms of Eastern European affiliation to Europe. | |
| Dr Pawel Lewicki was a research associate at the Chair of Comparative Cultural and Social Anthropology until July 2022. He is researching Europeanization processes, especially from the post-colonial and (post) imperial perspective. He is currently working on trajectories of HIV-positive bodies from Central and Eastern Europe. | |
| Jennifer Ramme is an associated member at IFES. She was a research associate at the Chair of European Studies until February 2023. Her research interests include Social movements in Poland and Central Eastern Europe, gender structures and politics of belonging in the context of "Europe". |
Former Members
| Dr Christiane Barnickel was a research associate at the Chair of European Studies until March 2021. Her research interests include legitimacy and (post)democracy, political discourses, and the role of (non-)knowledge in politics. | |
| Claire Gauthier was associated at the Kelso-Professorship until January 2021. Her research focuses on European energy policy in the context of sustainable energy transition and digitalization. |
