Regular & Affiliated Fellows

BIGSSS hosts more than 90 international fellows in its PhD Programs. Please find below their research profiles, publications and contact information.

Regular Ph.D. Programs

Affiliated Ph.D. Program

Visiting Ph.D. Program

DFG Excellence Initiative

Zaklina Aguilar
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Tel.: +49 421 200 3961

Research Interests

- Work and Retiremeent
- Immigration Studies

Björn Gernig
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66383

Andreas Katsikidis
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66445

Research Interests

  • Institutional Economics
  • Economic Sociology
  • Income Inequality
  • Relative Deprivation
  • Trust

Laura Kollmann
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66458

Research Interests

Organizational Sociology

Social Theory

Welfare State and Labour Market

Qualitative Methods

Janosch Neil Kullenberg
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66387

Research Interests

Global governance and international organisations
Political Sociology
Armed conflict & Forced migration
Peacekeeping, humanitarianism, development aid, particulary in regards to the 'Protection of Civilians'
Qualitative methods/ Ethnography
Geographic focus: Central and East Africa

Dragan Mihajlovic
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66384

Research Interests

Political Sociology
Education

BIGSSS-departs / EU COFUND

Jelisaveta Belić
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Tel.: +49 421 200 3962

Research Interests

Coming from Serbia, my interests focus mainly around societal outliers—Roma children and families, LGBTIQ adolescents, and gifted underachieving pupils. I am currently working on a project investigating the interplay of individuals' personal values and values they are exposed to while interacting with their immediate social groups, and its effects on subjective well-being.

  • Child and Adolescent Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Mental Health
  • Values
  • Personal Construct Psychotherapy
  • Mixed Methods

Adrien Donneaud
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66405

Research Interests

Digital anthropology

Interpretive sociology

Philosophy of language

Philosophy of mind

Grounded Theory

Netnography & multi-sited ethnography 

Thematic & qualitative content analysis

Dung Le Thuy
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66403

Research Interests

I conduct research on Global Regulatory Governance, focusing on the intermediary actors operating in transnational and state regulation process of labor standards. I am particularly interested in studying the strategic behaviours employed by the stake-holding actors, including work on governance tactics, legislative instruments, and the role that constitutional characteristics and contemporary industrial relations play in shaping these strategies.

My ongoing project looks at relations among key actors (e.g. Ministry of Labor, the tripartite representatives and International Labor Organisation (ILO), international organisations (IOs), ad-hoc initiatives, international and national non-governmental organisations (INGOs & NGOs), and contemporary social movements…). I further investigate how the network of these actors shapes their strategic intervention towards the promotion of labor standards in specific institutional settings.

Rocco Paolillo
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Tel.: +49 421 200 3953

Research Interests

  • Social Complexity
  • Agent-based modelling
  • Immigrant Integration

Gizem Irmak Sel
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66384

Research Interests

  • Sociology of the Family
  • Intersectionality
  • Elderly-Care Arrangements
  • Gender and Social Policy
  • Feminist Methodology
  • Life Course Research

Priya Singh
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66433

Research Interests

  • Informal sector labour
  • Welfare State, Social Protection
  • Gender and the informal employment
  • Welfare State for the informal sector labour

Larissa Weimer Swader
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66438

Research Interests

  • Emerging powers
  • Chinese entrepreneur networks
  • New Silk Road
  • Social network analysis; qualitative interviews

Affiliated Ph.D. Program

Ertila Druga
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218 57083

Research Interests

Healthcare Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs)
The Welfare State in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs)
International Organizations especially the World Bank and IMF
Health Financing Policies and Politics

Cristina Greculescu
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Tel.: +49 421 200 3953

Research Interests

Noncognitive skills (particularly grit and self-control)
Positive psychological approach to personality
Educational inequalities

Jenny Hahs
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.:  +49 421 218 57069

Research Interests

  • Distribution and diffusion of national and global patterns of labour law
  • (International) Organisations, their actors and power
  • mixed-methods research
  • workers representation, especially works councils

Ante Malinar
Universität Bremen, Socium

Kristin Noack
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-58604

Research Interests

  • Migration studies and Transnationalism
  • Long-Term Care Policy
  • Gender, Labour Market and Social Policy
  • Qualitative Research

Greta-Marleen Storath
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-57068

Liva Stupele
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-57082

Research Interests

  •          Healthcare Systems in East-central Europe
  •          Quality of health care
  •          Patient safety
  •          Patient rights

Rena Tecklenburg
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218 66413

Research Interests

Sociology of the Family
Intergenerational Value Transmission
Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods

Laura Andrea Alvarez Tobar
Universität Bremen, Socium

Hudu Banikoi
Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie (ZMT)

Research Interests

  • Institutional Economics
  • Institutional Change
  • Political Economy of Institutions
  • Coastal Blue Economy
  • Environmental Governance
  • Common-Pool Resource Governance
  • Co-management regimes

Fangyue Diana Bao
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Henriette Bering
Universität Bremen, Socium

Research Interests

  • Intergenerational Inequality
  • Family and intergenerational reproduction
  • Extracurricular activities and skill development

Oksana Chorna
Universität Bremen, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (FSO)
Tel.: +49 421 218 57083

Research Interests

  • Social policy in Ukraine under conditions of war
  • Social care for internally displaced people
  • Civil society
  • Democratic processes in post-soviet countries

Harry Churchill
Universität Bremen, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaft (IfG)

Charlotta Cordes
Universität Bremen, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (FSO)
Tel.: +49 421 218 66646

Research Interests

Strategies and Actors of Economic Transformation

(Historical) Regionbuilding

Structural Policies in Socialism and Capitalism

Adio-Adet Tichafara Dinika
Universität Bremen, Zentrum für Arbeit und Politik (zap)

Research Interests

  • Future of Work
  • Digitalisation
  • Digital Economy
  • Decent Work
  • Platform governance
  • Data Work
  • Artificial Intelligence

 

Zeynep Pinar Erdem
Universität Bremen, Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS)

Pia Gebbing
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Prakashnee Govender
Universität Bremen, Institut für Arbeit und Wirtschaft (iaw)

Nils Tobias Henschel
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Constantin Huber
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-58548

Research Interests

Various developments are increasingly challenging social cohesion, such as anthropogenic climate change, globalisation or populism. In particular, the nature of the latter, including its effects on European democracies, has become the focus of my research interest in recent years.

Daoyuan Ji
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Research Areas
Social Policy
Public Health
Development Research

Mara Junge
Universität Bremen, Socium

Research Areas
Migration Studies
Social Policy
Political Theory
Comparative Politics
Social Stratification
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods

Serhat Kosif
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Research Interests

I am interested in abstract concepts, modelling, and designing to build pragmatic solutions
considering spatial and statistical aspects. I am inspired by interdisciplinary methodologies while
shaping my frameworks.

Jarina Kühn
Universität Bremen, Business Studies & Economics (FB07)
Tel.: +49 421 218 66637

Research Interests

  • Transition
  • East Germany
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Vocational Training
  • Life-long Learning

Felix Lanver
Universität Bremen, Socium

Mai Mahmoud
Universität Bremen, Socium

Sooahn Meier
Universität Bremen, Socium

Fabienne Stefanie Müller
Universität Bremen, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaft (IfG)

Hai Ha Nguyen
Universität Bremen, Socium

Hung H. V. Nguyen
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: 0421-218-58513

Research Areas
Political Sociology
Quantitative Methods

Research Interests

Political Methodology, Meta Science, Public Opinion and Social Policy, Text-as-Data

Jessica Nuske
Universität Bremen, Socium

David Onen Ongwech
Universität Bremen, Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS)

Fernando Alejandro Remache Vinueza
Universität Bremen, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaft (IfG)

Research Interests

  • Social policy
  • Identities
  • Public policy

Sophia Roppertz
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: 0421 21858539

Heiner Salomon
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: 58649

Research Areas
Social Policy
Welfare State Research
Development Research
Comparative Politics
Quantitative Methods

Hannes Salzmann
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-57061

Research Interests

  • Party Positioning
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Parliamentary Debate Analysis

Wanda Schwarze-Wippern
Universität Bremen, Socium

Khadidiatou Senghor, Ph.D.
Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie (ZMT)
Tel.: +49 (0)421 23800 - 0

Nelson Sindze Wembe
Universität Bremen, World of Contradictions (WoC)

Research Interests

  • Migration studies
  • Diaspora studies
  • Cross-cultural psychology
  • Belongingness 
  • Longing 
  • Otherness
  • Subjectivation
  • Narratives analysis method 

Anne Speer
Universität Bremen, Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt (FGZ/RISC)

Meika Sternkopf
Universität Bremen, Socium

Anh Tran
Universität Bremen, Socium

Research Interests

  • Social protection policies across the Global South
  • Social inclusion
  • Family policies
  • Gender and the welfare state

Ekaterina Vorobeva
Universität Bremen, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (FSO)

Lisa Marie Wittig
Universität Bremen, Socium
Tel.: +49 421 218-58587

Research Interests

 

Theoretical interests:

  • Sociology of the Life Course
  • Family Sociology
  • Gender Studies

Research methods:

  • Methods of Causal Inference in the Social Sciences
  • Longitudinal Data Analysis

 

Christof Wittmaack
Universität Bremen, Socium

Migyeong Yun
Universität Bremen, Socium

Mareike zum Felde
Universität Bremen, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (FSO)
Tel.: +49 421 218 66645

Research Interests

  • Discourses, path dependencies and actors of the political and economic transformation in Poland
  • Higher education policies in the context of welfare and economic policies
  • Parliamentary debates and party positions on higher education policies in Poland since 1989

RTG "Social Dynamics of the Self" (SELF)

Aya Alwais
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Rida Bano
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Mastewal Bitew
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Alice Cimenti
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Kabir Ghosh
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Research Interests

Culture, Moral Judgment, Social Cognition, Implicit measures

Borbala Greskovics
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Carina Hartz
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Research Interests

  • Social Cohesion

Gamze Ipek
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Pay Laurin Jessen
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

  • Norms
  • Human Morality
  • Attitudes
  • Prejudice
  • Inter/Intra-Group Relations
  • Intergroup Conflict
  • Integration
  • Social Identity
  • Human Evolution
  • (Cross-)Cultural Psychology

Tanya Keni
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

  • Cultural Psychology
  • Self across different cultural backgrounds
  • Values
  • Acculturation

Dariya Koleva
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Sophia Landzettel
BIGSSS, Constructor University

Research Interests

  • Welfare states and social policy
  • Redistributive preferences
  • Deservingness opinion
  • Family policies
  • Gender inequalities

Katharina Schiffer
BIGSSS, Constructor University

DAAD GSSP "Global Dynamics of Social Policy and Social Cohesion" (GSPSC)

Ernest Ayumu
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

My research interest span around these fields:

  • Housing inequalities 
  • Urban development 
  • Disaster risk management 
  • Urban informality economy 

Samitha Udayanga
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

DAAD GSSP "Global Inequality, the Middle Classes and the Welfare State" (GloWel)

Gonzalo Arevalo Iglesias
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

  • Family Solidarity
  • Social Policy
  • Welfare State
  • Attitudes
  • Labour Market Inequalities
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Survey Methodology

Catalina Ganga Leon
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

Care work; Elderly; Emotional labour; Gender inequality; Class inequality; Qualitative methods; Latin American research; Feminist studies

Julio Iturra-Sanhueza
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

Social Comparison, Subjective Social Status, Social Stratification, Redistributive Preferences

Göksu Köktürk
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

  • Care work
  • Feminist political ecology
  • Feminist political economy
  • Qualitative methods
  • Rural sociology