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

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

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

Research Interests

I am interested in doing research about global governance, regulatory coordination and social outcomes of international trade and foreign diplomacy. I attend to strategic behaviors 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.

During the doctoral study at BIGSSS, under the umbrella term of global governance, I conduct research on the trajectories of social and human rights commitment and compliance along global supply chains of labor-intensive products and explore cases of cooperation and coordination among governments, and between state and non-state actors in the Global South context.

Additionally, I am keen on learning about the prospects of digital transformation for the future of work, the application of artificial intelligence in improving working conditions and labor standards in low-income countries; and most importantly, the social pillar within global sustainability commitment and implementation.

 

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

Visiting Program

Anisha Elama
BIGSSS, Constructor University
09-02/2025 (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India)

Research Interests

  • Organizational Behaviour
  • Cross-Cultural Research
  • Employee Silence
  • Leadership Studies
  • Leader-Member Exchange
  • IT Sector

Affiliated Ph.D. Program

Ertila Druga
Universität Bremen, Socium

Research Areas
Welfare State Research

Research Interests

Transformation of health care systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after the collapse of communism.

The role of the World Bank and the IMF on health care reforms in low- and middle-income countries, including transitioning economies in CEE.

The political economy of health care financing reforms in CEE.

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

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

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

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 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
  • Collaborative Governance Regimes

Fangyue Diana Bao
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

International organizations (IOs) are active actors of global governance. They direct, fund, and implement different forms of projects that affect people’s lives in different countries. My Ph.D. project focuses on the influence of IOs in China from an educational perspective. Nevertheless, the existing literature has fallen short on the study of international organizations in China mainly due to the challenging interdisciplinary nature of the topic and complex realistic concerns. This study aims to answer the research question - Do international organizations have an influence in China? If so, in what ways do IOs exert their influence?

 

My PhD study will consist of a series of papers. The first paper will carry out an in-depth single-case study on OECD and the change of its influence in China through its well-known international educational program PISA. Then, the second paper will proceed with a comparative case study between the educational programs in China of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The final paper will be a content analysis of the publications from all the IOs carrying out educational programs in China. Each of the papers will answer one of the above sub-research questions. By studying IO’s educational programs in international ranking programs, funding, and ideas in China, the study aims to illustrate the interaction between IOs and the Chinese government through the educational perspective.

 

In addition, I am a member of the University of Bremen’s Collaborative Research Center 1342. Our team, A05 of CRC 1342, investigates the global development of coverage and generosity of state education in the secondary school sector. We conduct in-depth case studies on the influence of global transformation processes on the national education policy of Senegal, Ghana, Malaysia, and Cambodia. I have just finished a paper on Cambodia’s education system.

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

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

Marija Cubalevska
Universität Bremen
Affiliated PhD Fellow

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

Research Areas
Gender
Peace and Conflict Studies
Migration Studies
Qualitative Methods

Hamidreza Farhat
Universität Bremen

Pia Gebbing
BIGSSS, Constructor University

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

Tim-Frederik Hahn
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Adjunct PhD Fellow

Research Interests

 European Politics, Deep-Sea-Mining, Common Foreign and Security Policy, Securitization, Role Theory 

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

Florian König
Universität Bremen
Affiliated PhD Fellow
Tel.: +49 421 218-58604

Research Areas
Qualitative Methods
Social Networks
Inequality
Mixed Methods

Research Interests

 

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

Xugang Nie
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Affiliated PhD Fellow

Jessica Nuske
Universität Bremen, Socium

Svenja Oltmanns
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218-56601

Research Interests

Social Cohesion and Polarization

Political Sociology

Urban Sociology

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

Research Areas
Gender
Migration Studies
International Relations

Alexander Reik
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Affiliated PhD Fellow

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
  • Belongingness 
  • Longing 
  • Otherness
  • postmigration
  • 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

Timo Wiesner
Universität Bremen
Affiliated PhD Fellow

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

Research Areas
Comparative Politics
Intergroup Relations
Social Networks
Mixed Methods

Sophia Landzettel
BIGSSS, Constructor University
Tel.: +49 (0) 421 200 3953

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 interests span these fields:

  • Housing inequalities 
  • Social Inequalities
  • Urban development 
  • Disaster risk management 
  • Urban informal economy 

Tatiana Chalaya
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

environmental policy, social policy, policy narratives, Narative Policy Framework, social cohesion

Samitha Udayanga
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

Environmental Sociology, Well-being and Human Behaviour

Climate Change realted ploicies

Sociology of happiness

Subjective well-being of immigrants

Social policy on immigrants

 

 

Darsana Varier
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

  • Gender
  • Masculinities
  • Social movements
  • Victimhood and Vulnerability politics
  • Ethnography
  • Critical discourse analysis

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 Attitudes
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Survey Methodology

Catalina Ganga Leon
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

Emotion work; Emotional labour; Care work; Long-term care; Ageing; Gender inequality; Class inequality; Qualitative methods; Grounded Theory; Latin American research; Feminist studies

Julio Iturra-Sanhueza
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

Social stratification, Social networks, redistributive preferences, distributive justice  

Göksu Köktürk
BIGSSS, Universität Bremen

Research Interests

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