ORCID-ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3418-6064
Since February 2025 I have been a Research Associate at the Chair for Political Science (Political Theory) at the University of Passau. I work as a Postdcotoral Researcher in the EU Horizon funded project Tackling Conspiracy Theories by Fostering Resilience and Democratic Self-Efficacy (TaCT-FoRSED). In the course of three years we research mechanisms of action as well as antidotes to conspiracist ideologies. In the research project, I am leading Work Package 2 dealing witch comparative analysis of conspiracism in eight European societies.
Since 2024 I am (advanced) fellow of the Passau Young Researchers Excellence Center (PYREC), an interdisciplinary research network of early career scientists at the University of Passau. Since 2025 I also am fellow at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (LCSCA), that investigates antisemitism in society as well as academia.
I am a member of the German Association for Political Science (DVPW), in the section political theory and history of ideas, in the section political science and civic education, and in the working group democracy research. I also am a member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Furthermore I am member in the association for the promotion of German and international science law. Between 2012–14 I was member of the accreditation commission of ACQUIN.
In my PhD dissertation at the University of Regensburg (topic: Conspiracist Ideology and Democracy. Structures, Reasons, Effects, and Responses) I already dealt with conspiracism in democratic systems.
Furthermore, I am a visiting lecturer at the University of Regensburg and the University of Applied Sciences Regensburg. In the past, I had been a visiting lecturer at the Freie Universität Berlin as well as at the IU - International University.
My research interests are:
- Conspiracism
- Theory and history of conspiracism
- Conspiracism and democracy
- Democratic measures against conspiracist ideologies
- Democracy Theory
- Theory of legitimacy
- Construction of knowledge in democratic societies
- History of ideas of democracies, e.g. social contract theory
- Political theory of evil and democratic identity
- Demokratiepädagogik
- Political epistemology and emotions
- Moral emotions in politics
- Knowledge battles in democracies
- Democracy psychology and social intervention (including in political education and social work)
- Racism, far-right ideologies, and terrorism
- Antisemitism, esp. contemporary antisemitism and antisemitic conspiracist ideologies
- Far-right politics and 'new right' in Germany
- Comparative terrorism studies, esp. transnational terrorism & terrorist strategies of communication
