Curriculum Vitae

Education:

November 2020: PhD from the European University Institute, Florence, Italy

• Dissertation on the "Digital Politics Across Contexts, Social Media, Parties and Citizens: Technological Opportunities and Challenges in Modern Democracies" (Supervisor: Alexander H. Trechsel (University of Lucerne, Switzerland))

• Thematic focus: interrelation of the discourses of political parties and public opinion on Twitter and Facebook, agenda-setting powers of social media users, issue competition and saliences across on- and offline media

• Methodological focus: web scraping, quantitative text analysis (dictionary approach, (structural) topic models, sentiment analysis), machine learning, qualitative content analysis, multilevel modelling

September 2015 - August 2016: Master of Research (M.Res.), European University Institute, Florence, Italy

September 2012 - September 2013: Master of Arts (M.A.) in Social Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia

• Recipient of merit-based full scholarship

• Double degree in conjunction with University College London, awarded with distinction

• Master thesis: “A Functional Perspective on Post-Communist Civil Society: Contentious Activities and Internet Activism in Latvia”

September 2011 - August 2013: Master of Arts (M.A.) in Politics and Security, University College London, UK

• Recipient of merit-based full scholarship

• Double degree Erasmus Mundus program “International Masters in Economy, State and Society with Reference to Central and Eastern Europe” (IMESS) with first year in London and second year in Tartu

September 2008 - June 2011: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Integrated Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany

• Recipient of merit-based scholarship

• Bachelor thesis: “Civic Community in Russia: Abundant or Deficient?” 

Academic and Work Experience:

Since October 2019: Research Associate (Post-Doc) in the Department of Political Science, Chair of Domestic Politics and Comparative Government under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jasmin Riedl, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany

• Responsible for the use case "Election" of the research project SPARTA (Society, Politics and Risk with Twitter Analysis)

June 2021 - September 2021: Co-director of euandi2021, a voting advice application (VAA) for the German election, Florence, Italy

• Responsible for form and content of the VAA, communication with German parties, coordination and instruction of manifesto coders 

September 2018 - May 2019: Project leader of the German part of euandi2019, a VAA for the EP elections, Florence, Italy

• Coordination of the team and project management, coding and evaluation of party manifestos, communication with party leaders and headquarters

Novermber 2015 - November 2017: Member of the Advisory Board, Schader Foundation, Darmstadt, Germany

• Representation of the next academic generation in the central advisory and examination board of the foundation, organization of annual conventions, reviewing of grant applications and advise on scientific questions

October 2016 - October 2017: Manager of the EUI Student Bar Fiasco, Florence, Italy

• Responsible for logistics (stocks, orders, shifts), planning and organization of events

January 2014 - July 2015: Research Assistant, Institute of Political Science, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany

• Triangulation research of risk communication practices and citizen participation in structural civil protection at the municipal level and against floods and extreme weather conditions. Designed, conducted and analyzed qualitative expert interviews and a population survey 

Languages:

• German: mother tongue

• English: fluent

• French, Italien, Latvian: working knowledge

• Spanish, Estonian, Slovenian: beginner

 PC/IT Skills:

• Python, R, STATA, SPSS

• MAXQDA