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
- Research Training Group "Social Dynamics of the Self" (SELF)
- DAAD-GSSP "Global Dynamics of Social Policy and Social Cohesion" (GSPSC)
- DAAD-GSSP "Global Inequality, the Middle Classes and the Welfare State" (GloWel)
- BIGSSS-departs / EU COFUND
- DFG Excellence Initiative
Affiliated Ph.D. Program
Visiting Ph.D. Program
DFG Excellence Initiative
Research Interests
- Institutional Economics
- Economic Sociology
- Income Inequality
- Relative Deprivation
- Trust
Research Interests
Organizational Sociology
Social Theory
Welfare State and Labour Market
Qualitative Methods
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
Research Interests
Political Sociology
Education
BIGSSS-departs / EU COFUND
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
Research Interests
Digital anthropology
Interpretive sociology
Philosophy of language
Philosophy of mind
Grounded Theory
Netnography & multi-sited ethnography
Thematic & qualitative content analysis
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.
Research Interests
- Social Complexity
- Agent-based modelling
- Immigrant Integration
Research Interests
- Sociology of the Family
- Intersectionality
- Elderly-Care Arrangements
- Gender and Social Policy
- Feminist Methodology
- Life Course Research
Research Interests
- Emerging powers
- Chinese entrepreneur networks
- New Silk Road
- Social network analysis; qualitative interviews
Visiting Program
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
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.
Research Interests
Noncognitive skills (particularly grit and self-control)
Positive psychological approach to personality
Educational inequalities
Research Interests
- Migration studies and Transnationalism
- Long-Term Care Policy
- Gender, Labour Market and Social Policy
- Qualitative Research
Research Interests
- Healthcare Systems in East-central Europe
- Quality of health care
- Patient safety
- Patient rights
Research Interests
Sociology of the Family
Intergenerational Transmission
Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods
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.
Research Interests
- Intergenerational Inequality
- Family and intergenerational reproduction
- Extracurricular activities and skill development
Research Interests
- Social policy in Ukraine under conditions of war
- Social care for internally displaced people
- Civil society
- Democratic processes in post-soviet countries
Research Interests
Strategies and Actors of Economic Transformation
(Historical) Regionbuilding
Structural Policies in Socialism and Capitalism
Universität Bremen, Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS)
Research Areas
Gender
Peace and Conflict Studies
Migration Studies
Qualitative Methods
Research Interests
European Politics, Deep-Sea-Mining, Common Foreign and Security Policy, Securitization, Role Theory
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.
Research Areas
Social Policy
Public Health
Development Research
Research Areas
Migration Studies
Social Policy
Political Theory
Comparative Politics
Social Stratification
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Research Areas
Qualitative Methods
Social Networks
Inequality
Mixed Methods
Research Interests
Research Interests
- Transition
- East Germany
- Entrepreneurship
- Vocational Training
- Life-long Learning
Research Areas
Political Sociology
Quantitative Methods
Research Interests
Political Methodology, Meta Science, Public Opinion and Social Policy, Text-as-Data
Research Interests
Social Cohesion and Polarization
Political Sociology
Urban Sociology
Universität Bremen, Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS)
Research Areas
Gender
Migration Studies
International Relations
Research Interests
International Political Economy, State-Business Relations and Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies
Research Areas
Social Policy
Welfare State Research
Development Research
Comparative Politics
Quantitative Methods
Research Interests
- Party Positioning
- Natural Language Processing
- Parliamentary Debate Analysis
Research Interests
- Migration studies
- Diaspora studies
- Belongingness
- Longing
- Otherness
- postmigration
- Narratives analysis method
Research Interests
- Social protection policies across the Global South
- Social inclusion
- Family policies
- Gender and the welfare state
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)
Research Interests
Culture, Moral Judgment, Social Cognition, Implicit measures
Research Interests
- Norms
- Human Morality
- Attitudes
- Prejudice
- Inter/Intra-Group Relations
- Intergroup Conflict
- Integration
- Social Identity
- Human Evolution
- (Cross-)Cultural Psychology
Research Interests
- Cultural Psychology
- Self across different cultural backgrounds
- Values
- Acculturation
Research Areas
Comparative Politics
Intergroup Relations
Social Networks
Mixed Methods
Research Interests
- Welfare states and social policy
- Redistributive preferences
- Deservingness opinion
- Family policies
- Gender inequalities
DAAD GSSP "Global Dynamics of Social Policy and Social Cohesion" (GSPSC)
Research Interests
My research interests span these fields:
- Housing inequalities
- Social Inequalities
- Urban development
- Disaster risk management
- Urban informal economy
Research Interests
environmental policy, social policy, policy narratives, Narative Policy Framework, social cohesion
Research Interests
Sociology of happiness
Subjective well-being of immigrants
Social policy and immigrants
Immigrant integration policies
Social inequality
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)
Research Interests
- Family Solidarity
- Social Policy
- Welfare Attitudes
- Quantitative Methods
- Survey Methodology
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
Research Interests
Social stratification, Social networks, redistributive preferences, distributive justice
Research Interests
- Care work
- Feminist political ecology
- Feminist political economy
- Qualitative methods
- Rural sociology