Chair

Sabine C. Carey is Professor in Political Science at the University of Mannheim and Director of the Mannheim Center for European Social Research (MZES). Her research focuses on political violence and (irregular) agents of state repression, and on perceptions of security, peace and human rights. How work has appeared, among others, in the Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and Journal of Peace Research. Click here for her Chair homepage.

Collaborators

Muhammad Muhammad joined the Chair in April 2024 to work on a project on perceptions of human rights in European foreign policy. Muhammad holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from Cairo University, Egypt, and he obtained his PhD in civil engineering in 2018 from the University of Texas at Austin, USA. He is currently a master’s in political science at the university of Mannheim and is expected to start his doctoral studies in political science in September 2024 at the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim. Muhammad’s research interests include research methods, especially geodata, the war in Ukraine, Populism, and attitudes towards human rights particularly in the context of apparently competing economic and strategic considerations. 

Neil Mitchell is Emeritus Professor in International Relations at University College London. He is a long-time collaborator, primarily as Co-PI on the Pro-Government Militias Database. He works on human rights, conflict, issues of leadership and accountability, and the role of non-state actors.

Katrin Paula is Assistant Professor in Global Security and Technology at the Technical University Munich and is Co-PI on a project on perceptions of human rights. She works on information technologies and their strategic use and control affect political mobilization and violence. She was a PhD student at the Chair and received her doctoral degree in 2019.

Nadine O’Shea is postdoctoral researcher for a project on perceptions of human rights and is based at the Technical University Munich. She researches in the field of peace and conflict studies and has a keen interest in research methods.

Christoph Steinert is postdoctoral fellow at the University of St. Gallen and Co-PI on a project on perceptions of human rights in European foreign policy. He is interested in the empirical study of international organizations and human rights violations. He was a PhD student at the Chair and received his doctoral degree in 2022.

Anita Gohdes is Professor in International and Cyber Security at the Hertie School and collaborates on projects on human rights and autocratic leaders. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology and security, as well as the measurement of political violence. She was a PhD student at the Chair and received her doctoral degree in 2015.

Former Researcher

Belén González is Head of Research for International Security, Peace, and Conflict at Zurich University. She was postdoctoral researcher at the Chair and studies the dynamics of conflict-affected societies.

Christian Gläßel is postdoc at the Hertie School’s Centre for International Security and researches authoritarian regimes. He was a PhD student at the Chair and received his doctoral degree in 2019 and subsequently worked as postdoc at the Chair.

Jürgen Brandsch was postdoctoral researcher at the Chair and is now working at the German Development Bank KfW.

Research Assistants

Anna-Lena Hadbawnik assists with the case studies and interviews, as well as the coding of the Pro-Government Militias Database and is responsible for training and supervising new research assistants.