• since 11/2018
  Senior Research Fellow at the Thünen-Institute of Rural Studies
   
• 10/2014-06/2018
  Research Fellow at the Department for State & Governance, University of Hagen
   
• 01/2012-09/2014
  Research Fellow at the Department for Methods and Democracy Research, Philipps University of Marburg
   
• 04/2007-12/2011
  Research Assistant at the Department for Sociological Diagnosis of contemporary Societies, University of Hagen

Academic Qualification

• 04/2020
  Habilitation (Dr. habil. rer. pol.) at the Goethe University Frankfurt (Main). Habilitation thesis on "Culture and the Support of Democracy. The Role of Cultural Values in citizen-state relations in Europe"
   
• 04/2013
  Doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) at the University of Hamburg. Dissertation on "Trust in Nations through cultural Proximity? Analysis of a social Mechanism" (published by VS Springer)

• Member of the Advisory Board of the German Survey on Volunteering of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)
   
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the "Communal Action Programme - Women in Politics!" (https://www.frauen-in-die-politik.com/)
   
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Tafel Deutschland e.V.
   
• Elected member of the Steering Group group of the Working Group on Civil Society Research of the National Network for Civic Engagement
   
• Member of the advisory board for the BMBF-funded research project "SROI – Securing the Honorary Office for the Future in Rural Areas"
   
• Jury member for the ECPR Jacqui Briggs Prize 2021
   
• ZiviZ Expert Council in the Forum Civil Society Data (FZD), funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
   
• Elected member of the steering group of the Standing Group Citizenship of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)
  (10/2016-09/2021)
   

• Jacqui Briggs EPS Prize 2020 for the best article in the journal European Political Science (EPS). Article: Does ideological polarisation mobilise citizens? In: Eur Polit Sci 19, 573-602
   
• Nominations for the Fritz Thyssen Foundation Prize of essays in the social sciences. Article: Does Polarisation lead to political engagement? In: Swiss Political Science Review 22(3), S. 353-384. DOI: 10.1111/spsr.12215, 2015
   
• FÖPS-Preis (Förderverein für Politikwissenschaft an der Universität Stuttgart e. V.) für die beste Arbeit im Magisterstudiengang Politikwissenschaft, 2007