Fellows 2025-27

Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences

I am a doctoral candidate in the Bioeconomy Economics Junior Research Group. I am working on water resources in the Alps and the associated socioeconomic systems. My focus is on the link between hydrology, ecology and economics.

Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences

I am a doctoral candidate in geography (geoinformatics and geography) (in German language) and am researching participation in urban development as part of my dissertation project. My aim is to record and categorise key trends - spatially, temporally and thematically. 

Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies

I am a doctoral candidate at the Chair of Art History and Visual Culture Studies, specialising in human-animal relationships in art. My dissertation focuses on the representation of hybrid “next of kin” in contemporary sculpture using the example of the artist Patricia Piccinini. My research is interdisciplinary and focuses in particular on the artistic treatment of current biotechnological developments against the backdrop of biodiversity loss and the associated economic challenges.

Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the field of Church History (Chair of Ecclesiastical History and Christian Identities), specialising in papal diplomacy and interreligious relations. My current research project focuses on the Vatican's handling of requests for help from Jews in the face of the Shoah.

Faculty of Business, Economics and Information Systems

As a doctoral student at the Chair of Marketing and Innovation, I am particularly focussing on questions of user research on new charging technologies in the context of (networked) electromobility. In addition, my research project focuses on the different roles of avatars in marketing.

Faculty of Law

As a doctoral student at the Chair of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Public International Law, European and International Economic Law, I am conducting research in interdisciplinary collaboration with medical professionals and ethicists on normative issues relating to the research and development of novel gene and cell therapies. I also deal with health, pharmaceutical and medical device law as well as statutory health insurance law.

Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies

I am pursuing a doctorate at the Chair for American Studies/Cultural and Media Studies at the University of Passau. My research explores how the archetypes of girlbosses and tradwives in popular culture and media, although at face value cannot be further apart from each other, are two sides of the same neo-liberal, post-feminist coin. I am studying the role of these tropes in strengthening the right-wing narrative, their impact on young adults, especially, young girls, and the steps we could take to develop progressive tropes that further the cause of gender equality. With a background in research, creative communication, and corporate responsibility, my writings/films explore themes of gender, queerness, race, capitalism, and disability.

Faculty of Business, Economics and Information Systems

I am a doctoral candidate at the Chair of Business Information Systems with a focus on Business Information Systems (Prof. Dr Thomas Widjaja) and am researching the topic of privacy in the context of social virtual worlds (‘metaverse’) that are accessible via VR technologies. In particular, I am investigating the privacy-specific features in this data-intensive context and the role of avatars as virtual identities.

Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences

I am a doctoral candidate at the Chair of Educational Science with a focus on Diversity Research and Middle Childhood Education. My research interest is the career choice motivation of student teachers and their attitudes towards the teaching profession. In my dissertation, I am focussing on how students' motives and attitudes change during their studies. To this end, I compare German-speaking countries, South Africa and Israel.

Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences

As part of my doctoral project (Chair of Regional Geography), I analysed public urban space from a postcolonial perspective and examined the significance of colonial-critical city tours in dealing with Germany's colonial heritage. I also focussed on the question of the extent to which postcolonial city tours can function as spaces for transformative learning.

Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences

As a doctoral student at the Chair of Regional Geography, I am researching the climate resilience of American Indians in the USA, with a regional focus on the Colorado River Basin in the south-west of the country. I am particularly interested in how indigenous communities are facing the intensifying challenges of the climate crisis through traditional environmental knowledge and eco-cultural revitalisation.