Summary

My research focuses on the interaction between knowledge, evidence, data, and governance. I analyse how governance by and of knowledge influence transformations of politics and policies. This includes the analysis of measuring and the use of statistics as governance technique; data-based governance; data and evidence literacy in policy-making; evidence-informed policy-making; multilevel and anticipatory governance: socio-economic as well as eco-social policies: and sustainable development.

My fields of expertise furthermore include European integration studies and theories; Europeanisation; multi-level and new modes of governance; policy co-ordination; environmental, employment and socio-economic policies; EU constitutionalisation and institutionalisation; EU enlargement; and curriculum development in EU studies.

Portfolio

Since 2000, my research concept and portfolio are based on international and mostly interdisciplinary research, which is characterised by both qualitative and quantitative social science research methods. My research approach is theoretically anchored in political science. It is empirically oriented towards the EU, transnational and global governance studies and closely linked to the fundamental aim of establishing interdisciplinary linkages to other disciplines. The analysis of fundamental political and social challenges within the EU and globally is at the centre of my empirical-analytical interest in research. This orientation of my research follows a dual understanding of science, which places both the academic knowledge generation and the societal contribution of knowledge at the heart of my research. This bifocal nature characterises my general understanding of a socially relevant university research that is inter- and/or trans-disciplinarily oriented.

In more than 20 research projects for which I was also involved in external funds-raising, my research focused thematically on the topics of (European and global) governance research as well as European integration; systems and institutional theory; and comparative policy field analysis.

In the area of ​​(European and global) governance research, I work on transnational aspects and data-based steering processes. I am currently investigating European and global governance with regard to existing trends and the role of the EU in global structures (ongoing 2019, Horizon 2020). The collection of data and the creation of original data sets on the role of the EU in the architecture of the international system are a particular focus of my work here. Moreover, this project has a special transfer function, as we disseminate the research results also through various online instruments for evidence-informed and participatory EU policy-making, which are intended to facilitate the public-private co-creation of EU policies. This focus on participatory democratic innovations was inspired by my research on evidence-informed policy-making in the context of a study by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission on the influence of emotions and cognitive biases on political decision-making (2018, JRC; 2018-2020, STG). Of further interest in this area is the analysis of geopolitical factors of indicator-based political steering processes, in which I examine evaluation practices and measurement as a government technique with regard to their influence on political legitimacy and transparency. Another key area of my research interest is the normative effect of statistics on policy-making. This area of research began with my Jean Monnet Fellowship at the European University Institute (2010-11, RSCAS), in which I examined sustainability indices and the political paradigm constructed within them through statistical data. This research was fundamental for five more research projects on the topic (ongoing 2011, GGP; 2012-2016, GGP; 2015-2016, ESID; 2024 FEMETRICS, EUI; 2025: WE BE, EUI), in which I examined aspects of international political economy and international political sociology of indicators as governance instruments and the transparency and legitimacy of policy-making. I also analysed the effects of such processes on participation and concentrated on the conceptualisation and development of an online statistical database on the topics of globalisation, sustainability, and human well-being. The policy-relevant orientation of this research is manifested, among other things, in the institutional cooperation I initiated with the Research Service of the European Parliament (EPRS) and the OECD.

Overall, I worked in this thematic group qualitatively and quantitatively on the following topics: European and global governance research; transnational governance; international politics and policy-making; international political economy; evidence-informed policy-making; sustainability research; legitimacy and transparency research; international political sociology; outcome measurement; indicator research; measurement as government technique; data for policy; statistics; processing and harmonization of statistics; data collection and database development.

In the areas of European integration; systems and institutional theory; and comparative policy analysis, my research focusses on policy-making in the European multilevel system. As early as in my master’s degree, I dealt with the political systems of Germany, the United Kingdom, the USA, Italy, and the European Union. The main areas of my postgraduate research are policy-related studies of international comparative political economy, here specifically on the open method of coordination and analysis of employment and social policies (2002-03, AGF); as well as economic policy coordination (2004-05, EU 5th RFP ). Discourse and perception research complement my research on these topics that I also examined in my PhD thesis that focussed on the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Within it, I dealt with the interactions and interdependence of national and supranational political processes and their effects on the formulation and design of public policies. I examined the Europeanisation impact of the European Employment Strategy (EES) in the period from 1998 to 2005. The focus of the analysis was EES and the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in the field of macro-economic and employment policy coordination. As empirical case studies, I examined the EU level as well as the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany as two systemic ‘most distant cases’ with regard to their employment policy and administrative traditions and structures. Furthermore, EU environmental policy forms one of my research focusses, which I analysed in an interdisciplinary project on EU biodiversity policy (2007-09, DFG) together with colleagues from human geography. Other areas of interdisciplinary studies were EU regional and cohesion policy (2003-04, European Commission), EU anti-discrimination policy and party research (2001, EUMC) and the constitutionalisation of the EU (2002, Austrian Federal Ministry; 2004-07, University of Cologne). As part of the 'EU-CONSENT Network of Excellence' (2007-09; EU 6. RFP), I analysed comparative systemic effects of enlargement and deepening of the EU and also developed new approaches for EU-related teaching content and methods. In a comparative research perspective, I also examined the Europeanisation of ministerial administrations in five Central and Eastern European countries (2000-03; VW Foundation). Finally, I contributed to the establishment of an interdisciplinary research unit in a university development project at the University of Cologne (2009-10; University of Cologne | French Embassy) and worked in two projects on the core curriculum in EU studies (2002-03, SOCRATES) .

Overall, in this thematic realm I undertook qualitative and partly quantitative research on the following subject areas: European policy analysis; Europeanisation; the political system of the EU; European integration; theories of European integration; public policy research; political control; comparative systems and institutional theory; system transformation; administrative sciences; constitutionalisation; intercultural and interdisciplinary studies; constructivist paradigm research; discourse and perception research and curriculum development.