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I am Assistant Professor of Political Science with a focus on International Organisation and Governance at the School of Economic and Political Science (SEPS) at the University of St. Gallen. Previously, I directed the Research Area International Security, Peace and Conflict at the University of Zurich (UZH) and remain affiliated researcher at the Institute of Political Science at UZH. I held postdoc positions at the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies and the University of Oxford. I studied political science at the University of Mannheim and obtained a PhD from University College London (2017).

My research investigates repression and restrictions against civil society organizations as well as peace operations with a focus on the nexus between peacebuilding and democratisation processes at the local and national level. It has been published or is forthcoming in journals such as American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and International Peacekeeping. Much of my research has a regional focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Côte d’Ivoire, the Central African Republic and Mali.

In 2023, I received the St. Gallen University’s LATSIS Prize for outstanding research achievements among faculty members who are below 40 years old. During my PhD, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to accurately measure what UN peace operation do on the ground. This work was awarded the 2016 Cedric Smith Prize (given every year by the Conflict Research Society) and the 2017 Dina Zinnes Award (given every year by the Scientific Study of International Processes Section of the International Studies Association). I am an invited member of the Folke Bernadotte Academy and received funding from several institutions, including the Swedish Research Council.