people

Moritz Bondeli is a Postdoctoral Researcher affiliated with the Institute for the Social Sciences at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. In his research, he deploys quantitative methods of causal inference to study democratization and democratic erosion.

He has completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at Yale University in the spring of 2025. Previously, he studied at the Universities of Oxford and Lausanne. His dissertation research on Weimar Germany is supported by an Emerging Scholar Award from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.

Annina Hermes is a Ph.D. candidate at the Research Training Group “The Dynamics of Demography, Democratic Processes and Public Policy” (DYNAMICS), jointly organized by the Hertie School and the Department of Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, since 2024.

She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Dresden, where she worked as a research and teaching assistant at the Chair of Political Systems and Comparative Politics. Additionally, Annina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Annina’s research interests are in comparative politics and political behavior, with a focus on party competition and the role of challenger parties.

Alba Huidobro is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair of Political Behavior of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Before she was Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford Impact Labs and Department of Political Science, Stanford University. She obtained her Ph.D. from Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) in July 2022. As a graduate student, she also visited the European University Institute, Nuffield College at the University of Oxford, and the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Her research interest lies at the intersections of comparative politics, elites’ political behavior and gender. She examine gender inequalities by analyzing how leaders’ attitudes and characteristics shape women’s inclusion in politics and governments. Combining observational and experimental data, her work demonstrates that the dynamics of government negotiations contribute significantly to the gender gap in top political roles, affecting the substantive representation of diverse constituencies.

Đorđe Milosav is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin, collaborating with Prof. Dr. Heike Klüver on the COVIDEU project. Holding a Ph.D. in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin, Đorđe’s research interests lie in political psychology and behavior, particularly in immigration, climate change, state legitimacy with a strong methodological focus on experimental methods and causal inference.

Before finishing his master’s degree in political science at the University of Gothenburg, he completed his bachelor degree in political science at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Belgrade. In parallel with his studies, he worked as student research assistant at the Universities of Tel-Aviv, Konstanz, Gothenburg and Belgrade.

Frederik Thieme has been a research assistant and doctoral student at the Chair of Comparative Political Behavior since April 2023. Before receiving his master’s degree in social sciences from Humboldt University, he studied publishing and communication as well as political science at Freie Universität Berlin. During his studies, he already worked as a student assistant at the Chair of Comparative Political Behavior.

Frederik Thieme’s research focuses on the influence of events on the behavior of political actors. He also focuses on the intersection of economic inequality and political behavior and possible interactions.

Tim Wappenhans is a Ph.D. candidate and research fellow at the Chair of Comparative Politics since October 2020. Before graduating in Social Sciences from Humboldt University, he studied Cultural History and Theory and European Ethnology in Berlin, as well as Sociology at Portland State University, OR.

During his studies, Tim Wappenhans worked as a Student Assistant at the Chair of Quantitative Social Research, the Chair of Comparative Politics, as well as at the Cluster of Excellency Scripts (Contestation of the Liberal Scripts).

His main research interest lies in political behavior with a focus on political and civic reaction to the success of radical right parties.