work in progress:
Simon Bogumil
Freya Brockstedt
Working title of the dissertation: “Digital Transformation of Public Administration: Social, Institutional, and Normative Dimensions”
This cumulative dissertation project examines the digital transformation of public administration and its implications for administrative burdens, social inequalities, and the institutional legitimacy of government action. It focuses on how digital technologies – ranging from e-government services to artificial intelligence – are reshaping interactions between the state and citizens, as well as internal administrative processes.
The project draws on a range of theoretical perspectives, including the concept of Administrative Burden and approaches from organisational theory and governance research. Empirically, it analyses the experiences and perceptions of different actors in the context of public administration. Its aim is to develop a deeper understanding of the social and organisational conditions shaping the digital modernisation of public administration.
Maximilian Einhaus
Nina Felgendreher
Working title of the dissertation: Politicization in changing times
The dissertation project examines politicization in various dimensions, particularly in the context of populism and resilience within the administration. It analyzes the role politicization plays in these areas and how it influences the functioning of public institutions. In addition, the influence of integrity standards, transparency, and scandals is examined, particularly with regard to conflicts of interest and the question of how politicization can be promoted, limited, or regulated by structural conditions. The aim of the project is to understand politicization in all its facets and to identify the mechanisms through which it shapes public administration.
Jan Heilmann
Working title of the dissertation: Beyond Digitizing Paper. Digitalisation and Participation in Social Self-Administration
This doctoral research project examines how digitalisation changes the participation of voluntary representatives in social self-administration. It focuses on the appeals committees of the German statutory pension insurance system, in which voluntary representatives of insured persons and employers review objections to administrative decisions. Drawing on theoretical approaches to civil society participation and organisational paradoxes, the study analyses tensions between demands for deliberation, inclusion and equal participation and the practical demands of efficient decision-making. Empirically, it draws on interviews, group discussions, participant observation and a standardised survey.
Magdalena Köppen
Working title of the dissertation: „Konfliktpotenziale und Konfliktbearbeitung in der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende (SGB II)“
Magdalena Köppen studierte Politikwissenschaft und Economics (B.A. Abschluss 2020) an der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg sowie Public Administration (M.A. Abschluss 2022) an der Deutschen Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften in Speyer. Sie ist seit 2022 Lehrbeauftragte an der Hochschule der Bundesagentur für Arbeit in Mannheim. Seit 2023 ist sie wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) in Nürnberg.
Laura Kollmann
Working title of the dissertation: The role of street-level bureaucrats in the Public Employment Service in Sweden and Germany
My PhD project investigates how street-level bureaucrats in the Public Employment Service (PES) in Sweden and Germany perceive their role and how they view, implement and shape activation policies. In this context, I am especially interested in how activation policies affect their relationships to jobseekers as well as dynamics of trust and mistrust. The study is based on a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach and utilizes Problem-Centred Interviews with PES employees as well as participant observations at activation events.
Ron Müller
Working title of the dissertation: The Change of Self-Governance in Healthcare through Federal Legislation
In the dissertation project, twenty-eight laws were identified within the period under review from 2002 to 2023 for which a change in self-governance is to be determined. These contain between 700 and 1,000 individual statutory measures for which an assessment is to be made regarding whether and what change in self-governance was enacted by the federal legislator. Included in the consideration are 26 bodies of social self-governance and 17 bodies of joint self-governance. The method used is a genuine document analysis, in which a set of rules was established to create an index in order to systematically analyze the impact of the legislator on self-governance. The aim of the project is to create a body of data so that in the regularly recurring critical debate about the necessity of self-governance in healthcare, consideration can be given to how legislators influence this form of coordination of action through legislation.
Marianna Rovner
Working title of the dissertation: Administrative Reform and Modernization: Institutional Perspectives on Digital Public Services in Urban and Rural Contexts
The dissertation project explores the role, function, implementation, and institutional governance of local public administration in the context of (digital) public service provision. The guiding assumption is that administrative action is inherently dependent and shaped by the interplay of region-specific territorial conditions, locally defined demands, organizational resources, and institutionally embedded administrative conditions. The analysis contributes to a broader understanding of public administration as a key institutional implementation actor within state-society relations, also focusing on issues of legitimacy, acceptance, and administrative capacity in governance of transformational change.
Finished projects:
Dr. Moritz Behm
Maximilian Nagel
Letzte Änderung: 2. November 2026