The activities of the Democratic Resilience Center are governed by a twelve-member board of directors, comprised of distinguished academics and respected thought leaders committed to fostering resilient, robust, and credible democratic societies. This interdisciplinary board guides us in conducting high-quality, internationally recognized research, which supports our independent, non-partisan stance on democratic resilience.
Chairman of the Board
Prof. Dr. Gary S. Schaal | Political Science, in particular Political Theory
Main research interests: Political Theory, Empirical Research on Democracy and Deliberation, Maritime Security, Artificial Intelligence and Strategy
Prof. Dr. Gary S. Schaal, who has held the Chair of Political Theory at Helmut Schmidt University since 2009, heads the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (GIDS) and the Maritime Security Research Centre (iFMS) at Helmut Schmidt University. He is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.
Board of Directors – alphabetically
Prof. Dr. Cristina Besio | Organisational Sociology
Main research interests: Systems Theory, Science Communication, Organisations, Ethics
Prof. Dr Cristina Besio has been Professor of Organisational Sociology at Helmut Schmidt University since 2014. Her research covers systems theory, science communication, organisations and ethics. She investigates the transformation of organisational structures in science, the social role of organisations and ethical issues within the organisational contexts. She also leads projects investigating innovation processes and the implementation of ethical and moral requirements in organisations.
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Boysen | Public Law, in particular Public International Law and European Law
Main research interests: International Environmental and Economic Law, European Law, Public International Law, Constitutional Law
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Boysen has been Professor of Public Law and Public International and European Law at Helmut Schmidt University since 2014. Her research focuses on international environmental and economic law, as well as the international legal dimensions of colonialism. She also specialises in constitutional law, in particular federalism and the protection of equality. She has been a judge at the Hamburg Constitutional Court since 2022.
Prof. Dr. Monika Daseking | Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology
Main research interests: Learning Disorders, ADHD, Executive Functions, Intelligence Diagnostics, Moral Development, Conspiracy Sensitivity and Epistemological Beliefs
Prof. Dr. Monika Daseking has held the Chair of Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology at Helmut Schmidt University since 2019. Her research focuses ADHD, executive functions and moral development as well as educational psychology such as learning disorders and intelligence diagnostics. She leads projects on the promotion of children with learning disorders at school, the early detection of ADHD and the development of psychological tests.
Prof. Dr. Stephan Duschek | Business Administration, in particular Organisational Theory
Main research interests: Network Management, Innovation Management, Organisational Theory
Prof. Dr. Stephan Duschek has held the Chair of Business Administration at Helmut Schmidt University since 2009. His research covers network and innovation management, as well as organisational theory. Furthermore, he leads projects on the analysis and control of inter-organisational relationships and the development of strategies for effective management in complex organisational networks.
Prof. Dr. Christian Ernst | Public Law and Commercial Law, including Public Procurement Law
Main research interests: Administrative Law, Municipal Law, Digitalisation of Administration
Prof. Dr. Christian Ernst has held the Chair of Public and Commercial Law at Helmut Schmidt University since 2019. His research covers administrative law, municipal law and the digitalisation of administration. He leads projects on the modernisation of administration, the implementation of digital processes and the legal analysis of administrative reforms.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Felfe | Work, Organisational and Business Psychology
Main research interests: Leadership, Health Promotion, Employee Retention, Personnel Development, Digital Work
Prof. Dr. Jörg Felfe has held the Chair of Work, Organisational and Business Psychology at Helmut Schmidt University since 2010. His research focuses on transformational leadership, health-oriented leadership, employee retention, occupational health management, digital and virtual work as well as personnel selection and development. He also leads projects to promote individual and organisational resilience, develop healthy leadership and conducts research on the opportunities and risks of digital work. To this end, he oversees development and trails diagnostic tools, training and intervention concepts and digital assistance systems.
Prof. Dr. Gabriel Frahm | Applied Stochastics and Risk Management
Main research interests: Capital Market Theory, Portfolio Optimisation, Financial Mathematics, Game and Decision Theory, Robust Statistics
Prof. Dr. Gabriel Frahm has held the Chair of Applied Stochastics and Risk Management at Helmut Schmidt University since 2012. His research includes capital market theory, portfolio optimisation, financial mathematics, game and decision theory as well as robust statistics.
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Hartong | Sociology, in particular the Transformation of Governance in Education and Society
Main research interests: Governance, Datafication and Digitalisation of Education and Society, Federalism Research, Critical Data/Digital Literacies
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Hartong has been Professor of Sociology at Helmut Schmidt University since 2020. Her research focuses on the transformation of governance in education and society, particularly focusing on the effects of increasing digitalisation. She also researches questions of skills development for the critical shaping of a post-digital society.
Prof. Dr. Michael Jonas | Modern and Contemporary History
Main research interests: History of International Relations and the International System, Historical Security Policy and Strategy Research, War and Conflict Studies
Prof. Dr. Michael Jonas conducts research on the history of international relations and the international system. He also focuses on questions of war and conflict, security and strategy from a historical perspective. His research projects include the history of Northern Europe and international organisations in the 19th and 20th centuries, small states in the international system and the transformation of diplomacy in different historical contexts. As of autumn 2024, he will head the trilateral Centre for History, Strategy and International Order (CHIOS: HSU – Univ. Copenhagen – Univ. Florence)
Prof. Dr. Tanja Klenk | Administrative Science
Main research interests: Organisational and Administrative Reforms, Welfare State, Digitalisation of Administration
Prof. Dr. Tanja Klenk has been Professor of Administrative Science at Helmut Schmidt University since 2017. Her research covers the transformation of (social) state service provisions, the digitalisation of administration and the influence of political, social and technical changes on public organisations. She investigates how organisational structures and governance mechanisms are changing against the backdrop of internationalisation and market liberalisation.
Prof. Dr. Oliver Niggemann | Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering
Main research interests: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber-Physical Systems
Prof. Dr. Oliver Niggemann has held the Chair of Computer Science in Mechanical Engineering at Helmut Schmidt University since 2019. He leads projects on anomaly detection and diagnosis complex technical systems, as well as on the use of a-priori knowledge to improve AI methods in industrial automation.
Letzte Änderung: 8. October 2024