2024 – 2027 | Devolving the monopoly on violence, German Research Council

  • Applicant and head of project; EUR 598.900
  • Research question: “How does the devolution of state functions affect citizens’ security in areas governed by customary arrangements?”
  • Methods: perception surveys, qualitative analyses in Mexico

2020 – 2024 | Micro-level determinants and consequences of militia performance, German Research Council

  • Applicant and head of project; EUR 510,000
  • Research question: “What explains militia performance and how does militia performance affect state legitimacy?”
  • Methods: perception surveys, qualitative analyses in Afghanistan and Mexico

2020 – 2022 | The impact of information on aid outcomes, KfW Development Bank

  • Applicant and head of project; EUR 660,000
  • Research question: “How do information campaigns among beneficiary and non-beneficiary populations influence attitudinal effects of aid interventions?”
  • Methods: telephone surveys in conflict-affected areas of Mali and Niger, survey experiment

2018 – 2020 | The Anatomy of Repression in Authoritarian States, German Foundation for Peace Research

  • Applicant and head of project; volume: EUR 98,000
  • Analysis of personnel files of the secret service (Staatssicherheit) of the Former German Democratic Republic
  • Methods: archival data collection; quantitative analyses

2014 – 2016 | Territorial Dynamics of Colonial State-Building, Gerda Henkel Foundation

  • Applicant and head of project (with Jan Pierskalla); volume: EUR 93,000
  • Research question: “What Factors Shape Spatial Patterns of State-Building?”
  • Methods: quantitative analysis; data from two newly compiled historical datasets on former German colonies

 2016 – 2016 | Impact Evaluation - “Peace Fund”, Ministry for Economic Cooperation

  • Applicant and head of project (with Eva Wegner, Miquel Pellicer and Carlo Koos); volume: EUR 150,000
  • Impact evaluation of a EUR 50 million development project in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Methods: opinion survey; quasi-experiment and matching approach

2014 – 2017 | Local Conflict and the Local State, German Research Council

  • Applicant and head of project; volume: EUR 285,000
  • Research question: “What is the Role of Public Basic Service Delivery in Low-Level Violence against the State?”
  • Methods: quantitative analysis and field research in Nepal and South Africa

2014 – 2016 | From Civil War to Social Contract, Ministry for Economic Cooperation

  • Applicant and head of project; volume: EUR 199,000
  • Research question: “What are the Determinants of Political Trust in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States?”
  • Methods: opinion surveys (n>1500) and in-depth qualitative field research in Burundi, Afghanistan, and Peru