Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann (Principal Investigator)
Since 2022 Professor Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann is Professor of International Institutions and Peace Processes at Goethe University. Previously, she held the Chair of International Relations at Zeppelin University (2018-2022). Her research focuses on current challenges of a multilateral world order, international organizations, international norms, democracy and rule of law promotion, and peacebuilding.
Lisbeth Zimmermann studied political science at the Freie Universität Berlin with a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation (2002-2007). In November 2012, she was awarded a PhD at TU Darmstadt. Lisbeth Zimmermann worked as a Post-doc in the context of the Cluster of Excellence “Formation of Normative Orders” (2012-2015) and as a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (2015-2018). Fellowships as a visiting researcher took her, among others, to the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (2011) and to the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute in Florence (2015). Since 2022 she is the Principal Investigator of the farrio project.
Farrio research focus:
Within the farrio project, Lisbeth Zimmermann is responsible for project management and the project’s research design. She also focuses on far-right networks and their effects in the field of international women’s rights.
Dr. Alexandros Tokhi (Post-Doc Researcher)
Since October 2022 Alexandros Tokhi is a postdoctoral researcher in the farrio project. Previously, he has been a research fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, member of the Horizon 2020 project “GLOBE-The European Union in Global Governance” (2019-2022), and stand-in professor for Thomas Risse at the Freie Universität Berlin (2019). His research focuses on international institutions, authoritarianism and democracy in world politics, human rights and international security, and quantitative methods.
He received his PhD from the Freie Universität Berlin (2013) and has been a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Center for European Studies (2015) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2016). Tokhi has published with Oxford University Press, in the Journal of European Integration, Global Policy, and International Studies Quarterly. In 2020, he received together with Xinyuan Dai the Best Paper Award of the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association.
Farrio research focus:
Within the farrio project, Alexandros Tokhi contributes to developing the analytical framework and the project’s research design. He also focuses on the issue-specific case studies of far-right contestation of human rights and international finance.
Franziska Höhne (PhD Researcher)
Franziska Höhne is a PhD student at the Chair of International Institutions and Peace Processes. In her Bachelor’s degree, she studied International Relations with a minor in Communication Studies at the University of Erfurt with a stay at the Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Spain, followed by a Master’s degree in Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (M. Sc., with distinction). During her studies, she completed various internships (including in the research project “TRANSFORM Regional Cooperation and the Transformation of National Sovereignty” at the University of Gothenburg and at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations in Geneva) and was a German scholarship holder. After working as a Blue Book Trainee at the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, and at the European Policy Centre, Brussels, she worked as a research assistant at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research from 2022 to 2023.
Farrio research focus:
Within the farrio project, Franziska Höhne focuses on far-right networks and their effects in the field of environmental and climate policy.
Maximilian Kutzner (PhD Researcher)
Maximilian Kutzner is a PhD student at the Chair of International Institutions and Peace Processes. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Administration at the University of Konstanz (2016-2020), including a study visit to Uppsala University. Subsequently, his Master’s degree in “International Relations” (2020-2022) brought him to the Dresden University of Technology, where he focused on topics of international politics, as well as international and European law in the specialisation “International Organisations and Institutions”. During his studies, Maximilian worked as an intern and freelancer at the Federal Ministry of Defence (Pol II 4), the Federal Foreign Office (Ref. 1-DA, Ref. 403, German embassy to Finland) and the German parliament. Furthermore, he worked as a tutor for various lectures at the University of Konstanz in the field of international politics, as well as state and democratic theory. His research interests include international law, international institutions, political opinion formation at the national and international level, the history of political ideas, and methods of empirical social research.
Farrio research focus:
As part of the farrio project, Maximilian will be responsible for covering migration-related issues in far-right contestation of international organizations.
Pauline Helms (Student research assistant)
Pauline Helms is a student in the research-oriented masters’s program in International Studies/Peace an Conflict Studies offered jointly by Goethe University Frankfurt and Technische Universität Darmstadt in co-operation with the Peace research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). She has a Bachelor’s degree in political science an has previously worked as a student research assistant at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH).
Since November 2022 Pauline Helms has been a research assistant in the farrio project.
Simon McManus (Student research assistant)
Simon McManus is a student in the research-oriented Master’s of Comparative Democracy program at Goethe University Frankfurt. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Economics, and History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, including one semester abroad in Bonn, Germany. During his undergraduate studies, Simon worked as an intern in the office of Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin and the office of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.
Since July 2024 Simon McManus has been a research assistant in the farrio project.
Lisa-Maria Stilper (Student research assistant)
Lisa-Maria Stilper is currently studying political science and public law for her Bachelor’s degree at Goethe University Frankfurt. She has finished her Erasmus-Exchange at Altinbas University in Istanbul and is now working in the department of International Institutions and Peace Processes while writing her Bachelor Thesis.
Since May 2023 Lisa-Maria Stilper has been a research assistant in the farrio project.