Participation in Workshop on Public Opinion on Human Rights

Sabine Carey participated in the workshop on public opinion on human rights at the Peace Science Conference 2022 in Denver. The workshop was organised by Rebecca Cordell and Kelly Morrison. The workshop facilitated exchange on researching public opinion on human rights and the discussion of ongoing projects, including Sabine Carey’s joint project with Christian Gläßel and Katrin Paula on media’s impact on attitudes in Nepal.

Postdoc position open!

We have a postdoc opening! This position is attached to the Chair of Prof. Sabine Carey . You conduct your own research in the field of empirical conflict and peace research and contribute to the teaching within this area (two classes per semester = 2x 90 minutes per week). The position starts 1 Feb 2023 and ends 31 August 2024.

Deadline: 15 September 2022.

For more information, and how to apply, see https://www.sowi.uni-mannheim.de/media/Lehrstuehle/sowi/Carey/Dokumente/Postdoc_job_Ad_2023_Carey.pdf

Fully updated review article on pro-government militias and conflict

A fully revised version of 2016 article on pro-government militias (PGMs) and conflict is now available online. Sabine Carey, Neil Mitchell and Adam Scharpf explain the role of PGMs in the context of armed conflict. Using new data on PGMs in counterinsurgency wars between 1950-2005, the article shows that despite their greater mobility and superior information levels, local militia groups do not help to shorten the duration of the counterinsurgency and do not increase the chances of a government win over the rebels.

Online info session for female students about PhD programmes

After the great interest in last year’s session, I will again hold an informal zoom session for female political sciences students who are potentially considering pursuing a PhD.

The goals of this session are:

  • to provide you with some basic information about the format of PhD programmes/positions (primarily in Europe)

  • to provide a save space for you to ask questions

  • to put you in a better position for making an informed choice.

Together with Prof. Dr. Stefanie Walter (University of Zürich) and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Anna-Lena Hönig, who received her PhD from the University of Mannheim last year, we will discuss:

  • what to consider when deciding to pursue a PhD, incl. pros & cons of a PhD

  • how to look for a suitable PhD programme

and importantly try to answer your questions about pursuing a PhD in political science. Note that we will not provide information about specific funding programmes.

Date: 23 February 2022, 10am-11am CET.

Interested? -> Please email us at info4female.students@uni-mannheim.de by 20 February and mention whether and where you are enrolled in an MA programme. We will then send you the link to the Zoom room.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sociology Dissertation Award for Katrin Paula

Congratulations to Prof. Katrin Paula, now at the Technical University of Munich, for her third price for her PhD dissertation, which she completed at the University of Mannheim and while part of the RATE Team! The Academy made the following announcement on their website:

“The Academy of Sociology is proud to highlight an outstanding dissertation submitted in 2019/2020 which contributes to the discipline in terms of originality of research, stringent argumentation, transparency of results, and the scientific and societal (if applicable) impact“
— AS Dissertation Award https://akademie-soziologie.de/blog/aus-der-akademie/#ak-more-2667

We are very excited for her work to be recognised in this way, after having already been award the Lorenz-von-Stein Dissertation Prize and the Dissertation Prize from the Foundation for Communication and Media Sciences.

Congratulations to Christian Gläßel for PhD Prize

Dr. Christian Gläßel, former member of the RATE team and now postdoctoral researcher at the Hertie School of Governance, is co-recipient of the Lorenz-von-Stein-Preis 2020. This annual prize is awarded to outstanding dissertations in political science, social psychology and sociology at the University of Mannheim. Previous recipient of the Lorenz-von-Stein Preis 2019 was Prof. Katrin Paula, also former member of the RATE Team and now Professor for Global Security & Technology at the TU München. Both PhD theses have been supervised by Prof. Sabine Carey.

Congratulations to Christian (and Katrin again) for this fantastic achievement!

Political Economy Forum Podcast on "Why so Many Journalists are Killed in Democracies"

Professor Sabine Carey of the University of Mannheim speaks to the Political Economy Forum host Nicolas Wittstock about her work on the killing of journalists. Perhaps counterintuitively, journalists are most at risk in democratic countries rather than autocracies. Professor Carey explains the logic of resorting to violence in different institutional settings.”

Publication Support Series for Female PhD Students

I am organising a Publication Support Series for female PhD students and early career students in Europe working broadly on empirical questions in the area of conflict, peace and human rights research. The series consists of three online workshops (April 2021, October 2021, January 2022). At the end of the series each participant should be in a position to submit an article to a peer-reviewed journal.

Interested? Check out the call for application. Deadline for applications 23 March 2021.

Online info session for female students about PhD programmes

I am organising an informal zoom session on 23 Feb 2021 at 10am CET for female political sciences students who are potentially considering pursuing a PhD.

The goals of this about one hour long session are:

  • to provide you with some basic information about the format of PhD programmes/positions (primarily in Europe)

  • to provide a save space for you to ask questions

  • to put you in a better position for making an informed choice.

Together with Prof. Catherine de Vries (Bocconi University) and a recent female PhD Graduate, we will discuss:

  • what to consider when deciding to pursue a PhD, incl. pros & cons of a PhD

  • how to look for a suitable PhD programme

and importantly try to answer your questions about pursuing a PhD in political science.


Interested? -> Please email us at info4female.students@uni-mannheim.de by 19 February. Please briefly mention whether and where you are enrolled in an MA programme. We will then send you the link to the Zoom room.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Paper on killings of journalists accepted for publication

Why are journalists killed for the work they do - and why are journalists predominately murdered in institutional democracies, where they should enjoy particular protection? Sabine Carey and Anita Gohdes research this question with new detailed data on killings of journalists globally, identifying type of perpetrator and outlets the journalists were working for. Their results show that, counterintuitively, democratic institutions do not help protect reporters from being murdered. Among institutional democracies, locally elected governments increase the risk that a journalist is murdered by state actors or by unconfirmed perpetrators.

The article “Understanding journalist killings” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Politics. Access the pre-publication paper here.