Joint paper with @floriankeusch.bsky.social out now: We discuss opportunities and challenges of causal inference from digital behavioral data, and methodological approaches for making these data fit for purpose: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ich durfte in der @taz.de ein bisschen was zu Umfragen erzählen, und was soll ich sagen - Berichte über den Tod von Umfragen sind stark übertrieben...

Always a pleasure chatting with students who ask sharp questions 😊 Thanks to The Governance Post for having me - and yes, I stand by the autopilot line.

School council election. Also running: the class clown. Annoying to all, impossible to ignore. Kid 1: “I’ll vote for him. He’s in my class.” Kid 2: “Nice poster! He'll get my vote.” Kid 1: “Also, he promised better school lunches.” Political scientist in me: slowly nodding, checking off the 2020s

Flashback to last year’s Data4Good Hackathon challenges! 🏛 Municipal Innovation (with @bertelsmannst.bsky.social): > Participants tackled the Wegweiser Kommune dataset, using 400+ indicators to map out the future of German municipalities.

This is the week we’ve been waiting for: The Data4Good Festival 2026! We are excited to host 70+ students from across Europe at the Hertie School for a weekend of data-driven innovation and creativity in the heart of Berlin.

Thanks for referring to our research, @donmoyn.bsky.social! For those who want to understand the actions of authoritarian security organizations, here is the info kit of our forthcoming book “Making a Career in Dictatorship”. It includes short chapter summaries and more: tinyurl.com/599d6uc5

📢 Call for papers 9th Economics of Media Bias Workshop Keynotes: Ruben Durante (NUS) and Pinar Yildrim (Wharton) 🗓️ May 28th-29th 2026 📍 Berlin, Germany ⏰ Deadline: January 31st 2026 Full CfP and information on how to submit: tinyurl.com/2s3f6tar Please circulate!

🎅2️⃣4️⃣❄ Weiße Weihnachten in ...? By @carlagrefehuge.bsky.social and André Pätzold interaktiv.morgenpost.de/schnee-an-we...

PSA für alle Eltern, die mit dem Gedanken spielen, die Weihnachtsbäckerei anzuzünden und die Winterkinder auf dem Balkon auszusperren: Bestes Kinder-Weihnachtsalbum? Look no further www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxFn...

🎅2️⃣0️⃣ Inside the Suspicion Machine, by @evaconstantaras.bsky.social, @gabrielgeiger.bsky.social, @jusbraun.bsky.social, @dmehro.bsky.social, and Htet Aung from @lighthousereports.com in @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welfar...

Same vibes

We @uni-konstanz.de are hiring a full professor in machine learning for our MSc program in Social and Economic Data Science: stellen.uni-konstanz.de/jobposting/6...

🚀 We’re hiring a Postdoc! Our group is looking for a Postdoc to join the team working on computational comm research. If you’re excited about automated content analysis, large text & social-media data, open science, this might be for you. 💡 Sounds like you or someone you know? Please share/boost!

"Seven German journalism students tracked Russian-crewed freighters lurking off the Dutch and German coast—and connected them to drone swarms over military bases."

The Big Mac Index, Aussie edition, presented by ABC Australia. Nicely wrapped up with spicy graphics and crunchy explainers. Enjoy!

🎅1️⃣2️⃣ What’s driving up burger prices? By @jtfell.com, Teresa Tan and @mattliddy.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08...

It's out!! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Big thank you to my coauthors @small-schulz.bsky.social and @lorenzspreen.bsky.social, and to all participants who discussed 20 political issues over 4 weeks in 6 subreddit, 3 experimental conditions and let us observe.

By the way, I discovered this through the @datawrapper.de Blog, which delivers the weekly Data Vis Dispatch. Highly recommended! www.datawrapper.de/blog/

Terrifying analysis with a crazy amount of research behind it (seriously, check out the methods section!).

🎅1️⃣1️⃣ China’s shadow navy trains to take Taiwan, by @allisonmartell.bsky.social, David Lague, @claretfarley.bsky.social and Minami Funakoshi www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...

🎅1️⃣0️⃣ Which Public Behaviors Do You Find Rude? By Beshay Sakla, Alissa Scheller, Chris Baronavski and Drew DeSilver www.pewresearch.org/quiz/which-p...

So much this.

🎅9️⃣ Bears will be boys, by Melanie Walsh @mellymeldubs.bsky.social pudding.cool/2025/07/kids...

What makes a startup succeed? At Hertie School’s Entrepreneurship Evening, experts Dr. Fabian Braesemann (Oxford) & Dr. Susanne Perner (TU Berlin) shared data-driven insights on founder traits, success factors & navigating innovation ecosystems. Read more👉 www.hertie-school.org/en/news/rese...

💫 I need your input! What’s your favorite piece of data journalism? Share it with me in the replies or via DM! Doesn't have to be English, just freely accessible.

🚨📆🤓 One more week to apply for our Data4Good Festival @hertieschool.bsky.social! Now in its third year, we’re bringing a fresh set of datasets for this round’s hackathon challenge. If you teach undergrads who might want to join us in Berlin in January, please help us spread the word.

Hands Reaching Up From Hell, Wat Rong Khun Temple, by Chalermchai Kositpipat, 1997

🎅5️⃣ Do You Think You Can Tell How a Neighborhood Voted Just by Looking Around? By Emily Badger, Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy, and Rumsey Taylor from @upshot.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🎅4️⃣ 1 Pixel Wealth, by Matt Korostoff eattherichtextformat.github.io/1-pixel-weal...

🎅3️⃣ So trug die AfD den Hass in die Parlamente, by Eric Beltermann, Nina Breher, Hendrik Lehmann, Markus Günther, and Lennart Tröbs @tagesspiegel.de interaktiv.tagesspiegel.de/lab/von-mess...

🎅2️⃣ The fentanyl funnel: How narcos sneak deadly chemicals through the U.S., by Daisy Chung, Laura Gottesdiener, Drazen Jorgic and Kristina Cooke www.reuters.com/investigates...

2️⃣4️⃣🎁🎄 Doing something new for Advent this year: one great data journalism piece per day until Dec 24. I’m teaching a data journalism course @hertieschool.bsky.social next semester, so this is partly selfish homework. But maybe interesting for others too.

2️⃣4️⃣🎁🎄 Doing something new for Advent this year: one great data journalism piece per day until Dec 24. I’m teaching a data journalism course @hertieschool.bsky.social next semester, so this is partly selfish homework. But maybe interesting for others too.

PhD ✅ in Berlin ✅ on media and behavioral economics ✅ working with @ariannaornaghi.bsky.social and Egon Tripodi ✅✅ I'd immediately apply but I’ve aged out - maybe you haven't?

We have a new tenure-track job in @lsegovernment.bsky.social at AP level (empirical political science, open subfield): jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/... Please apply and share with colleagues who might be interested!

Had an absolutely amazing time! Great presentations + discussions, incl. impressive data collections from 160 treatments to 30,000 respondents Thank you for the immaculate organization @eliaskoch.bsky.social @cornelius-erfort.bsky.social @hannahrajski.bsky.social @simonsaysnothin.bsky.social

So great to be in Berlin for this fantastic @zweitstimme.bsky.social workshop! I presented joint work with @bjarneck.bsky.social and @bramwauters.bsky.social on the limited effects of mobilizing measures following the abolition of compulsory voting in Flanders.

🎉 Kicking off the Zweitstimme.org Workshop! We’re looking forward to two days discussing new work on Elections, Public Opinion & Elite Behaviour. Today’s sessions: 👉 Panel I – Elites 👉 Panel II – Participation 👉 Panel III – Party Strategies Huge thanks to @hertieschool.bsky.social for hosting us!

📣 New op-ed in Süddeutsche Zeitung: What the data say about the “Brandmauer” I summarize key findings from a study with @anninahermes.bsky.social across 57 democracies ➡️ Far-right parties don’t get weaker in government, they get stronger (~6 points by the next election) tinyurl.com/4j6jaud2

Aber Habeck www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2...

Kein besserer Start in den Morgen als mit einem starken ZEIT-Artikel meines großartigen Hertie-Kollegen Christian Gläßel und @ascharpf.bsky.social: www.zeit.de/politik/ausl... (Freebie-Link)

This week, the 2025 edition of the Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change was released — and I was able to contribute a small part again (look for indicator 5.2 in our version of the #ShowYourStripes chart, that’s me!). 1/4

We are hiring a PhD student to join us at the @hertiesecurity.bsky.social (start Sept. 2026)! If you want to conduct research on topics related to digital authoritarianism, state repression, contentious politics or social movements online, then this job might be for you!

This looks very useful for comparative research on legislative elites. Also, it's great to see more projects paying attention to interoperability with existing data infrastructure. We're on a good path as a discipline!

... in which I accidentally imitate Otto Wels, while saying things far less momentous than he did back then.

Day 1 at #MEDem Conference @gesis.org in Cologne, where I had the chance to share a personal perspective on data infrastructure projects for democracy research. Slides here: simonmunzert.com/medem25/

Coming up on Monday the @medem.bsky.social conference at @gesis.org in Cologne. Stay tuned for the future of democracy research infrastructures www.medem.eu/coming-up-th... Keynotes from @simonsaysnothin.bsky.social and @sldelange.bsky.social

Deadline for the position as Full Professor at our dept is coming closer: Great position, great colleagues & very positive working atmosphere. Please contact @danbischof.bsky.social if you have any questions. And thanks for asking - yes, the pic shows today's view from the position's office.

I have studied the targeting of journalists for many years, but the scale and public display of these killings is truly shocking: “Israel admits deliberate attack on the journalist, known for frontline coverage, in a strike on a tent outside al-Shifa hospital“ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...