🚀 The #VORTEX PhD journey was anything but linear. For some, it felt like climbing a mountain; for others, navigating a river or riding a rollercoaster. As the results show, every experience was different, but resilience, adaptability, and persistence kept us moving forward.

🚀 Welcome to our new #VORTEX social media series! This series explores the PhD journeys of our doctoral candidates, highlighting their experiences, challenges, and key learnings from the past years through survey reflections. Stay tuned for insights and stories!

In this #VORTEX blog post, Thorsten Bonacker examines how loneliness and the search for meaning can contribute to radicalization. He argues that radical groups can attract those who feel disconnected by offering belonging, purpose, and recognition. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/06/sile...

In this #VORTEX blog post, Kristian Steiner explores why people are drawn to radical groups. He argues that such groups can appeal by offering security, belonging, and status through normal psychological and social processes. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/06/why-...

🚀 Welcome to the second #VORTEX Newsletter of 2026! In this edition, we look back on the past three years, sharing key experiences, memorable moments, and highlights. We also bring you updates on recent publications and other news. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/06/vort...

In this #VORTEX blog post Tore Bjørgo reflects on decades of research on deradicalisation and disengagement. He presents an interview dataset with former extremists, designed to further research on pathways out of extremism and processes of reintegration. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/05/work...

From March 23–26, 2026, the #VORTEX consortium met in Cluj-Napoca to discuss career paths, academic freedom, and ongoing projects. Workshops, ethics reflections, and collaboration sparked discussions and advanced the student and practitioner handbook. #VORTEXresearch #RadicalizationStudies

🚀Welcome to the first #VORTEX Newsletter of 2026! Back from our consortium meeting in Cluj-Napoca, we share new blog posts, updates, and insights into our doctoral workspaces. At the same time, we move into our final year, entering a period of reflection. Read more vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/03/vort...

In this #VORTEX blog post, Anna Thaler explores how a mental health perspective can support practitioners in early identification and targeted action while highlighting that mental health is one factor among many and not a simple deterministic cause. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/03/what...

In this #VORTEX blog post, Corinne Torrekens highlights the need for stronger reflexivity in radicalisation research, urging scholars to reflect on their positionality and power in the research process to ensure more transparent knowledge production. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/03/a-pl...

In this #VORTEX blog post, doctoral candidate Laura emphasizes that political violence challenges institutions and calls for transparent, revisable frameworks grounded in affected experiences, ensuring responses do not reinforce harmful dynamics. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/02/reco...

In this #VORTEX blog post, doctoral candidate Heidi reflects on a talk she presented at the “Objects, Technique, Meaning” seminar series at the University of Turin, exploring Bruno Latour’s notions of matters of fact, matters of concern, and critique. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2026/01/the-...

In this #VORTEX blog post, Lotta Rahlf explores outcome harvesting as a way to evaluate P/CVE in complex contexts, showing how starting from observed change can reveal meaningful effects and learning where impact is difficult to measure. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/12/what...

In this #VORTEX blog post, doctoral candidate Violette examines how the performative male reveals struggles over gender, power and belonging, asking if performance can become real transformation within a patriarchy society toward authentic allyship. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/12/perf...

🚀 Welcome to the fourth and final #VORTEX Newsletter of 2025! Our doctoral candidates have been busy as the year ends, and we are excited to share updates. This edition features new blog posts and a look inside our doctoral candidates’ workspaces. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/11/vort...

In this #VORTEX blog post, doctoral candidate Violette examines the 10th anniversary of the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks, highlighting how rituals and politics shape collective grief and security. Ceremonies honor loss and reinforce vigilance. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/11/ten-...

This #VORTEX blog post by Laura Stritzke and Isabelle Stephanblome (PRIF Blog) explores how attacks in Germany sparked political calls linking unclear motives and mental illness, risking collapsed categories and oversimplified dynamics in radicalization and mental health. Read More: lnkd.in/epXSjYi7

In this blog post, #VORTEX doctoral candidate Rohan examines depolarisation discourse as a response to rising polarisation, highlighting how it can flatten power imbalances, create false equivalences, and entrench the status quo. Read More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/10/agai...

In this #VORTEX blog post, Laura reflects on Punching the World, a film set in a post-socialist region of Eastern Germany in the early 2000s. It shows how two brothers, shaped by loss and broken family bonds, take diverging paths into radicalization. Read More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/10/punc...

In this blogpost #VORTEX Doctoral Candidate Lotta Rahlf explores how P/CVE organisations can strengthen evaluation by embedding impact orientation, monitoring systems and internal coordination into their structures. Read More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/08/harn...

#VORTEX Doctoral Candidate Lotta Rahlf shows how Germany’s knowledge networks in P/CVE, democracy promotion and civic education contribute to a uniquely professional and civil society-driven prevention landscape in Europe. Read More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/06/secu...

#VORTEX Doctoral candidate Violette Mens and colleagues sparked urgent debate on deepfakes and radicalization at STS-CH 2025. The workshop showed how deepfakes and blurred uses of radicalization undermine shared reality and challenge democratic discourse. More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/09/deep...

#VORTEX doctoral candidate Heidi presents at the European Academy of Religion’s 8th Annual Conference, “Religion and Socio-Cultural Transformation: European Perspectives & Beyond” (EuARe2025), sharing insights on anti-Muslim conspiracy theories on Telegram. More: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/09/pres...

#VORTEX doctoral candidate Violette shows how the Netflix series "The Hooligan" reveals radicalization as a search for belonging and meaning beyond ideology. Using the Good Lives Model, she highlights humane paths to resilience. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/08/from...

🚀 Welcome to the third #VORTEX Newsletter of 2025! As we dive into fieldwork and data analysis, new insights and surprises are emerging. This edition features new blog posts, project highlights, surprises, and reflections on our journey so far. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/08/vort...

Our #VORTEX project updates are back – today with our last update! Meet Orwa Ajjoub who is a PhD student at Malmö University. His research explores how radical religious rhetoric is used to justify violence between jihadi groups. 🔍 Discover his work: vortex.uni.mau.se/orwa-ajjoub/

Our #VORTEX project updates are back! This week meet Joshua Farrell-Molloy, a PhD student at Malmö University's Department of Global Political Studies, researching digital subcultures as part of the VORTEX project. 🔍 Discover his work: vortex.uni.mau.se/joshua-farre...

📢 #VORTEX doctoral candidate Heidi Campana Piva and her colleagues host a workshop on AI & NLP for humanities and social sciences in October 2025 at the University of Turin. Explore the workshop’s goals and topics in her #VORTEX blog article: 👉 vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/07/labo...

In her latest #VORTEX blog article, Camilla Winde Gissel illustrates how narratives shape the understanding and legitimation of military violence. Using the Iran-Israel-US escalation, she reveals how meaning is made and violence justified. Read more here: 👉 vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/07/befo...

Our #VORTEX project updates are back! Meet Javid, Ph.D. fellow at the Faculty of European Studies, Babeș-Bolyai University. He explores how center-right parties radicalize in response to the rise of radical-right forces. 🔍Discover his work: vortex.uni.mau.se/javid-ibad/

Our #VORTEX updates are back! Meet Camilla, PhD Research Fellow at the Center for Research on Extremism. She explores how various approaches to (former) violent extremists' impact deradicalization, disengagement, and reintegration across diverse contexts. 🔍 vortex.uni.mau.se/camilla-wind...

Our #VORTEX project updates are back! Meet Rohan from the University of Helsinki, who studies how EU counterterrorism policies frame extreme right-wing terror through a Foucauldian lens—focusing on far-right and eco-fascist Telegram groups.🔍 Discover his work: vortex.uni.mau.se/rohan-steven...

Our #VORTEX project updates are back! This week, meet Laura (PRIF), exploring how extremism prevention practitioners balance support & control. Her work compares schools & prisons to understand this complex dynamic 🔍 Discover her work: vortex.uni.mau.se/laura-stritz... More updates every Thursday

At the 2025 Nanjing Normal University Semiotics Symposium, #VORTEX doctoral candidate Heidi presented her research on how language patterns shape White Genocide conspiracy theories and white-supremacist clusters. Read more about her research and her presentation: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/06/pres...

#VORTEX updates are back! Spotlight on Lotta Rahlf (PRIF), comparing how 12 EU countries design & evaluate P/CVE strategies—focusing on evaluation and quality management. Using QCA, she explores why some countries are more institutionalized than others. 🔍 vortex.uni.mau.se/lotta-rahlf/

#VORTEX doctoral candidate Marzena explores the complex, multi-layered ties between right-wing populism and religion—beyond mere instrumentalization. Religion shapes and reflects identity and culture, influenced by leaders and supporters. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/05/righ...

Our #VORTEX project updates continue! Meet Marzena Oliveira Ribas, who explores how far-right and Islamist groups on Telegram use gendered narratives to build communities and reduce uncertainty—comparing male, female & mixed spaces across ideologies. 🔍 vortex.uni.mau.se/marzena-oliveira-ribas

#VORTEX doctoral candidate Lotta Rahlf shares insights from key conferences on preventing and countering violent extremism and terrorism, highlighting current opportunities and challenges in the field. Read her blog post: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/netw...

Great internal workshop this week with researchers from the VORTEX Doctoral Network and the Research Group on Radicalization at @prif.org. We discussed work on online radicalization, intra-jihadi violence, conspiracy theories, and knowledge production — sparking rich discussions.

Our #VORTEX project updates continue! Meet Violette Mens (Univ. of Marburg), who explores how academic knowledge on radicalization is turned into political action—focusing on how states engage with research and how epistemic communities exchange ideas. 🔍 vortex.uni.mau.se/violette-mens

Our first post in our #VORTEX blog series is here! Meet Heidi Campana Piva (Uni Turin), who researches conspiracy theories on Telegram in religion & medicine using computational linguistics. 🔍 Discover her work: vortex.uni.mau.se/heidi-campan... New profiles every Thursday!

🚀 We’re excited to share the latest edition of the #VORTEX Newsletter. Featuring new blog posts, project updates, and fresh insights from our doctoral researchers. We reintroduce our candidates, showcase their projects & reflect on our Turin meeting. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/vort...

Based on her secondment at the Violence Prevention Network (VPN), #VORTEX doctoral candidate Laura Stritzke shows how practice-oriented feedback tools can strengthen monitoring in universal and selective prevention. Read her new #VORTEX blog post: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/ever...

We are excited to announce: Starting next week, our new #VORTEX blog series kicks off 🚀 Each Thursday, we’ll reintroduce one of our #VORTEX doctoral candidates and their research projects. Get ready for fresh insights into the people and the research behind VORTEX. Stay tuned!

Once unthinkable, now mainstream? In her latest #VORTEX blog, doctoral candidate Violette Mens unpacks how the Overton Window shifts—showing how culture, politics & movements shape what’s seen as acceptable. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/the-...

#VORTEX doctoral candidate Javid Ibad explores whether the mainstream right is radicalizing beyond immigration—and what this shift means for policymaking in liberal democracies. Recap from our penel at HEPP5 in Helsinki: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/hepp...

At the Helsinki Conference on Emotions, Populism and Polarised Politics (HEPP5), our #VORTEX doctoral candidate Heidi Campana Piva remotely presented her work on "The Anti-Establishment Feelings of Conspiracy Theories in Radicalization". Watch the full video under: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/hepp...

Violette Mens’ presentation at HEPP5 in Helsinki explored bridging the gap between radicalization research and political action. She analyzed how French scholars, as part of epistemic communities, shape the discourse on radicalization and politics. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/hepp...

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has transformed from its jihadist roots to adopt a more pragmatic approach to governance in Syria. This transformation poses challenges in uniting a fractured nation. Orwa Ajjoub analyzes this in his latest #VORTEX blog post. Read more: vortex.uni.mau.se/2025/04/haya...

From March 25–28, 2025, the VORTEX research network gathered at Uni Turin. PhD candidates shared their initial findings. Keynotes and discussions covered: 📊 Data Management 🧭 Ethics: Regina Ammicht & Quinn Marco Krüger 📣 Science Communication: Gabriele Marino Next meeting: online in fall 2025.