Political scientist Jan Sauermann appointed

Dr Jan Sauermann has been appointed Professor of Modern Political Theory at the Institute of Social Sciences.

He was previously a research associate at the Chair of Comparative Political Science at the University of Cologne. Sauermann studied economics in Cologne. After a period as a research assistant at the Chair of Comparative Political Science and a research stay at New York University (USA), he completed his doctorate in 2010 in the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy programme in Cologne. He then took a post as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cologne-based Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, before returning to the University of Cologne as a senior lecturer. Sauermann's research focuses on how groups can achieve common goals and how they reach joint decisions. In particular, he is investigating new coordination mechanisms and the question of how social preferences influence decision-making.