Dr. Jan Sauermann was appointed to the professorship for "Modern Political Theory" at the Institute for Social Sciences at the University of Oldenburg in March 2021. He previously worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Comparative Politics at the University of Cologne.

Sauermann studied economics in the social sciences at the University of Cologne. After working as a research assistant at the Chair of Comparative Politics and a research stay at New York University, he completed his doctorate in 2010 as part of the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy in Cologne. He then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies before returning to the University of Cologne as an academic advisor.

Sauermann's research interests include experimental political science and political theory. He concentrates on questions of how groups can achieve common goals and how they arrive at joint decisions. His particular focus here is on research into new voting mechanisms and the question of how social preferences such as fairness and altruism influence decision-making.