Dr. Natalie Welfens
Dr. Natalie Welfens
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am IfS der Universität Duisburg-Essen am Bereich Makrosoziologie und transnationale Prozesse von Prof. Anja Weiß
► Contact
► Research
► Appointments
► Current Research Projects
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Institut für Soziologie
47057 Duisburg
Functions
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Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in, Institut für Soziologie
Research
- International Political Sociology
- Migration and Refugee Studies
- Science and Technology Studies
- Practice Theory
- Social Inequalities and, Diversity and Intersectionality
- International Organisations
- EU External Relations
- Ethnographic Methods
Appointments
Since 12/2023: University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Sociology, Duisburg
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair for Macro-Sociology and Transnational Processes, Prof. Dr. Anja Weiß
08/2021-11/2023 Hertie School, Centre for Fundamental Rights, Berlin
Postdoctoral Researcher in the ERC project ‘Refugees are Migrants (RefMig): Refugee Mobility, Recognition and Rights’, principal investigator Prof. Cathryn Costello
12/2020-06/2021 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, Amsterdam
Postdoctoral Researcher in the project ‘Outsourcing Migration Control: Externalizing European Borders to Africa’, principal investigator Dr. Joakim Berndtsson, University of Gothenburg
06/2021 PhD in Political Science, passed with distinctions ‘Cum Laude’ (top 5 percent of all dissertations defended in the Netherlands), University of Amsterdam
- Title: ‘Categories on the Move. Governing Refugees in Transnational Refugee Admission Programmes’
- Supervisors: Prof. Marieke de Goede and Dr. Liza Mügge (University of Amsterdam)
- Examiners: Prof. Claudia Aradau (King’s College London), Prof. Luiza Bialasiewicz (University of Amsterdam), Dr. Saskia Bonjour (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Gülay Çağlar (Freie Universität Berlin), Prof. Anna Korteweg (University of Toronto) and Dr. Beste Ĭşleyen (University of Amsterdam)
09/2021-09/2020 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, Amsterdam
PhD Researcher at the Department of Political Science, funded by an individual ‘Research Talent’ grant of the Dutch Research Council NWO
02/2015-08/2016 Freie Universität Berlin, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Sciences, Berlin
Research Associate (‘Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin’) at the Chair of European Integration Prof. Tania Börzel, office of Dr. Sabine von Oppeln, responsible for German-French study programmes
Current Research Projects
Research Group: Technological Transformations in Migration and Asylum Governance (TETRAMAG) funded by a Change! Fellowship of the Volkswagen Foundation
Role: Principal Investigator
Technological transformations are radically changing social and political processes, including in migration and asylum governance (MAG). While technological advancements promise enhanced efficiency in public administration and improved access to services for migrants, concerns about data protection, discrimination and inequalities persist. Private companies' dominance complicates transparency and accountability issues. Moreover, existing digitalisation initiatives often overlook the perspectives of frontline bureaucrats and migrants, hindering inclusive change. With a transdisciplinary team of social scientists and experts on participatory tech-development, TETRAMAG seeks to generate cutting-edge scholarly knowledge and concrete solutions for inclusive technological transformations in MAG. Combining insights from Political Sociology, Science and Technology Studies and interdisciplinary Migration Studies, it investigates digitalisation projects in governing migration pathways, reception and placement with a focus on co-creation and co-development of new technologies. Rooted in qualitative participatory action research, TETRAMAG aims to (1) examine current and future uses of technology in MAG with a focus on inclusivity, (2) analyse stakeholders' perspectives on inclusive technological change, and (3) disseminate actionable knowledge on participatory digitalization and technological change. Ultimately, TETRAMAG seeks to deliver tangible solutions for MAG across Germany and the wider European Union, fostering equitable distribution of technological advancements and addressing the concerns of marginalized groups.
Speculative Futures: Examining Data-Driven Models in European Security Policies (FUTURESEC)
Aurora Seed-Funding, together with Dr. Tasniem Anwar (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Prof. Dr. Andreas Oberprantacher (University of Innsbruck)
New technologies, including generative AI, are radically reshaping security governance in Europe. In particular, data-driven information systems promise to better calculate security risks and anticipate future security challenges such as terrorist attacks, climate catastrophes, global pandemics, armed conflicts, or large-scale migratory movements. FUTURESEC focusses on data-driven prognostic models as a new form of knowledge at the centre of European security governance. Within this project we conduct exploratory research into three security domains, namely: (a) terrorism (b) migration and (c) armed conflict. Despite the novel EU AI Act, such practices remain largely opaque and uninterrogated. Using a triangulated qualitative research approach, the goal of this project is to scrutinise how these technologies impact the design of future security scenarios, to better understand how our policies are shaped by data-driven prognostic models and how to formulate critique against the lack of transparency.