Teaching Degree (1. Staatsexamen) in Economics & Geography, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
1998 - 2001
M.A. in Geography, Political Economy & Business Administration, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
2002 - present
PhD project in Socio-Economic Geography, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
PhD thesis: "Social capital of ethnic entrepreneurs."
Awards/ Fellowships
1998 - 2001
Scholarship from the Dr Gerhard Weil Foundation, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
2001
Price awarded for an outstanding M.A. thesis by the Franconian Geographical Society (Fränkische Geographische Gesellschaft FGG), Erlangen
2002 - 2004
PhD project grant from the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich, Germany
Professional Experience
10/1998 - 03/1999
Researcher in a German Research Foundation (DFG) project entitled "Tropical mountain forests in Southern Ecuador" on the social part of the project in Southern Ecuador
2001 - 2002
Consultant in GIS-based social research projects commissioned by the Protestant church of Bavaria
2002 - 2003
Researcher in a Bavarian pilot scheme related to the Agenda 21 concerning the "Situation of Women in the Administrative District of Ansbach". The project was financed by the European Social Fonds and the Government of Bavaria
2004 - present
Researcher at the HWWA-Migration Research Group in the EU funded project on migrant networks "KnowMig"
Publications
2001
„Ethnic Business“ in Nürnberg: Fallstudie Dönerkebap. In: Mitteilungen der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft 48, 2001: 247-272. (Ethnic business in Nuremberg: case study on the donar kebap trade).
Selected Presentations
09 / 2003
Royal Geographic Society-Institute of British Geographers RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2003 in London, UK;
Topic: Ethnic Business Research in Germany.
10 / 2003
54th German Geographical Conference (Deutscher Geographentag) in Bern, Switzerland;
Topic: Social Capital of Ethnic Entrepreneurs.