New Postdocs and Visiting Researchers in Winter Semester
The MPIfG welcomes four new postdocs and six international visiting scholars this winter semester, with research projects ranging from the political economy of the green transition to global growth models and environmental privilege.
Postdocs until September 2027
Santiago Mandirola (San Martín University, Argentina/University of Tübingen) joins Carola Westermeier as a postdoc to research “Platforms and Financial Inclusion: From Digital Payments to the Construction of Markets.” In his research, he investigates how digital platforms structure financial markets and shape inclusion. Joining Lucio Baccaro’s Political Economy Research Area is Luca Cigna (LUISS University, Rome), who is working on “The Coalitional Politics of the Green Transition.” His project analyzes how the dynamics of coalitional politics recast growth models toward low-carbon economies and societies. In Jens Beckert’s Economic Sociology Research Area, Bryan Boyle (Free University of Brussels) is researching “Elites, Labour and Environmental Privilege” in an ethnographic study of the working conditions of groundskeepers to the wealthy. Nina Lopez-Uroz (European University Institute, Florence) is working in Leon Wansleben’s Contested Ecologies Research Group on growth models and environmental crises.
Short-term visiting researcher stays 2025/26
Two visiting researchers at the MPIfG until December of this year are Jonas Fischer (University of Oxford) and Caroline Ahler Christesen (Roskilde University). In “Chameleons in their Macroeconomic Environments,” Fischer is exploring the conditions under which firms in polluting sectors can become more accepting of climate change mitigation policies. In her research, Ahler Christesen is developing the concept of “Incumbency Regimes” – state structures that sustain fossil-fuel-based accumulation and political power – and analyzes how they resist decarbonization across different political contexts. From January to March 2026, Antoine Leymarie (Sciences Po Paris) is working on “Financialization and Autonomy in the Healthcare Professions.” Using French medical biologists and radiologists as his case study, Leymarie explores how financialization processes alter professional autonomy in the health sector. Sara Konoe (Kansai University, Osaka) was a visiting researcher at the MPIfG in 2018 and will return for a further stay between the end of February and March 2026. She is interested in the question of whether economic growth strategy can function as a lever for political change.
ARTEMIS Mentorship Program 2025
Two early-career researchers from Africa visited the MPIfG this fall as part of the Max Planck Society’s ARTEMIS Mentorship Program. Endalcachew Bayeh Amsalie (Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia) spent his stay during October and November analyzing the geopolitical drivers of Ethiopia-China relations since 1991. Ngone Mirimi (Lúrio University, Mozambique) was working in early October on the consequences of privatization for the Mozambican energy and raw materials sector. ARTEMIS is a mentorship program offering junior scholars career support and access to international networks, with opportunities to spend time at a Max Planck Institute in Germany.
