PHD IDS: Students of the New Intake of the PhD IDS Have Started their Projects

At the end of 2015, seven new full and two new associate students started their journey to obtain a Ph.D. in International Development Studies (PhD IDS) at the IEE. We proudly introduce them to you. Moreover, with the start of the summer term 2016, Martina Shakya has taken over the coordination of the PhD IDS programme from Anja Zorob. Finally, two IEE PhD IDS students were accepted to the joint PhD Programme with the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague.

9th PhD IDS Intake

The new PhD IDS intake marks the 9th since its inception. This time, the new German Arab Joint PhD Programme "From Responsibility to Protect to Responsibility to Assist", of which the IEE is a partner, coins the overall impression of the intake by accounting for six of the new full and two of the new associate PhD students. Hence, a thematic focus on issues of conflict, reconstruction, and sustainable development in the Middle East is clearly visible in the list of new PhD projects.

The new PhD students and their Projects

Assem Abi Ali from Lebanon is one of the students of the German Arab Joint PhD Programme. He holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the Lebanese American University and will write his PhD thesis about the "Shaping Minority Representation and Interests in Turbulent States: The Case of the Druze in Syria". His thesis will be supervised by Professor Christof Hartmann, Institute for Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, on the German side, and by Professor Sami Baroudi, Lebanese American University, on the Arab side.
Loubna Abi Khalil is the second full student in the German Arab Joint PhD Programme. She is also from Lebanon and holds a M.A. in International Affairs from the Lebanese American University. Her thesis will address the topic of "A New Perspective of Refugee Studies: Refugees as a Source of Social Peace", which will be supervised by Professor Tobias Debiel, Institute for Development and Peace at the University of Duisburg-Essen, and Professor Eva Gerharz, Faculty of Social Science at the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany, and Professor Sami Baroudi, Lebanese American University, in Lebanon.
Salam Alhaj Hasan from Syria has already done her Master's degree in Economics in Germany at the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. In her thesis, which will be supervised by Professor Wilhelm Löwenstein, IEE, she will investigate "The Economic Life of Syrian Refugees in Camps".


The only IEE staff member in the current intake is Jasmin Fritzsche from Germany, who holds an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics. Her thesis addresses the question "The International Community, Domestic Policies and Forced Secondary Displacement of Palestinian Refugees - A Vicious Circle?". Her thesis will be supervised by Professor Joachim Heintze, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Professor Al Jaghoub, Faculty of Law, University of Jordan.
The second German member of the German-Arab Joint PhD Programme is Laura Hofmann. She holds a LL.M. in International Law from Maastricht University. The topic of her thesis is "The Protection of Cultural Property in Non-International Armed Conflicts - The R2P Revisited". Professor Pierre Thielbörger, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Professor Al Jaghoub, Faculty of Law, University of Jordan, will act as supervisors.
Ihsan Mabdooh, a Palestinian from Jordan, joins the PhD intake as a member of the German-Arab Joint PhD Programme, holding an LL.M. in International Law from the University of Jordan. In his thesis he analyses "The responsibility of the United Nations to end an occupation - Study on Palestine". The project is supervised by Professor Joachim Heintze, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, and Professor Al Jaghoub, Faculty of Law, University of Jordan.
A new German member of the PhD IDS is Daniela Röttger. She holds an M.A. in International Relations and Development Policy. Her thesis will address "Voluntary sustainability standards for agro-commodities: The challenge of measuring effects on smallholder farmers and environment" and will be supervised by Professor Wilhelm Löwenstein, IEE.
Afsin Evren from Turkey joins the PhD IDS as an associate member. He holds an M.A. in European Studies from University of Westminster and will delve in his PhD project into an "Analysis of Protection and Integration Process of Non Camp Syrians Refugees Living under Temporary Protection in Turkey", which is supervised by Professor Joachim Heintze, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum.
Finally, Mohammad Al Asadi, a Palestinian from Syria, joins the PhD IDS as an associate member. In his thesis, he will tackle the task of "Proposing and Testing a New Mechanism for Financing Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Economies". It will be supervised by Professor Wilhelm Löwenstein, IEE.

New Coordination

After four years, Anja Zorob (on the left) has passed on the baton of the PhD IDS coordinator to IEE Post-Doctoral Fellow Martina Shakya. At the IEE, we are thankful for Anja's engagement in the PhD IDS, still recognizable by the German-Arab Joint PhD Programme that she procured. Anja's enthusiasm for the Arab World will surely be remembered at the Institute.
The new coordinator, Martina Shakya (on the right), is a well-known face to those involved with the activities of the IEE over the past years. Next to her position as a PhD IDS coordinator, Martina Shakya will continue to be involved as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Urban Food Plus research project. IEE Director Professor, Eva Gerharz, will succeed Anja's role as the Academic Coordinator of the German Arab Joint PhD.

Two PhD IDS students from IEE join the ISS

IEE-PhD IDS students, Raffael Beier and Britta Holzberg, were accepted to the joint programme of the ISS and the Ruhr-University Bochum. On side of the ISS, Raffael's PhD project will be co-supervised by Erhard Berner and Sylvia Bergh and promoted by Irene van Staveren and Britta's PhD project will be co-supervised by Peter Knorringa.
They are the first students to participate in the programme since the signing of the partnership agreement in October 2014. This exchange programme, led by Wil Hout as the Academic Coordinator, allows students from the ISS or the Ruhr-University Bochum to complete their PhD studies at the respective Institute.

Dr. Martina Shakya
Postdoctoral Fellow, Urban Food Plus
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +49 (0)234 / 32-25149
Fax: +49 (0)234 / 32-14294