Professor Nils Weidmann

Karl Deutsch Award 2020 for Nils Weidmann

Political scientist at the University of Konstanz honored for his academic contributions to international relations and peace research

Nils Weidmann, Professor of Political Science at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz, and Co-Speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality”, is the recipient of the Karl Deutsch Award 2020.

The award is presented annually to scholars within ten years after completing their PhD, who are judged to have made the most significant contribution to the study of international relations and peace research.

The Award Committee explicitly emphasized Nils Weidmann’s contributions to three areas: Firstly, in the geographic analysis of violence and conflict, where he has been involved in the creation of geospatial conflict datasets and analytical methods. Secondly, he has produced important insights on the role of digital communication in the mobilization of protest movements in his book „The Internet and Political Protest in Autocracies“ (co-authored by Espen Geelmuyden Rød). Thirdly, the committee stressed Weidmann’s influential contributions in the area of empirical research methods, where he worked on event data about politically motivated violence and protests. Referring to other awards which he has either received or been nominated for, the committee states: “Professor Weidmann has received a number of other well-deserved honors and awards in recognition of his numerous individual works.”

About the International Studies Association
The International Studies Association is one of the oldest scientific associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational and global affairs. Among its more than 7,000 members worldwide, it counts academics, practitioners, policy experts, private sector workers and independent researchers, among others. The Association serves as a central hub for the exchange of ideas and for networking and programmatic initiatives among those involved in the study, teaching and practice of International Studies.

About Nils Weidmann
In his research, Nils Weidmann focuses on the effects of digital media on political mobilization and protest movements, on the relationship between social inequality and the development of violent conflict, and on the use of digital communication in autocracies. In 2012, he received a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.


Facts:

  • Prof. Dr. Nils Weidmann is a political scientist at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. He heads the research group on “Communication, Networks and Contention” and is a Principal Investigator and Co-Speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality”.
  • Weidmann is the first scholar at a German research institution to receive the Karl Deutsch Award.
  • The Karl Deutsch Award is a distinction for scholars in the field of international relations and peace research, and comes with a $500.00 USD cash prize. It would have been presented on 26 March 2020 at the Annual Conference of the International Studies Association in Honolulu, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.