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I am a political scientist at [GESIS -- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences](https://www.gesis.org/institut/mitarbeiterverzeichnis/person/Sebastian.Ziaja) in Cologne, where I lead the team Survey Data Augmentation.
Before joining GESIS, I was senior researcher at the [German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)](https://www.die-gdi.de/sebastian-ziaja/), interim professor for political science at the [University of Konstanz](https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/cnc/people/former-members/) (W3-Vertretungsprofessur) and postdoctoral researcher at the Research Center for Distributional Conflict and Globalization at [Heidelberg University](https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/wiso/exzellenzinitiative/teilnehmer_en.html).
In 2014, I obtained my PhD with a thesis titled *A nudge too far? The effects of democracy aid on democratization and political instability* from the Department of Government at the [University of Essex](http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/), supervised by [Kristian Skrede Gleditsch](http://ksgleditsch.com/) and [Jörg Faust](http://www.deval.org/en/prof-dr-joerg-faust.html).
In my current research, I focus on measuring regime change and state capacity, developing methods to combine different types of data at various levels of spatial and temporal aggregation.
In substantive terms, want to contribute to better understanding where, when, and how political transitions occur.
My research has appeared in *The Journal of Politics*, *Governance*, *Studies in Comparative International Development*, *Third World Quarterly*, and other international, peer-reviewed journals.
Together with Javier Fabra Mata, I co-authored the [*Users' guide on measuring fragility*](https://www.idos-research.de/uploads/media/usersguide_measure_fragility_ogc09_0.pdf), published by the Oslo Governance Centre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
I led the data analysis for the Hertie School of Governance's *Governance Report 2018* and developed a governance index for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
See my [CV](ziaja_cv.pdf) for further details.
#### Contact
Dr. Sebastian Ziaja
GESIS -- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8
50667 Cologne
Germany
Phone: +49 221 47694-462
Email: sebastianRemoveMeX.ziaja@gesXYHideMeis.org
[www.gesis.org](https://www.gesis.org)
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Written in markdown, compiled with strapdown; last updated April 2023.