Short-CV

Nils Weidmann is a professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz since 2015. Since 2022 he is Principal Investigator of the Centre for Human | Data | Society. He received a M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Freiburg in 2003, a M.A. in Comparative and International Studies from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in 2008, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from ETH Zurich in 2009. He was postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University, Yale University and at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo. He is a Executive Committee Member of the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies and part of the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Foundation for Peace Research. He is also a member of the Coordination Group for Digital Behavioral Data (GESIS) of the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Nils Weidmann has expert knowledge regarding Political Violence and Social Science Data. His research is focused on Information- and communication technology and political mobilization. He examines how new technologies affect political mobilization, with a particular focus on non-democratic countries and non-conventional forms of political action, such as protest and violent conflict.

Research-related publications

• Weidmann, Nils B., 2023: Data Management for Social Scientists: From Files to Databases. “Methodological Tools in the Social Sciences” series, New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Keremoğlu, Eda, Sebastian Hellmeier and Nils B. Weidmann, 2022: Thin-skinned Leaders: Regime Legitimation, Protest Issues and Repression in Autocracies. Political Science Research and Methods 10(1): 136–152.
• Bormann, Nils-Christian, Lars-Erik Cederman, Yannick I. Pengl and Nils B. Weidmann, 2021: Globalization, Institutions and Ethnic Inequality. International Organization 75(3): 665-697.
• Lutscher, Philipp, Nils B. Weidmann, Margaret E. Roberts, Mattijs Jonker, Alistair King and Alberto Dainotti, 2020: At Home and Abroad: The Use of Denial-of-Service Attacks during Elections in Non-democratic Regimes. Journal of Conflict Resolution 64(2-3): 373-401.
• Hellmeier, Sebastian and Nils B. Weidmann, 2020: Pulling the Strings? The Strategic Use of Pro-Government Mobilization in Authoritarian Regimes. Comparative Political Studies 53(1): 71-108.
• Cook, Scott and Nils B. Weidmann, 2019: Lost in Aggregation: Improving Event Analysis with Report-level Data. American Journal of Political Science 63(1): 250-264.
• Weidmann, Nils B. and Espen Geelmuyden Rød, 2019: The Internet and Political Protest in Autocracies. “Oxford Studies in Digital Politics” series, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Weidmann, Nils B., Suso Benitez-Baleato, Philipp Hunziker, Eduard Glatz and Xenofontas Dimitropoulos, 2016: Digital Discrimination: Political Bias in Internet Service Provision across Ethnic Groups. Science 353(6304): 1151-1156.
• Weidmann, Nils B., 2016: A Closer Look at Reporting Bias in Conflict Event Data. American Journal of Political Science 60(1): 206-218. Included in the 2017 Virtual Special Issue of the most-cited articles in the AJPS 2015-2016.
• Shapiro, Jacob N. and Nils B. Weidmann, 2015: Is the Phone Mightier than the Sword? Cell Phones and Insurgent Violence in Iraq. International Organization 69(2): 247-274.