Junior Research Group

Supervisor

Dr. Tanja Kirn, Assistant Professor at the University of Liechtenstein
studied economics at the University of Potsdam and received her doctorate there. In her research questions, she mainly works with microsimulation models, which she also uses, among other things, as coordinator and member of the FRIBIS team UBILI for its objectives.
She is the scientific leader of the Junior Research Group (JRG) of FRIBIS, an international group of young researchers who conduct interdisciplinary research on unconditional basic income.

Members

Tobias Dumschat
has studied Business Administration with a focus on ethics at the University of Cologne (B.Sc.) and at the RWTH Aachen (M.Sc.). Most recently he worked on the research project “Society after money: a simulation”. As a PhD candidate at FRIBIS he deals with the question, what impact an UBI could have on the Care-Economy. In addition, he is interested in ethical and sociopsychological issues of the UBI.

Dr. Marcel Franke
studied economics at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg. He is active in the FRIBIS PostDoc Group, as well as in the FRIBIS FRIBIS Team “Basic Income for Peacebuilding”. His research focuses on unconditional basic income and philosophy of state, especially “Constitutional Economics” and “Economics of Social Justice”.

Fabienne Hansen
studied Ethnology and Political Science (BA) at the Ruprecht-Karl-University Heidelberg and Social and Cultural Anthropology (MA) at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg. She has been a PhD student in Ethnology at FRIBIS since July 2021. Her research interests are climate mitigation, poverty reduction and food sovereignty in relation to basic income in the Global South, with a regional focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. She is particularly interested in the impact of cash transfer programs on everyday interactions and lifeworlds.

Leon Hartmann
is currently studying philosophy (M.A.) at the University of Freiburg and is a member of the “Participation and Unconditional Basic Income” (P&UBI) team. In October 2021, he will be starting his dissertation, entitled “The futures of democracy. On the relationship between participation and UBI – a history of related theories and the theory of discourse”.

Tobias Jäger
studied economics at the University of Freiburg and is the coordinator of the “Basic Income for Peacebuilding” (BIP) team. In his dissertation, he is working on UBI in developing countries. His focus is on the impact that the introduction of a basic income could have from a conflict-economics perspective.

Gudrun Kaufmann
is a research assistant at FRIBIS. She studied economics at the University of Freiburg. Until 2022, she was the managing director of FRIBIS. She has coordinated several teams, including Sanction-Free and BINC (Basic Income for Nature & Climate), and managed FRIBIS’ contracts. Gudrun’s main interests are narratives in economics, care economics, and financialisation. Currently, she is focusing on completing her PhD project on narrative economics.

Lida Kuang
studied economics in Freiburg and Finance in Milan. She is a member of SoCoBis (Social Contract and New Ordoliberalism) Team. Her research currently focuses on the experiment of UBI as a social contract in the laboratory, to explore the socially acceptable conditions and rules for a basic income society and further development of Ordoliberalism.

Franziska Leopold
studied Business Administration (Public and Non-Profit Management) at the University of Freiburg and is coordinator of the “Management of Universal Basic Income Non-Government Organizations” (MUBINGO) team. Her focus is on how the idea of an unconditional basic income can be promoted through effective management of UBINGOs (Universal Basic Income Non-Government Organizations).

Simon März
studied economics at the University of Bayreuth, Cape Town, and Freiburg. He is the team coordinator of the FRIBIS-team “Expedition Grundeinkommen” and works closely together with the NGO Expedition Grundeinkommen. In his dissertation project, he researches the implementation of UBI pilot studies in Germany and their financing through the federal equalization scheme.

Rejitha Nair
studied law at the NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad (India) and is involved in setting up the “UBI and Law team”. A doctoral student at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research in Hyderabad, she is conducting research on the question of whether direct benefit transfers lead to more empowerment or result in exclusion.

Patrick Oschwald
studied economics at the University of Freiburg, is coordinator of the team “Universal Basic Income Liechtenstein” (UBILI) and a PhD student at FRIBIS. The focal points of his research are fiscal and distributive effects of a Universal Basic Income, as well as effects on labor supply, which are investigated with the help of microsimulation modelling.

Alexandra Pilyus
studied Economics with a major in Information Systems and Network Economics at the University of Freiburg, pursues further degrees in Interface Design and Computer Science. She is a coordinator of the team “Microsimulation”, keeps building up the team “UBI Russia” and is a BIEN volunteer. Her research is about implementation of UBI in Russia. In her projects Alexandra uses laboratory experiments (zTree, Python) and is currently learning microsimulation methods.
She lives in Karlsruhe area.

Alina Plitman
is a doctoral student of Prof. Dr. Bernward Gesang at the Department of Philosophy, Chair for Practical Philosophy and Business Ethics. In 2011, she graduated from Ruhr-Universität Bochum with a bachelor’s degree in management and economics. After her undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Stuttgart, she obtained her master’s degree in 2020 with a thesis on business ethics. Her research interests include applied ethics, business ethics, and political philosophy. In her dissertation project, she researches about Universal Basic Income Approach focusing on the concept of work, its revising, and inclusion into the modern theories of justice.

Dominik Schröder
is a PhD student at the Götz Werner Professorship at the University of Freiburg and tutor for economic policy. His focus is on the connection between UBI, digitalization and socio-ecological transformation. He has been working on concepts for an integrated, efficient and sustainable energy supply and storage in the Upper Rhine region within the RES-TMO project.

Jessica Schulz
studied germanic philology and theatre science at the Free University of Berlin and in Paris. Her Masters in german as a forerign language and cultural exchange she did also in Berlin and Toulouse. Her dissertation focuses on the impact of an UBI on individual learning processes, particularly on self-regulated learning, motivation and choice. She is currently forming a group on UBI and education.

Jan Schulz-Weiling
graduated in Global Studies (M.A.) at the University of Leipzig. He is doing his PhD at the University of Deusto in Bilbao on Universal Basic Income. His research interests are on the effects of receiving unconditionally and whether a financial safety net ought to be considered a privilege or rather a fundamental right.

Larissa Walter
studied psychology at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and supports FRIBIS in the analysis of empirical and experimental data. She focuses on the potential effects of the BGE on cognitive processes by investigating the effects of performance-based and performance-independent rewards.

Jette Weinel
studied economics at the University of Freiburg and is team coordinator of the FRIBIS “basic money” Team, which is currently being set up. Her research focuses on the implications of the Basic Income on the utility function and tax revenue at the GWP. ​

Milan Wenner
studied philosophy and literary studies in Freiburg and Barcelona and is team coordinator as well as member of “Participation and Unconditional Basic Income” (P&UBI). He examines the extent to which the UBI as a concept of economic policy is compatible with different political ideologies.