Claudia Acciai

Claudia Acciai is a Guest Researcher at SODAS (Sociology Department) at the University of Copenhagen, where she works on the research project "Quantifying institutional and country-related Matthew effects in science." She holds a PhD in Political Science and Sociology from the Scuola Normale Superiore, with a dissertation focused on policy design in the Research and Innovation sector. Her academic journey includes research visits at Alliance Manchester Business School, Science Po Paris, and Copenhagen Business School.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of comparative public policy, innovation studies, and science of science. She combines computational and experimental methods with qualitative content analysis techniques to examine policy design, institutional effects in science, and research evaluation. Her work frequently addresses how policy instruments function in complex governance environments and investigates gender-related differences in academic publishing.

Analyzing her recent publications reveals a strong focus on the science of science, with particular attention to bibliometrics, policy instrument effectiveness, and gender dynamics in academic careers. Her work spans multiple disciplines including political science, sociology of science, and innovation studies, often employing mixed-methods approaches that combine quantitative analysis with qualitative insights.

Acciai is an active member of the Knowledge, Organization and Politics research group at the Department of Sociology. Her collaborations span multiple countries and institutions, reflecting the international nature of her research on comparative policy and science studies. She has conducted significant work for research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, including analyses of policy analysis capacity in Italian policymaking and governance changes in higher education systems.