Seraina Rüegger

Seraina Rüegger is the Scientific Director of the Population Research Center (PRC) at the University of Zurich since 2023. She has previously worked as a senior researcher in the International Conflict Research group at ETH Zurich and as an expert on Ukraine at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). At ETH Zurich and the Universities of Basel, Lucerne, and Zurich, she served as a lecturer in conflict research and forced migration.

• Education:
  • PhD in Political Science, ETH Zurich (2013)
  • Master's in Political Science, University of Zurich (2009)

Research Interests: Seraina’s work focuses on the intersection of public health, forced migration, conflict dynamics, and ethnic power relations. She has developed datasets such as the CShapes 2.0 and Refugee-Related Security Incidence Dataset (RRSID), emphasizing large-scale data collection and transdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development. Her recent studies explore mental health burdens among displaced populations and the role of ethnic power structures in conflict diffusion.

Publications Trends: Her research spans geopolitical mapping, refugee security, pandemic vulnerabilities, and inequality-driven unrest. The majority of her work addresses conflict causality, migration patterns, and data-driven frameworks for analyzing ethnic and political tensions.

Teams and Labs: Seraina leads the Healthcare Epidemiology team at the University of Zurich’s Population Research Center, contributing to tools for personalized, preference-sensitive healthcare and patient-centered care models.