معرفی
Dr. Franziska Sohns is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business and Law, School of Economics, Finance and Law at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), where she joined in September 2022. As one of the co-founders of ARU's Behavioural Insights Laboratory (BIL), she specializes in micro-economic decision-making processes under uncertainty, with a focus on how regional characteristics influence economic actors' behaviors and shape regional economic development.
Her academic background includes a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Cologne (2017), an M.Sc. in Geography from the University of Hanover, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education from the University of Greenwich. Prior to joining ARU, she served as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in International Business at the University of Greenwich (2018-2022) and as a Research and Teaching Fellow at the University of Cologne (2014-2017).
Dr. Sohns' research spans economic geography, financial geography, regional development, and entrepreneurial economics. Her work examines micro-economic behavior under risk and uncertainty, particularly in entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional innovation systems, and the fintech industry. She has published extensively on topics including the impact of Brexit on FinTech, pandemic effects on craft breweries, and financial inclusion.
Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on contemporary economic challenges, with particular attention to how external shocks like pandemics and political changes affect small businesses and financial technologies. The research employs quantitative methods including multi-level modeling and panel regression to analyze complex economic behaviors.
- Fellow of the Regional Studies Association (RSA)
- Elected Member of Global Network on Financial Geography (FinGeo)
- Committee Representative of the FinGeo Network on the RSA Journal
- Board Member of Chartered Management Institute
Dr. Sohns actively supervises PhD students and has served as the 1st Supervisor of a Vice Chancellor PhD Scholarship focusing on 'The Effect of FinTech on Financial Inclusion and Citizen Equality in East Anglia.' She has secured research funding including £5,000 through ARU's Participatory Research Fund for the Behavioural Insights Laboratory. Her professional engagements include collaborations with the German Embassy, German-British Chamber of Commerce, Innovate Finance, and other industry organizations.
She is fluent in English (C2) and German (native), with basic French (A2) proficiency, and has provided media commentary for Bloomberg and German radio on topics related to Brexit's impact on FinTech and the effects of COVID-19 on Europeans in London.
