معرفی
Dr. Franziska Thiele is a Research Associate at the Institute for Media Research at the University of Rostock, currently on parental leave since June 2025. She has been with the University of Rostock since 2015, working on various research projects including the DFG project "Mediatized Science Communication" and serving as Coordinator of the research focus "Methods of Digital Hermeneutics." Prior to her current position, she worked at the University of Greifswald's Institute of Politics and Communication Science and completed a research stay at the University of Wisconsin-Madison funded by DAAD.
Dr. Thiele's research focuses on the intersection of media, power, and social structures. Her work examines how communication strategies are used for power accumulation in academic fields, particularly in communication science. She investigates social inequality, gender dynamics in media, and the role of digital technologies in shaping contemporary communication practices. Her methodological expertise spans digital research methods and intercultural comparative research, allowing her to analyze complex media phenomena across different cultural contexts.
Her recent publications show a clear trend toward examining the evolution of media from traditional forms to algorithmic systems and their impact on power structures. She has made significant contributions to understanding gendered role expectations in academia and how social media functions as both a tool for inclusion and exclusion in scholarly communication. Her work bridges theoretical communication studies with practical implications for media policy and academic practice.
- Winner of the 2020 dissertation prize "Media-Culture-Communication" of the Sociology of Media Communication Section of the German Society for Journalism and Communication Studies (DGPuK)
- Mentee in the Gertrude Robinson Mentoring Program of the DGPuK (2020-2022)
- Mentee in the Career Path Mentoring Program at the University of Rostock (2017-2018)
- External member of the DFG-funded graduate school "Interpretive Power" at the University of Rostock (2016-2020)
Dr. Thiele has been involved in significant research projects including the DFG-funded "Mediatized Science Communication" project, the international "Gender Equity Policy (GEP) Analysis" project, and the "Media Landscape Report" for the State Chancellery of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. She has also contributed to the research focus "Methods of Digital Hermeneutics" within the Department of Knowledge, Culture and Transformation at the University of Rostock. Her work demonstrates a strong commitment to understanding the complex relationships between media, power, and social structures in contemporary society.
