Jakob Dirksen

Jakob Dirksen is a multidisciplinary social scientist and philosopher affiliated with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as an Analysing and Challenging Inequalities Scholar and the Department of Social Policy. He also serves as Research and Policy Officer at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) within the University of Oxford and holds a Lecturer position at Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

• Education:
  • Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences
  • Master of Arts in Political Philosophy
  • Master of Science and Master of Public Policy in Public Policy and Human Development (specializing in Social Protection)

His research focuses on multidimensional poverty measurement, welfare economics, and conceptually rigorous metrics for evidence-based policymaking. He develops tools to align well-being measurement with societal values and advises governments/UN organizations on implementing multidimensional poverty statistics. His work spans health equity, child poverty, and post-GDP development indicators.

Key projects include:

• Co-developing the Socioeconomic Deprivation Status (SDS) measure for health inequality monitoring
• Contributing to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index with UNDP and OPHI
• Advancing health equity frameworks through demographic surveys

Notable awards:

• STICERD Research Award
• Hayek Programme Fellowship
• John Fell Fund Grant
• Horowitz Foundation Research Award
• LSE Knowledge Exchange and Impact Support

His methodological expertise lies in Alkire-Foster multidimensional analysis, chi-squared and Pearson correlation tests, and subgroup decomposition techniques. He collaborates with institutions like WHO, UNDP, and the Lancet NCDI Poverty Commission.