Lena Ulbricht

Lena Ulbricht is a Professor of Political Science specializing in Politics and Digitalization at the University of Hildesheim since October 2024. Previously, she served as Acting Professor for Political Philosophy and Theory at the Munich School of Politics, Technical University of Munich (2023-2024) and led research groups at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society focusing on Technology, Power, and Domination (2022-2024) and Quantification and Social Regulation (2017-2022).

Her educational background includes:

• Doctorate in Political Science, Humboldt University of Berlin (2014)
• Habilitation in Political Science, University of Bremen (2022)
• Master's degree in "Stratégies Territoriales et Urbaines", Sciences Po Paris (2005-2008)
• Diploma, Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science, Free University of Berlin (2002-2007)

Dr. Ulbricht's research critically examines the intersection of digital technologies and political power structures. Her work spans Regulation & Governance, Digital Technologies & Platforms, Power & Governance, Digital Democracies, Federalism, and Latin America, with particular focus on how algorithmic systems transform state authority and societal regulation. She investigates tensions between freedom and security in digital contexts, the politicization of algorithms, and implications for democratic processes.

Her extensive publication record (over 30 articles since 2008) reveals a clear trajectory from federalism studies in education policy to pioneering work on algorithmic governance. The corpus demonstrates consistent engagement with power dynamics in digital systems, evolving from Big Data analysis in public security to comprehensive frameworks for regulating AI and platform technologies, with increasing attention to Latin American perspectives and democratic resilience.

No major scientific awards are listed in the provided information.

Dr. Ulbricht has secured research funding including her Heinrich Böll Foundation-funded doctoral project and led significant initiatives such as "Quantifizierung und gesellschaftliche Regulierung" and "Assessing Big Data". She has mentored students through seminar leadership at multiple institutions including Freie Universität Berlin and Technical University of Berlin, though specific advisees aren't documented in the source material. Her teaching portfolio spans courses on digital governance, algorithmic power, and international police work.

She founded and led the Weizenbaum Institute's research groups on Technology, Power, and Domination (2022-2024) and Quantification and Social Regulation (2017-2022). Additionally, she co-hosts the Purple Code podcast providing intersectional feminist perspectives on digital societies and organized the 2019 "Scraping the Demos" conference at the Berlin Social Science Center.