Theresa Gessler

Theresa Gessler is an Assistant Professor for Comparative Politics at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Civil Society Research (WZB) in Berlin. Her research focuses on democracy, immigration, digital politics, and gender studies, with regional expertise in Central-Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland). She specializes in text-as-data, webscraping, and digital trace data methodologies.

• PhD in Political Science, European University Institute (2019)
• M.A. in Political Science, Central European University (2016)

Research Trends: Over the past five years, Gessler’s work has explored the interplay between democratic backsliding and partisan affective polarization, analyzing how authoritarian leadership in Hungary shapes voter tolerance for democratic erosion. She investigates media bias against women in politics and the role of digital infrastructure in political accountability.

Scientific Awards:

• PolMeth Europe Emerging Scholar Award (2021)
• Best Presentation Award, European Symposium on Societal Challenges in Computational Social Science

Grants & Networks: Currently leads a Fritz-Thyssen Foundation-funded project on autocratization and democratic resilience in Eastern Europe/Latin America. Co-organizes the Summer School for Women in Political Methodology and serves as co-speaker for the German Political Science Association’s Methods Section.