Tobias Lenz

Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz is a Professor of International Relations at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, specializing in international organizations and comparative regional integration. He leads the Leibniz Junior Research Group 'LegRO' examining legitimation strategies in regional organizations. His work focuses on institutional design, EU influence on global regionalism, and the dynamics of self-legitimation in IOs.

Education:

• PhD in International Relations, Oxford University (2012)
• MPhil in Politics, Oxford University (2007)
• BA in European Studies, University of Osnabrück (2004)

Research Interests: Tobias Lenz studies institutional evolution in international organizations, diffusion of regional integration models, and the role of EU norms in global governance. His current projects explore institutional overlap's impact on authority and the cognitive sources of institutional change.

Professional Experience:

• 2023/24 Sabbatical at European University Institute (EUI)
• 2020–present: Full Professor at Leuphana
• 2019–2020: Senior Research Fellow & LegRO Group Lead at GIGA
• 2015–2016: Max Weber Fellow at EUI

Advising & Grants:

• Supervises doctoral students in international relations and regional governance
• Principal Investigator on Leibniz Junior Research Group (€1.5M funding)
• Lower Saxony-Israel Research Cooperation Grant recipient

Labs/Teams: The LegRO team includes researchers analyzing regional organizations' legitimation discourses and institutional strategies across Africa, Asia, and Europe.