komex Team

komex Academic Convenor & komex Mastermind

The founder and academic convenor of komex is Prof Dr Eva Thomann. Eva Thomann is a full professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz and an expert in Public Policy, Public Administration, and case-oriented and set-theoretic methods.

Asked about her motivation to organize komex, Eva Thomann says: Method schools are an amazing place of learning that can mark the beginning of collaborations, life-long friendships, and great academic careers. Given the many structural inequalities that prevail in Academia, PhD methods education should not be a privilege affordable only for few, but accessible to a broad segment of scholars from different backgrounds. With komex we hope to create an event that achieves excellent, inclusive, and sustainable PhD methods training, while catering to the diverse needs of different audiences. We work together toward this goal, and keep things simple.

komex Academic Co-Convenor

Prof Dr Lena Janys is a Professor of Econometrics at the Department of Economics at the University of Konstanz. Her research lies at the intersection of microeconometrics and empirical labor and health economics, with a focus on causal inference, high-dimensional methods, and policy evaluation. Within komex, she places particular emphasis on making cutting-edge causal inference techniques accessible to early career researchers across disciplines.

Asked about her motivation to join the komex team, Lena Janys says: Empirical methods are evolving fast, and the gap between frontier research and what gets taught in standard PhD programs can be large. komex is a chance to help close that gap — and to show that rigorous methods training can be both accessible and genuinely exciting.

komex Director

Dr Anna Apostolidou is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cluster of Excellence The Politics of Inequality at the University of Konstanz. Her research focuses on immigrant integration in labor markets and in the workplace, using mainly quantitative methods, especially panel and longitudinal data analysis. Within komex, she coordinates the development of Pillars 2 and 3 and contributes to expanding access to high-quality methodological training and community-building opportunities for early career researchers from diverse academic backgrounds. Asked why she joined the komex team, Anna Apostolidou says:

Asked why she joined the komex team, Anna Apostolidou says: Access to advanced methodological training is still very uneven across countries and institutions. With komex, I hope to help create opportunities for scholars who may otherwise have limited access to methods training, mentoring, and international academic networks.