Dr Florian Kern

Biography

I am a Reader (Associate Professor) at the Department of Government and a fellow at the Michael Nicholson Centre for Conflict and Cooperation. I am also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Department of Methodology, London School of Economics. I received my PhD from the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. I also hold an M.A. from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University. I am currently on research leave. My main research interest lies in governance, the political economy of development, and conflict, with a regional focus on Africa and indigenous North America. I employ a variety of approaches, combining applied qualitative and quantitative methods, surveys, case studies, and fieldwork. My most recent work focuses on domestic sources of foreign policy formulation in Africa, land rights, as well as research transparency in qualitative methods. With colleagues, I run the Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa project (MCCRA), funded by an ESRC Large Research Grant (2.5 million GBP, 2023-2027). With my colleague Hannah Gibson, I organise the Africa Special Interest Group (ASIG), the hub for research on Africa the University of Essex. Hannah and I also founded the Age and Power in Africa (AaPiA) group. Since 2024, I am on the research committee of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), one of the British Academy's BIRI. With Mwita Chacha, I am also currently starting the International Politics in Africa research network. If you are interested in joining the network, please be in touch. We will launch sometime in late 2024. In recent years, my research has been generously supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the ESRC Global Challenges Research Fund, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), the Gerda Henkel Foundation, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Appointments

University of Essex

• Director of Impact, Department of Government, University of Essex (1/9/2021 - present)

• Convenor, Africa Special Interest Group, University of Essex (1/1/2021 - present)

• Director of Knowledge Exchange, Department of Government, University of Essex (1/7/2019 - present)

• Convenor of Essex Workshop on Development, University of Essex (3/4/2017 - 30/6/2019)

Other academic

• Reader, Government, University of Essex (1/10/2023 - present)

• Senior Lecturer, Government, University of Essex (1/10/2020 - 30/9/2023)

• Lecturer, Government, University of Essex (3/4/2017 - 30/9/2020)