Team • University of Passau

Head of Chair

Professor Florian Toepfl

Professor Florian Toepfl holds the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region. He is Principal Investigator of the RUSINFORM project and headed the Emmy Noether Research Group.

Office Manager

Ines Aichner

Raum HK14c 413
Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Str. 14c
94032 Passau

Telefon: +49(0)851/509-5123

ines.aichner@uni-passau.de

Employees

Professor Birgit Beumers

Professor Birgit Beumers is Research Associate at the Chair of Political Communication. Her research interests are in the field of film studies as well as visual culture of the post-Soviet space. She is currently working on the DFG-funded project "Central Asia as cinematic territory".

Anna Ryzhova

Dr. Anna Ryzhova is a postdoctoral researcher in the Authoritarian AI project. Political communication is her main research interest. She also takes interest in audience research as well as news critical literacy and trust in media.

Dr. Florence Ertel

Dr. Florence Ertel is a postdoctoral researcher in the Authoritarian AI project. She is interested in political communication, propaganda, and the European Union's external relations with Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Affiliated Research Associates

Dr. Markus Mathyl

Dr. Markus Lorenz Mathyl is a Research Associate and DAAD Stipendiary at the Chair of Political Communication. In his research, he focuses on Russian nationalism and neo-imperalism in the context of societal transformation.

Dr. Susanne Spahn

Dr. Susanne Spahn is an affiliated scholar. Her research interests include Russian media and disinformation in Germany, Russia's foreign policy toward Ukraine and Belarus, and Russia's influence on elections and post-Soviet migrants in Germany.