New professorship: Larissa Schindler teaches Methods of Empirical Social Research

Since July 2020, Prof. Dr. Larissa Schindler has held the newly founded Professorship for Methods of Empirical Social Research in the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences. In this function, she will on the one hand support and expand the teaching of empirical methods at the University of Bayreuth, and on the other hand, continue her long-standing research on empirical methods and their application.

According to Larissa Schindler, methods often sound very dry. However, knowledge of methods and methodologies is fundamental for many disciplines far beyond sociology. It is the knowledge that is needed to generate scientific knowledge. Contrary to what it might be expected, this knowledge is also subject to constant change, because central research topics, and also the technical tools for scientific research, have changed over time. "It is important to me," explains the researcher, "to link research to empirical research projects via methods, and thus maintain a link to the practice of research. In June 2020, Larissa Schindler completed a three-year research project on air travel funded by DFG (German Research Foundation). However, the subject of travel and mobility in modern contemporary societies will continue to preoccupy her.

Indeed, her own life is equally characterised by mobility: Larissa Schindler studied sociology at the University of Vienna and at Universidad de Deusto in Bilbao (Spain). She completed her doctorate at the University of Mainz, where she also worked as a research assistant. Fellowships then took her to the Centre for Mobilities Research (CeMoRe) in Lancaster (GB) and the Viadrina Center B/ORDER IN MOTION in Frankfurt an der Oder. She has also held professorships at the Universities of Munich and Hamburg.

"The move to the University of Bayreuth now brings a welcome opportunity to settle down. I am very happy to have arrived here in Bayreuth. I appreciate the collegial atmosphere and the international orientation of the University. At the same time, I am very much looking forward to weekends exploring the beautiful Franken Jura," admits Prof. Dr. Larissa Schindler.