Our Team

Director and founder of Social Science Works is Hans Blokland. Team-members are Mirjam Neebe, Nadia Lejaille, Zak Reimer and Philipp Bautz. Various interns and visiting scholars additionally are part of our team.

Moreover, we are supported by a growing number of Fellows. Please find more about them here.

Prof. Dr. Hans Blokland

Mirjam Neebe MA

Nadia Lejaille MA

Nadia Lejaille is a German-French lawyer, specialized in German tax law, and project management.

She worked for 4 years as a project manager and tax compliance officer for a German cooperative bank. She is interested in cultural differences and the integration of refugees in Germany. For several years she has been involved with the association Start with a Friend e.V. as an intercultural mediator. At Social Science Works, she is responsible for the project management of children’s projects, among other things. In her free time she loves to bake and cook for others.

Nils Wadt MA

Nils Wadt has been connected to Social Science Works from the very beginning. Nils finished his Bachelor degree in Sociology and Political Science in Cologne and Frankfurt. Both schools are grounded in different research traditions, Frankfurt with a strong background in Critical Theory (Horkheimer & Adorno, Frankfurter Schule) and Cologne with a strong background in empirical research and methodology (René König, Kölner Schule). Nils completed his graduate degree in Social Science at Humboldt University Berlin integrating the different academic backgrounds.

In his Master thesis Nils researched the political motivations and social values of civil volunteers in the refugee sector. His academic profile is leaning towards qualitative methods backed up by general competence in quantitative analysis. His qualitative focus covers methods such as genealogy, content analysis, as well as a variety of interview techniques and participatory observation.

Besides his studies, Nils Wadt worked at Chairs of Sociology, Political Theory, Psychology and Economics, gaining insights into the different research practices and epistemological groundings.

Within his work and studies in the academy, Nils Wadt apprehended the problems, contemporary social science is facing. This includes not only the separation between empirical research practice and the evaluation of its epistemological assumptions, but also the growing irrelevancy of academic research to civil society. His commitment to the project of Social Science Works is grounded in this apprehension. 

Zak Reimer MA

Zak Reimer was a German Chancellor Fellow from the Humboldt Foundation conducting research at Social Science Works into grassroots refugee integration efforts in Germany. More information about his project can be found here.

Zak grew up in the state of Montana, USA and first became interested in the subject of migration after studying the issue at the US/Mexico border in 2016. In 2017, Zak began work with refugees at the newly opened office of the International Rescue Committee in Missoula, Montana. While working to help the community welcome refugees, Zak began asking the questions that led him to pursue his research in partnership with Social Science Works: chiefly, what factors strengthen the role a community plays in integrating refugees and how can successful programs in Germany be replicated in the US?

Zak holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Montana State University and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Montana.  His other areas of research interest include childhood development, economic justice, and conflict mediation.

Philipp Bautz BA

Philipp studied Public Economics and sociology at the University of Potsdam, as part of a dual-subject bachelor. A wide variety of subjects were at the center of his studies, such as resource and environmental economics, organizational structures, micro economics, statistics and survey design. He is a especially interested in how the economic and ecological spheres influence each other. Also for this reason he wrote a bachelor thesis on the international protection efforts regarding the river Oder, which he approached from a game theory angle. In his spare time he enjoys art, animation, movies, cooking and baking, especially pizza.

Isabel Romijnders BA

Isabel is a recent graduate of the BSc International Development Studies at the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands. Her study focused on policy implementation, grassroots innovation, and human rights philosophy. In her BSc thesis, she explored the accountability of Civil Society Organizations that are active in the humanitarian aid field. She would like to gain a better understanding of bottom-up approaches of organizations that address crucial social issues. Therefore, before starting an MSc, she joined Social Science Works to develop actionable knowledge, practical skills and learn more about addressing issues such as integration, radicalization, and citizen participation.