Interested in a PhD in the field of East and Southeast Asian politics?
General requirements: You should have a Master’s degree in political science, a comparable programme or a subject with intersections to political science research on Asia. A GPA of 2.0 or better is also required.
Possible subject areas: you should ensure that you want to work on a topic in your doctoral thesis that fits in with the research themes and regional focus of the professorship.
Specific requirements: You should submit a written expose of approximately 10 pages in which you identify your research gap based on the literature in the field, state the scientific question, and elaborate on the relevance to political science and the methods you intend to use to answer your research question. The exposé concludes with a tentative timetable. If your dissertation project is accepted, you will be required to register your project at FAU, conclude a supervision agreement and take part in the Master’s and doctoral colloquium.
Are you interested? Then please send a detailed application to Prof. Marco Bünte (marco.buente@fau.de).
Current PhD Projects
Adhiraaj Anand
In recent years, several countries in East and Southeast Asia have seen the rise of youth-led social movements and political parties that seek to advance youth politics. Politically engaged youth in different countries have engaged in dialogue, most notably through the ‘Milk Tea Alliance’, an online pan-Asian solidarity movement of pro-democracy and anti-authoritarian activists. My research will investigate the factors driving the avenues of youth politics and its outcomes in Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. […]
Loren Bustos
Loren Bustos is a doctoral student and DAAD scholarship holder at Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU). Her research project focuses on strengthening EU-ASEAN relations through the protection of human rights in economic cooperation. As part of her PhD, she is investigating the importance of human rights and non-economic dimensions in EU-ASEAN interregional economic cooperation, particularly in their trade and business relations.. […]
Irvan Aladip Mahfudin
My PhD- project aims to exame the role of transnational religious actors in promoting peace in conflict or post-conflict settings by taking comparative empirical analyses of Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah – the two largest Indonesian Islamic mass organisations – in initiating peace abroad. The dissertation looks at two recent sites, where these religious actors made an impact: Afghanistan and the Philippines. The dissertation wants to explain how transnational religious actors‘ peacebuilding initiatives contribute to transforming conflicts in different conflict settings. It is based on fieldwork and interviews with religious actors and local actors in Afghanistan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Naznin Sultana
My PhD project explores how political mobilisation of the stateless groups can shape prospects for sustainable peacebuilding in protracted ethno-religious conflicts, focusing on the Rohingya in post-coup Myanmar. Anchored in the aftermath of the 2021 Spring Revolution and the rise of the National Unity Government (NUG), it investigates how shifting political dynamics—alongside digital media-driven activism—influence pathways to inclusion and peace. The study examines how mobilisation intersects with identity, political culture, and governance, and how these factors enable or restrict inclusive peacebuilding. It further analyses the roles of multilevel stakeholders — from grassroots to international actors — in shaping the Rohingya’s political agency.
Lea Wölfel
Her research focuses on the diffusion of digital-authoritarian practices in Southeast Asia. Centered on multidimensional linkages with the People’s Republic of China, the PhD project investigates how political, economic, technological, and societal ties act as transnational drivers of the rise of digital authoritarianism in the region. Particular emphasis is placed on the causal mechanisms through which linkage relations with an authoritarian great power influence the adoption of digital surveillance, censorship, and disinformation across different regime types.
