I am Senior Postdoctoral Researcher and FWF Elise Richter Fellow at the Institute for Sociology and Social Research within the Department of Socioeconomics at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
My current research examines how illegal markets are embedded within society and the broader environment. This agenda forms part of a wider interest in the transformation of markets through processes of digitalisation. More specifically, I study the socio-technical dynamics of illicit markets across global, national, and local contexts, exploring how platform business models and emerging technologies such as AI interact with social practices, trust, and governance.
My research contributes to advancing understanding of the growing complexity and interdependencies between markets, technologies, and societies in transition. This knowledge provides a foundation for informed policymaking and contributes to debates on how to govern societies in digital transition.
I have secured over €840,000 in competitive external funding and led several high-impact research projects. Currently, I am the principal investigator of the FWF Austrian Science Fund project A Socio-Technical Framework for Online Drug Markets. This builds on earlier recognition through the FWF Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship for my project Dealing with uncertainty on anonymous online drug markets.
My publications have appeared in leading journals such as the International Journal of Drug Policy and Qualitative Research. I have edited Digital Transformations of Illicit Drug Markets: Reconfiguration and Continuity (with Nigel South), Drugs, Darknet and Organised Crime: Challenges for Politics, Judiciary and Drug Counselling (with Heino Stöver), and a special issue on Drugs and Digital Technologies (with Bernd Werse) for Kriminologisches Journal. My research is regularly featured in national and international media outlets.
In addition to my research and teaching activities, I serve as Series Editor for Emerald Studies in Digital Crime, Technology, and Social Harms, as a member of the Editorial Board of Kriminologisches Journal, and as an elected board member of the Economic Sociology Research Network of the European Sociological Association.
I hold a PhD in Political Science (with distinction, 2013) from the University of Vienna, where my doctoral research explored the relationship between drug trafficking and the restructuring of the European Union. I also hold an MA in Political Science, Media Studies and Communication Science (with distinction, 2005) from the University of Vienna.
Before joining WU Vienna, I was Assistant Professor in Digital Criminology at the University of Manchester. Earlier in my career, I served as Senior Scientist at the University of Innsbruck and as Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Vienna. My international experience includes visiting research fellowships at the University of Essex, the University of Oslo, and the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin. I have also taught at the Freie Universität Berlin and worked as Senior Researcher at the Vienna Centre for Societal Security.
