Research Associate
Simone Datzberger is a Marie-Curie Research Fellow at the Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development (GPIO), University of Amsterdam and a research associate at the UNESCO Centre Ulster University.
Her present research project (see Democratization through Education) – which is generously funded by the European Commission (Horizon 2020 programme) – focuses on the role of education in increasing civil agency and voice in the sub-Saharan African context. Previously, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the UNESCO Centre, where she was part of a research consortium in partnership with UNICEF on Education and Peacebuilding. During that time, she acted as the lead researcher for the country case study on Uganda (see Peacebuilding and Education).
She obtained her PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2010–2014) in International Relations. Her thesis focused on the depoliticization of civil society during the peacebuilding and development process in Sierra Leone from 2007-13.
Prior to her doctoral studies Simone worked for the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in New York (2007–2010), for which she conducted research and in-depth analysis on several countries in transition from conflict to peace. Over the past decade, she has gained extensive field research experience in Sierra Leone, Uganda and Mexico.
Simone has taught courses on “Democracy and Democratization” and “International Organizations” at the LSE and will be teaching courses on “Education and Development” as well as “The Politics of Education, Conflict and International Development” at the University of Amsterdam.