Mahmoud Farag

Hi there, welcome!

My aim is simple: Bridge theory and practice.

I'm a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Political Science, TU Darmstadt. I've previously held positions or undertaken research visits at Goethe University Frankfurt, Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Zurich and the University of Geneva. I received my doctorate (Dr. phil., summa cum laude) in political science from Humboldt University of Berlin. I've spent more than a decade working for and consulting with international NGOs on governance and accountability issues.

My aim has a reason.

I’ve witnessed first-hand how science is under-rated while intuition is over-rated. I want to change that by doing theoretically-grounded work and carrying out practically-relevant academic research. For example, in this blog series, I used academic insights from behavioral economics to come up with very practical ideas on how to engage citizens in fighting corruption.

My favorite quote is: ‘’any idea without practical application is just theory, or isn’t even an idea." This was said by Zaki Naguib Mahmoud, one of the great Egyptian philosophers and writers of all time.

Want to know more about me or to get in touch, check my personal website.