Photo taken by Stefan Weiss from ETH Zurich.

As part of his SNSF Ambizione project, Dr Andreas Juon joined the European Studies team at the end of the spring semester 2025. We welcome him and are delighted to have him with us.

Andreas' work focuses on the quantitative analysis of ethnic conflict and nationalism, two key contemporary challenges to international security. His research innovates by systematically studying the unintended side effects of peacebuilding strategies, incorporating citizen perspectives through global survey data, and developing innovative datasets that reduce selection bias. Andreas received his PhD in Political Science from University College London in 2020, where his dissertation was awarded the ECPR Jean Blondel Prize. He also holds degrees from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, and remains in collaboration with the International Conflict Research group at ETH Zurich.

At University Fribourg, Andreas will be pursuing his independent Ambizione project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. This project addresses the problem of subnational majoritarianism: instances in which pro-autonomy and separatist movements use autonomy not only to pursue greater self-rule but also to discriminate against other ethnic groups within their claimed regions. The project combines a new global dataset with statistical and geographic methods to investigate why such movements adopt exclusionary measures and how these choices shape regional democracy, ethnic relations, and prospects for peace. By analyzing the conditions under which autonomy stabilizes or destabilizes multi-ethnic states, the project also provides evidence on institutional safeguards that can mitigate the risks of subnational conflict and democratic erosion.