Project team
Head of the Europe Department, Project Lead & Research Officer (she/her)
katrin.lange(at)iss-ffm.de
Katrin Lange holds a diploma in political science from the University of Leipzig. As head of the Europe Department of the Institute for Social Work and Social Education, she coordinates the Observatory.
Previously, she worked at the Project Gender Care Gap (2018-2020), for the Agency for the Second Gender Equality Report of the German Federal Government (2015-2018), for the German Woman Lawyers Association (2012-2016), and the European Movement Germany (2010-2011).
Her fields of expertise include European Social Policy, gender and LGBTIQ* equality policy and policy for children and families.
Research Officer (she/her)
julia.lux(at)iss-ffm.de
Julia Lux has studied political sciences and French Philology (BA) in Potsdam and Pau, followed by an MA in European Politics and Policy in Manchester and a PhD in Tübingen. In her doctoral thesis, she analysed the effects of the financial, economic, and euro crisis on labour and social policy in Germany, France, and the EU.
Before starting her post at the Observatory, she held a position as a lecturer in Social Policy at Liverpool Hope University.
Her fields of expertise include abortion and reproductive justice, European Social Policy, and feminism and democracy.
Research Officer (she/her)
friederike.sprang(at)iss-ffm.de
Friederike Sprang studied Governance and Public Policy (BA) at the University of Passau and European Studies (MA) at the Viadrina University. During her master's, she worked as a student assistant at the Observatory.
After completing her master's degree, she worked as a Carlo-Schmid-Fellow at the Regional Office of United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in Nairobi and at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Her fields of expertise include Equal Care, combating gender-based violence and policy for older people.
Research Officer (she/her)
carlotta.vonwesterholt(at)iss-ffm.de
Carlotta von Westerholt studied Media and Communication (BA) in Passau and Quito as well as Media and Political Communication (MA) in Berlin with a semester abroad in Jerusalem. In terms of content, she focused mainly on gender equality and right-wing extremism in her studies. During her Master's, she already worked as a working student at the Observatory.
Besides her work at the Observatory, she is actively involved with an Amnesty International sub-group on human rights violations against women.
Her fields of expertise include LGBTIQ* equality policy, European Social Policy and policy for children and youth.
Project Assistant (she/her)
jasmin.ribler@iss-ffm.de
Jasmin Ribler studied in Berlin and New Delhi and holds a Master's degree in South Asian studies. Her main research interests included social change, gender studies, queer studies and social inequality.
Before working as a project assistant, she was part of the ESF evaluation project on two studies evaluating the effects of ESF- measures on young people and people with a migrant background. She gained further work experience in non-governmental organizations in New Delhi and Berlin.
Financial Administration & Project Assistant (she/her)
vanessa.vehling(at)iss-ffm.de
Vanessa Vehling studied cultural studies and romance languages and literature at the University of Bremen and Valencia (Spain). Her master's thesis dealt with multilingualism and cultural identity in Catalonia.
Before working as a project assistant, she was responsible for organizing academic events, attending international research fellows and coordinating various committees in several projects at the Forum Transregional Studies.