Carlo Koos

Current course portfolio

• Political Economy of Development Aid
• Introduction to International Administration and Conflict Management
• International Conflict Resolution
• Gender, Development and Global Politics in Comparative Perspective
• Resilience in (Post-) Conflict Societies: How People, Groups and Nations Deal with Shocks, Trauma and Crises
• Causes and Consequences of Armed Conflicts
• Armed Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa

Supervision

I am happy to supervise BA, MA, and PhD theses, particularly in the field of political economy, political behavior, humanitarian and development aid, peace and conflict, non-violent resistance and international relations. While I can supervise both quantitative and qualitative (and ideally integrated mixed methods) research approaches, I expect and support students to conduct theory-guided empirical research. That includes among others the following aspects:

• Formulate a clear research question that addresses a relevant gap in the existing academic literature or a policy problem (e.g., does [variation in] X cause [variation in] Y)
• Conduct a systematic review of the relevant academic literature, synthesize the gaps, argue why it is important to address these
• Develop a theoretical argument that describes your empirical expectations, the causal mechanisms, and under which conditions you expect them to operate
• Propose a research design (quantitative, qualitative, or both) that allows you to assess your theoretical argument and hypotheses
• Consider causal identification, i.e., could it be that X does not (partially) cause Y, but that Y causes X, or both X and Y are caused by an ommited factor
• Present your results and findings confidently, while being explicit about alternative explanations and limitations of your research
• Synthesize your findings in the light of your research question and describe how your research contributes to the academic and policy literature