BLOG ABOUT NETWORKS, RELATED TOPICS AND OTHER TOPICS I AM WORKING ON

At the beginning of September 2020 I submitted my PhD thesis. It have been amazing, interesting and joyful three years of studying, analysing and discovering new knowledge. But they did not go by without stress, worry-filled nights and the fear of failing or failing due to the capacities of my own mind. However, in the end it worked out and I am currently preparing my defense, which will take place in January 2021.

Since Mid-September I am working as a Policy Adviser (APA) for a grouping of 18 MEPs in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. I have drafting and advisory duties on current issues, but also monitor and evalutate initiatives of the European Commission relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs.

I will also continue to be associated with my current university to progress on the research we have started and discover new subject at the crossroad of economic networks and policy making.

A paper I wrote has been accepted and published in the peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal PLoS ONE. Its title is What’s left after the hype? An empirical approach comparing the distributional properties of traditional and virtual currency exchange rates and focuses on the distributional properties and statistical regularities of virtual, intra-virtual and traditional currency exchange rates. Even though it stands in stark contrast to networks, it was an interesting topic to investigate. Thus, I would like to share it with you too. Feel free to tell me what you think about it!

I have been working on a White Paper about shortage of skilled workers in Logistics with a dear colleague from the Fraunhofer IIS - Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services SCS where I am currently working as a Research Associate in the Data Analytics department. Especially in logistics there is currently a desperate skill shortage when it comes to warehouse workers or lorry drivers. We analysed the shortage of skilled workers from 2013 to 2018 in the 401 administrative districts and cities in Germany. We also incorporated a network perspective by not only looking for a shortage of skilled workers in each particular district but also incorporating the demand for specialists in the riparian states. Feel free to tell me what you think about it!