Doctoral Researcher
Supervisor/advisor: Prof. Dr. Marco Bünte, Prof. Dr. Thomas Demmelhuber
Contact: lea.woelfel@fau.de
Short Bio
Lea Wölfel is a member of the Doctoral Programme of the Cluster of Excellence “Transforming Human Rights” and a PhD candidate at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg’s Institute of Political Science, where she has been affiliated with the Chair of Politics and Society in Asia since March 2026. She studied Political Science at the University of Regensburg and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, completing her Bachelor’s degree in 2023 and her Master’s degree in 2025. Her research interests lie at the intersection of the megatrends of autocratization and digital transformation, with a regional focus on Southeast Asia.
Her research focuses on the development and diffusion of digital-authoritarian practices in Southeast Asia. Centered on multidimensional linkages with the People’s Republic of China, the PhD project investigates how political, economic, technological, and societal ties with an authoritarian great power may act as transnational drivers of digital authoritarianism. By examining the international dimensions of autocratization and the development of digital-authoritarian practices, the research is situated at the intersection of international relations, comparative politics and human rights.
Lea Wölfel’s Master’s thesis, which examined external factors of autocratization, was recognized with the Institute of Political Science’s Graduate Thesis Award.