iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Julian Hamann @julianhamann.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Happy to share our new article on academic freedom. @paulita.bsky.social, Christiane Thompson and Gregor Fabian examine how academic rank shapes experiences, expectations and perceptions of restrictions on academic freedom, based on a survey of 9.083 academics in Germany. doi.org/10.1111/1468...

Screenshot showing abstract: This article investigates the relationship between academic career ranks and restrictions on academic freedom. Drawing on a representative survey of 9083 full-time academics at German higher education institutions, we examine how academics across different career ranks assess their freedom in teaching and research. Although precarious employment conditions and professional hierarchies may suggest otherwise, our findings show that doctoral candidates and postdocs on fixed-term contracts do not report experiencing restrictions on their academic freedom significantly more often compared to tenured professors. However, distinguishing between experienced restrictions, on the one hand, and expectations of restrictions as well as broader perceptions of academic freedom on the other, we find that non-tenured academics report more often to expect or perceive their academic freedom to be restricted compared to professors. We explain these rank-based differences with a chilling effect generated by a polemical and polarized discourse on ‘cancel culture.’ Academics on fixed-term contracts are more likely to be receptive to often polemical debates on ‘cancel culture’ and for the concerns that come with it. This suggests that structural employment insecurity plays a key role in shaping how academics assess their academic freedom. Our results challenge simplified accounts of ‘cancel culture’ by showing that discourse and institutional hierarchies intersect to produce differentiated vulnerabilities within academia. Although based in Germany, the findings speak to broader international concerns about restrictions on academic freedom and precarious academic labour.

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Kevin Walz @kwalz.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

#CfP: We look forward to your paper proposals for our panel on "Studying Democratic Recovery" at the @dvpw.bsky.social General Conference in Leipzig next year. We welcome submissions from colleagues at all career levels. The deadline is 31 Oct. Click here for more info: www.dvpw.de/dvpw2027/en/....

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APuZ @apuz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Unser neues Heft zum Thema #autoritarismus ist da! Mit Beiträgen von J. Gerschewski @wzb.bsky.social, @felixwiebrecht.bsky.social, A. Croissant & @larslott.bsky.social, P. Norris @harvardkennedy.bsky.social, @seraphinemaerz.bsky.social u. N. Potter. Morgen im "Parlament". www.bpb.de/shop/zeitsch...

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Alexander Wuttke @kunkakom.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Genuinely interested in your views: What is the future of teaching statistical programming language for data science in the age of AI? Will we even still teach programming R or Python?

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A.S. Paglayan @aspaglayan.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Brief pause from Messi's magic to share my new piece in the Annual Review of Political Science: "Education as a Political Institution" which explains why we should stop treating education as just another public service Open access here: tinyurl.com/yezzkam5

tinyurl.com

Education as a Political Institution

Education institutions are fundamentally political. They mold political values, shape inequality, create opportunities for patronage through teaching jobs, and can even be used for political surveilla...

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Jan-Martin Wiarda @jmwiarda.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Keine Satzung ersetzt Haltung Hochschulen bereiten sich juristisch auf AfD-Regierungen vor. Doch entscheidend wird der Widerstandsmut einer Gruppe sein: der Professorinnen und Professoren. Ein Essay. Im Wiarda-Blog: www.jmwiarda.de/blog/2026/06...

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Constantin Wurthmann @wurthmann.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Sind wir zu müde? Wo bleibt der Aufschrei, der mindestens eine komplette PostDoc-Generation automatisiert verschrotten würde? Dieser "Reform"-Vorschlag ist ein backlash der seinesgleichen sucht und benötigt viel mehr Aufschrei. & leider merkt man dabei, wie schlecht Bluesky funktioniert. #WissZeitVG

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IWH_Halle @iwh-halle.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Was gefährdet die #Wissenschaftsfreiheit bei uns – und wie lässt sie sich stärken? Verfolgen Sie die Debatte, diskutieren Sie mit und vertiefen Sie den Austausch bei einem Empfang. 📅 Mi., 27. Mai 2026, 18 Uhr 📍 @leopoldina.org, Halle (Saale) 💶 Eintritt frei ➡️ Hier anmelden: tinyurl.com/frb7vcpd

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Angelo V. Panaro @angelovpanaro.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

📣 Call for Papers SISP General Conference 2026 📍 Trento | 🗓️ 3–5 Sept 2026 ⏳ Submission deadline: 29 May 2026 Two panels in #Section1: Political Regimes & Transitions: 🔸 Modes & Drivers of Autocratization (with @anvaccaro.bsky.social) 🔸 Autocratization & Academic Freedom www.sisp.it/en/conferenc...

sisp.it

Conference 2026 – SISP

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

A profound threat to one of America's world-dominating industries, which makes us richer and healthier (higher ed) academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

What a poor decision. It de facto changes the rules for people who have already submitted an application. Obviously, knowing that you can resubmit strongly affects if you are going to submit a proposal. This changes the rules after people made their decision. erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

erc.europa.eu

Applying for an ERC grant in the 2027 competitions: what you need to know

The ERC plans to launch the grant competitions under its 2027 Work Programme between July 2026 and June 2027, with the calls for proposals introducing several changes to the eligibility rules for appl...

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Jan-Martin Wiarda @jmwiarda.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Die trügerische Sehnsucht nach dem "Kern" der Wissenschaft Die Kritik an zu viel Normativität und gesellschaftlichem Engagement in der Wissenschaft ist doppelt falsch. Ein Essay. Im Wiarda-Blog: www.jmwiarda.de/blog/2026/04...

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Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Academic freedom or lack thereof: Decline of institutional autonomy in the United States compared to its decline in other prominent (former) democracies that have autocratized, namely Hungary, India, and Türkiye academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Thanks to Varities of Democracy project and the @vdeminstitute.bsky.social for the ongoing data generation on various aspects of #democracy and to @volkswagenstiftung.de for their financial support.

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The AFI Update 2026 identifies 50 countries and territories that have experienced a statistically and substantially significant decline in academic freedom compared to ten years ago, while only nine countries saw an increase in academic freedom.

Number of countries that experienced substantial and statistically significant declines or increases between 2015 and 2025. Substantial decline is identified if the uncertainty intervals do not overlap and if the decline is >=0.1 for the AFI. Academic Freedom declined in 50 countries and only imporved in 9 countries.

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The decline in institutional autonomy in the United States has been both rapid and pronounced. The steep decline in the US, concentrated within a relatively short six-year period, shows how quickly political and administrative pressures can erode institutional autonomy.

Timing of Academic Freedom Decline Episodes in the United States of America (2020–2025), Hungary (2010–2025), India (2013–2025), Türkiye (2010–2017). The plot shows a steep decline in institutional autonomy in the US case, also compared to the other cases.

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The Academic Freedom Index Update 2026 is out. This year, we focus on institutional autonomy and compare the decline in institutional autonomy in the United States with that in other major autocratizing countries. academic-freedom-index.net #academicfreedomindex @fau.de @vdeminstitute.bsky.social

academic-freedom-index.net

Academic Freedom Index

The Academic Freedom Index (AFI) assesses de facto levels of academic freedom across the world. It is a collaborative effort between researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (F...

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Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 17/03/2026

Comparing the decline in institutional autonomy in the United States with that in other major autocratizing countries like Hungary and Türkiye, the study finds that the decline in the United States has been faster and more pronounced. #AcademicFreedom academic-freedom-index.net/research/Aca...

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Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 17/03/2026

The United States are falling behind, Germany remains unchanged: the #AcademicFreedom Index Update 2026 provides an overview on the state of academic freedom in 179 countries and territories around the world. academic-freedom-index.net @fau.de @vdeminstitute.bsky.social

academic-freedom-index.net

Academic Freedom Index

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V-Dem Institute @vdeminstitute.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v16 & the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 💾 The V-Dem Dataset: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d... 📰 The Report "Unraveling The Democratic Era?”: v-dem.net/publications... 📈 Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: v-dem.net/graphing/gra... #PoliSky #PoliSciSky 1/3

Two map graphs show the state of liberal democracy according to the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index for 2025 and 2024. The higher the score (or darker blue), the more democratic the country. Lower scores (or dark red) mean less democratic. While North and South America, Western Europe and Oceania are mostly in the blue, most parts of Asia and Africa are in the red in 2025.
In comparison to the map for 2024, the map graph for 2025 shows democratic backsliding in some traditionally stable democracies in Western Europe and North America, in particular the USA, United Kingdom and Italy.

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Angelo V. Panaro @angelovpanaro.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

The erosion of academic freedom is not collateral damage of autocratization, but an integral part of it. In my new article, I show how autocratization through academic capture undermines all dimensions of academic freedom, with cumulative and enduring effects. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

How can resilience of democratic procedures, processes & principles be improved? Aurel Croissant & @larslott.bsky.social present a novel conceptualization & measurements of democratic resilience: buff.ly/a709YMB (OPEN ACCESS) @vdeminstitute.bsky.social @fau @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com

buff.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Alexander Wuttke @kunkakom.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

The billions of research funds channeled into the pockets of Elsevier and other commercial publisher in return for very little actual value is one of academia's big inefficiencies that will eventually be replaced by more attractive Community-run alternatives

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Adam Scharpf @ascharpf.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Wie lässt sich das brutale Vorgehen von Trump's ICE Agenten erklären? Und warum erinnert es so sehr an Diktaturen und ihre Geheimpolizei? Unser neues Buch liefert Antworten - wie wir heute in der @zeit.de erklären. Buch: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

global.oup.com

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Wenn @valentimvicente.bsky.social im Deutschlandfunk ist, dann sollte man sich das natürlich auf jeden Fall anhören

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

How can resilience of democratic procedures, processes & principles be improved? Aurel Croissant & @larslott.bsky.social present a novel conceptualization & measurements of democratic resilience: buff.ly/N25dyXQ (OPEN ACCESS) @vdeminstitute.bsky.social @fau @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com

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Alumni Politik FAU @apefau.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

📺 Am Samstag waren Prof. Katrin Kinzelbach und Dr. Lars Lott bei der Eröffnung der Langen Nacht der Wissenschaft 2025 im BR-Studio Nürnberg dabei und haben über ihre Arbeit zum Thema #Wissenschaftsfreiheit berichtet! Zur Aufzeichnung geht's hier: nacht-der-wissenschaften.de/eroeffnung

nacht-der-wissenschaften.de

Eröffnung

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

📢Can free academia withstand democratic backsliding? Why some universities wither while others survive. Read the recently published article in #ISPR. Together with Katrin Kinzelbach and @silindberg.bsky.social (Open Access): doi.org/10.1177/0192...

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Niels G. Mede @nielsmede.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Published today: One of the biggest #science #communication studies to date. We asked 71,922 people in 68 countries how they #engage with information about #science and combined the data with several country-level factors: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #OpenAccess

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Werde Teil unseres internationalen Teams und profitiere von interdisziplinären Austausch, u.a. am Exzellenzcluster „Transforming Human Rights".

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Auf der Suche nach einer Postdoc-Stelle im Bereich der empirischen Menschenrechtsforschung? An der @fau.de suchen wir eine*n Postdoc für 3+3 Jahre für unser Team. tinyurl.com/4d3w3th6

pol.phil.fau.de

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Juraj Medzihorsky @medzihorsky.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

The global retrenchment of academic freedom, as estimated by V-Dem and FAU: 2008-2015: mostly at the lower part of the scale 2015-2024: the upper part of the scale moves as well More by FAU at: academic-freedom-index.net @vdeminstitute.bsky.social

A chart showing a summary of the Academic Freedom Index in 2008, 2015, and 2024.

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Is research performance related to academic freedom? A preprint co-authored with @lutzb.bsky.social conducts a large-scale empirical analysis on the national level to this question. osf.io/2mh8f #academicfreedom #AcademicFreedomIndex Short 🧵

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We find an average treatment effect of a 20% decline in research performance when academic freedom declines substantially. But we do not find any statistically significant effect on the top 10% or top 1% publications, as measured by citation counts in their subject category and publication year. 8/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

However, we also explored the effect of academic freedom decline episodes on national performance. We thereby tested whether the current global crisis in academic freedom affects research performance. 7/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Results can be summarized as follows: Whereas differences between countries in enabling AF are related to differences in their national performance, changes in enabling AF within a country are not reflected in annual performance differences to that extent as the differences between the countries. 6/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We found a positive and statistically significant effect of the ‘between AF’ variance on bibliometric indicators with a pooled effect size of 1.7969 (95%-CI = 1.4647; 2.1290]). ‘within AF’ has a positive pooled effect size of 0.0266 but is statistically not significant at conventional levels. 5/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We applied three different identification strategies, namely two-way fixed effects regressions, within-between random effects regression, and difference-in-differences estimators, and used different bibliometric indicators to calculate the effect of AF on national performance. 4/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

To determine whether China is an exception and to explore the relationship between academic freedom (AF) and national knowledge production, our study examines the association between an index measuring national AF and bibliometric indicators, such as publication counts. 3/

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Lars Lott @larslott.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The remarkable increase in publications from China over the past two decades raises questions about the assumed dependence of effective science production on academic freedom, which is supposed to protect science from external influences. 2/

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