“ERC Starting Grant” for TU Chemnitz: Political Scientist Receives one of the Most Prestigious EU Grants for Cutting-edge Research

Assistant Professor Arndt Leininger, who holds the assistant professorship in Political Science Research Methods, wants to study the influence of residential mobility on political attitudes in society and will receive 1.44 million euros for this purpose

Arndt Leininger, Assistant Professor of Political Science Research Methods at the Faculty of Humanities at Chemnitz University of Technology, has been successful in the current round of the European Research Council's (ERC) prestigious “Starting Grants.” The political scientist will receive 1.44 million euros over the next five years for his project “Residential mobility and the realignment of electoral politics in established democracies (RESPOL).” With this outstanding success, Leininger is one of only 494 applicants, including 98 from Germany, to receive funding out of a total of 3,474 applications.

This is the second ERC Starting Grant, one of the most prestigious EU funding awards for top-level research, that Chemnitz University of Technology has received within a relatively short period of time. Through his research in the field of electoral research, Leininger aims to investigate how changes in place of residence influence political attitudes within society.  In doing so, he will examine population movements or inflows and outflows within regions and their effects on citizens' political identities, views, and behavior. In preparation for the application, Leininger received funding from the Rectorate's package of measures to support the application and implementation of large-scale research projects at Chemnitz University of Technology.

“We congratulate our colleague Leininger on another outstanding success – this time at the European level. Following his success in the DFG's renowned Emmy Noether Program in 2022, where he received 600,000 euros in project funding, he has now succeeded in winning one of the most prestigious EU research grants. These project acquisitions stand for the outstanding qualifications of our colleague Leininger as well as for the national and international research excellence of our university,” says Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, Rector of the TU Chemnitz.

Background: ERC Starting Grant 2024

The ERC Starting Grant is awarded only to young researchers with exceptionally innovative and excellent research ideas.The maximum funding of 1.5 million euros over a maximum of five years is awarded only to those who have submitted outstanding applications.A total of 3,474 applications were received for the current round of funding, which was announced as part of the Horizon Europe program. Only 494 were approved. The funding confirms the excellence of the grantees' projects and is proof that they are among the best in their field.

About the person: Jun.-Prof. Arndt Leininger, PhD

Arndt Leininger studied political science at Freie Universität Berlin and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He worked as a research assistant at the Hertie School of Governance, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Freie Universität Berlin. Since April 1, 2021, he has been an assistant professor for research methods in political science at the Faculty of Philosophy at Chemnitz University of Technology.

His research interests include political sociology, comparative politics, and applied quantitative methods. Topics of his work include voter turnout, direct democracy, youth and politics, and election forecasting. A methodological focus is the implementation of innovative population surveys.

For further information please contact Jun.-Prof. Arndt Leininger, PhD, Telefon +49 (0)371 531-33357, email arndt.leininger@phil.tu-chemnitz.de.

Mario Steinebach
06.09.2024

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