Dr Diana Rafailova

Welcome!

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the ERC-funded project "MoveMeRU" based at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin and a senior fellow at SCRIPTS, Free University of Berlin.

I obtained a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in February 2024. My dissertation was awarded the 2024 Linz-Rokkan Prize for the best EUI dissertation in Political Sociology.

My interests include political regimes, political socialization and education, and political attitudes. In my dissertation, I examined the effects of political regimes on education quality, learning outcomes, and critical thinking skills. My current postdoctoral research focuses on authoritarian attitudinal legacies and support for democracy among Russian-immigrant families in three liberal democracies: Estonia, Germany, and Canada.

I employ both quantitative and qualitative data in my work. My dissertation utilized extensive time-series cross-sectional data and large-scale cross-national surveys. As a postdoctoral researcher, I have led extensive focus group data collection and conducted interviews with families from both Russian and non-Russian backgrounds in Estonia, Germany, and Canada.