PhD Student
PhD student at Franklin University Switzerland within a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)–funded project
Email: ssiemoni@fus.edu
Sofia Siemoni is a PhD student at Franklin University Switzerland within a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)–funded project. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Florence, where she specialized in electoral systems, political parties, and comparative politics. Her master’s thesis, later published in a peer-reviewed journal, examined the relationship between the rise of anti-party politics and the diffusion of populist attitudes.
During her graduate studies, she also developed a strong interest in political and electoral communication, working both in institutional settings and as a freelance consultant on electoral campaigns. From January to June 2025, she hold a scholarship at the Silvano Tosi Parliamentary Studies Institute in Florence, where she was selected nationwide for an interdisciplinary program in law, political science, and history. In this context, she authored a research paper on the use of decree-laws in Italy, later presented before the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Italian Senate.
Her current research is conducted within the SNSF project DIVIDE, which investigates the effects of secession referenda on interethnic relations in established democracies. Her research interests include political psychology, comparative politics, nationalism and identity, interethnic relations, and European politics. Methodologically, her work relies on quantitative analysis, survey design and implementation, and causal inference. Alongside her work on DIVIDE, she is developing a research project on Brexit and crisis-induced identity change in Europe.
Current projects:
- DIVIDE: Secession Referenda and Interethnic Relations (SNSF)
- Brexit and European Identity under Crisis