The Hertie School hostedg Kevin Munger, Assistant Professor at the European University Institute (EUI), as part of the CIVICA Faculty Short Visit programme. During his visit, he gave a talk on the validity of scientific evidence over time as part of the Data Science Brown Bag Series at the Data Science Lab.
Hertie sat down with Professor Munger to discuss his research and teaching, his reasons for visiting the Hertie School, and what CIVICA offers to researchers and students alike.
Professor Munger, what is the focus of your research and teaching?
I study how the internet reshapes political communication and public life. My research uses computational and experimental methods to understand the production, distribution and reception of political information online – from the dynamics of social platforms and recommendation systems to the incentives that drive creators and news outlets. In teaching, I strive to equip students with the conceptual and methodological toolkit of computational social science, including careful causal inference, transparent workflows, and hands-on practice with text, networks and digital trace data. In both research and the classroom, my goal is to make our rapidly evolving information environment measurable, comprehensible, and ultimately better for democratic societies.
Why did you choose to do a CIVICA Faculty Short Visit at the Hertie School?
Hertie is a natural fit for me: it sits at the crossroads of governance, technology and evidence-based policy, and it hosts colleagues and centres whose work directly complements my own. A short visit creates the perfect space to start new projects, meet students, and exchange ideas with researchers who approach similar questions from different angles in public policy, security and data science. Berlin’s vibrant policy and tech ecosystem is a bonus; it’s hard to imagine a better place to consider how digital infrastructures shape democratic practice. I’m grateful to my hosts at Data Science Lab for opening doors and to CIVICA for making it easy to turn good intentions into real collaboration.
What value does the CIVICA alliance hold for researchers and students?
CIVICA is a force multiplier. By linking ten leading European social science institutions – including the EUI and the Hertie School – CIVICA reduces barriers to co-teaching, co-supervising and co-producing research across borders. For faculty, that means faster feedback, access to richer data, and a wider pool of collaborators. For students, it means mobility, exposure to diverse scholarly traditions, and hands-on opportunities – joint courses, workshops and short visits. This exchange holds the potential to transform Europe into a single learning space.
Academic exchange is vital: ideas travel better than people, and well-structured visits can seed relationships that last years, diversify our methods and questions, and keep our work accountable to real-world challenges. I’m genuinely grateful for CIVICA’s support and the colleagues who make these exchanges welcoming, purposeful and fun.
Article credits: Hertie School
Photo credits: Kevin Munger/EUI