The Hertie School’s Data Science Lab to welcome new faculty members Asya Magazinnik and Drew Dimmery

The Hertie School is proud to welcome Asya Magazinnik as Professor of Social Data Science and Drew Dimmery as Professor of Data Science for the Common Good. Both will join the university’s Data Science Lab in the upcoming academic year and contribute to its research, teaching and outreach.

“We are pleased to welcome two outstanding scholars who will advance our expertise in data science and contribute to strengthening this field at the Hertie School,” says President Cornelia Woll. “Asya Magazinnik and Drew Dimmery’s work draws from a rich portfolio of expertise which they gained not only at top-tier research institutions, but also in the business world.”

Magazinnik researches democratic representation and public goods provision

Asya Magazinnik is a familiar face. As Assistant Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she first joined the Hertie School last year as a visiting professor. She works at the intersection of federalism and democratic representation and combines formal theory and causal inference methodologies. Her research interests include the impact of local elections on the provision of housing and other necessary collective goods, as well as the representation of disadvantaged groups. Magazinnik’s work has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, among others. She holds a PhD from Princeton University.

“With Asya Magazinnik, the Hertie School gains an outstanding scholar who works on the practices of democracy – one of the most conflicted social issues of our times,” says Simon Munzert Director and Professor of Data Science and Public Policy. “She represents the best of social science and data science. I look forward to working with her to take the Data Science Lab and the Master of Data Science for Public Policy to the next level.” 

Dimmery analyses social media with experimental design

Drew Dimmery, currently Scientific Coordinator at the Research Network Data Science at the University of Vienna, will join the Hertie School in January 2024. His research interests include causal inference, machine learning and the usage of data science for public policy. Prior to moving to Europe, he was a research scientist at Facebook in the United States. He holds a PhD in political methodology from New York University and has published in top machine learning journals such as ICML, KDD and AISTATS.

“I am thrilled to welcome Drew Dimmery, a proven expert in data science and machine learning, to the Data Science Lab,” says Munzert. “He is one of the few people in the world who works at the forefront of machine learning and experimentation and applies his research to relevant policy issues. He truly embodies the mission of using data science technology for the common good”.

Endowed professorship in cooperation with Dieter Schwarz Foundation

Dimmery’s professorship is endowed by the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, one of Germany’s biggest foundations for research and education. Its investment encompasses the endowed professorship at the Data Science Lab as well as five regular scholarships for students of the Master of Data Science for Public Policy (MDS). The Dieter Schwarz Foundation announced its cooperation with the Hertie School earlier this year.

The Data Science Lab

Founded in 2019, the Hertie School’s Data Science Lab is dedicated to tackling the most pressing issues of our times by leveraging the power of data science innovation and artificial intelligence. Examples of research and teaching are the exploration of attitudes towards hate speech regulation and how machine learning can be used to inform climate mitigation policy.